Industry: Biotech/Pharmaceuticals
Core Processes: Research, formulation, filling and quality control
Core Products: Reagents and assays.
Situational Overview
High product variety and varying volumes
Little or no lean knowledge
Highly skilled process experts
Described as “Big Science” in laboratories rather than a traditional manufacturing facility
Fragile processes
Activities:
Vocabulary and approach were critical due to the specialised nature of the facility and employees.
Site Diagnosis Activity
- Site level current and future state mapping.
- Identification of business needs and issues.
- Constraint/bottleneck capacity analysis including understanding the functionality/culture.
- Continuous Improvement system and structure developed
- Senior management team activity to define the next steps and an implementation plan.
The implementation was split into four main strands
Strategy and Ownership
Value Stream Mapping Workshops
- Workshops with Senior Leaders developing the future state maps for each product family.
- Coaching of Senior Management in Lean manufacturing tools, systems and organisations.
Business Need
Operational Improvement Workshops – Kaizen Blitz Events
- Oligo synthesis workflow
- Chemical synthesis workflow
- Change Request Process workflow
Systems Development
Lean Team Coaching
- Internal Lean team members assessed and appointed.
- Standard improvement system implemented.
- Steering structure developed.
- Awareness training given site-wide
- Kaizen team given coaching to become self-sufficient.
Training
Middle Management Coaching
- Bespoke Lean education programme
- Bespoke Value Stream Mapping programme