Lean Manufacturing Implementation The Right Emphas

A pharmaceutical company's lean manufacturing implementation can be either fairly seamless and efficient or met with resistance and merely partial. A lot of it has to do with perceptions and attitudes and the right implementation emphases. And these are the areas where lean manufacturing consultants can provide the most and most effective assistance. The perceptions and attitudes that impede successful, effective implementation of lean manufacturing solutions in the pharmaceutical industry start at the top. Not many in management today view the manufacturing aspect as an area for gaining a competitive edge. One result of shrinking profit margins and increasing cost pressures is that companies are increasingly reducing their own production and shifting that production overseas, where costs are lower, by means of outsourcing. What has happened is that pharmaceutical executives are reducing the task of reducing costs to a simplistic equation. These outsourcing decisions, many times, are made simply on the basis of nothing more than a comparison between the cost of production at a company's own facility and the cost of production in the target outsourcing country. But is this really the best solution? Or would it be better to apply lean manufacturing solutions instead and eliminate waste, continuously strive for more efficient production processes, and become more responsive to customer demand? Further, as has often been noted but seldom dealt with, there is the compartmentalized or siloed nature of departments within the pharmaceutical industry. A separation between manufacturing and R&D has long been the norma separation that has had far-reaching consequences, the weight of which are now being fully felt. Quality product development, however, depends on input from manufacturing. In accordance with lean manufacturing's emphasis on seamless, unified production processes, there needs to be ongoing, two-way dialogue between manufacturing and the lab. Industry analysts and lean manufacturing consultants suggest that, as a first step モンクレール, effectiveness should be emphasized over efficiency. But because the larger cost savings result from efficiency-driven aspects of lean manufacturing implementation, senior managers often want to emphasize efficiency rather than effectiveness right out of the gate, which often does see some initial benefits but no real long-term success. Early efforts, then moncler, need to focus on reducing of variability in core manufacturing processes and thus increasing the quality of these processes. For example, a first step might be to perform more preventive maintenance to cut down on unplanned maintenance later ona step that enhances effectiveness first in order to promote manufacturing quality and efficiency. Also, a thoroughgoing lean manufacturing implantation requires a paradigm shift in thinking from top to bottomshifting the emphasis to thinking about processes in terms of continuous improvement. According to Thomas Friedli ("Operational Excellence: Pharma's Missed Opportunities," pharmamanufacturing.com), "This challenge is never really over. [It] is a continuously ongoing journey that requires management attention on each level." And he further states, "To get buy-in on all levels in an operational excellence program it is mandatory that people understand the meaning and objectives of the program http://www.moncler-sale.me. . . . This will ensure that the program is seen as improving the survival and competitiveness of the plant." Smart Consulting Group has the qualified pharmaceutical consultants, with extensive industry-specific experience, to guide companies through the process of shifting emphases and attitudes to achieve an effective lean manufacturing implementation. Their goal is to "provide the competitive edge you need to be the market leader in medical products."