Applying lean manufacturing concepts in pharmaceutical companies

The pharmaceutical industry is always on the search for ways to reduce or eliminate defects or errors. Since the pharmaceutical industry create products that are used to aid others such as generating pills or building wheelchairs and other things, the elimination of defects is vital. Many firms have started turning to systems which can help to improve the products and reduce defects. Implementing lean manufacturing into your pharmaceutical company is a great option to help you focus on quality products.

Using Lean Six Sigma is a popular option with a number of pharmaceutical companies as it helps to eliminate manufacturing wastes and generates better products. Here are the areas of implementation you will need to focus on in order to apply lean manufacturing concepts into your pharmaceutical company:

Product development
Going back to the drawing board is one of the best ways to start from the beginning to generate better products. Research ways to make better products for your customers by looking at what is wrong with the existing products. You may find that nothing is actually wrong, they just need a little retooling or an upgrade to the packaging or other things. Understanding what the customers want and expect is a vital part of product development and it will lead to streamlining of better products. Drug development is also included in this as you shouldn't be so focused on beating the competition but focused on making the best drugs to aid your customers. Additional testing and research in the product development phase can help to reduce drug failures. Drug failures always lead to expensive lawsuits and product recalls.

Better Cycle Times
Another way to implement lean manufacturing is to create better cycle times for your organization. The cycles times are vital to pharmaceutical companies more than many other organizations because you have a supply demand and a launch date to keep up with. Timely manufacturing is vital to help you make the products become released on time so you don't have wait times (which commonly happens to certain vaccinations like the flu shots). Cycle times really come down to the success or failure of a product. Some concepts that are used to improve cycle times include value stream mapping.

Eliminate Errors
Controllable errors, like those made by machines are easier to eliminate but human errors require more effort. Using Lean Six Sigma is a great option for pharmaceutical companies as this helps to control human errors that can lead to expensive product recalls. Six Sigma training will help your mangers learn their roles within the company and they can easily watch and monitor the various processes, especially those dealing with human errors so they can control and eliminate them. Create different teams with your employees, this can help you to detect human errors immediately as you have others on the team that can quickly identify them and hurry and fix the problem before it becomes worse.

The roles in Six Sigma help to change the way the company works, which leads to better products for your customers. Sending your managers to training and you should never neglect the Six Sigma training programs. Set goals for the company as well that are in line with your mission statement and the core values of the company.

Hiring a Lean Six Sigma consultant is a great way to find out how to improve your company and to focus on efficiency. Don't let your company become the victim of an expensive product recall and take the initiative today to focus on using Lean Six Sigma to improve efficiency and to make better products overall.