Modified Approaches and Invistics MachSix™ Lean Manufacturing Software Extend Benefits of Lean, Six Sigma to Drug-Makers
ATLANTA (July 25, 2006) — Despite its huge popularity in the automotive and high tech
industries, Lean Manufacturing hasn’t experienced the same high success rate in
the pharmaceuticals industry, where complex process manufacturing processes are
used. This is according to the results of a recent survey of more than 1,500
pharmaceutical manufacturers conducted by Invistics, a developer of manufacturing
performance optimization solutions for complex, asset-intensive industries.
The recently conducted 2006 survey showed that while more than half of the respondents
said their companies have implemented Lean, Six Sigma or Operational Excellence, less
than half of those Lean initiatives have produced satisfactory results. This is due to the
fundamental complexities of the pharmaceutical manufacturing process, which produce
challenges not found in simple high-volume manufacturing plants that can dedicate
production equipment to specific product lines, such as automobiles and computers.
These findings are in alignment with a recent statement from AMR Analyst Colin
Masson. In a recent report, he wrote, “The process industry lags in the adoption of Lean
practices across the board primarily because the Lean techniques popularized by the
Toyota Production System (TPS) can be difficult to implement in the shared equipment,
high product mix, and highly volatile demand scenarios they face.” (“Demand-Driven
Manufacturing: The (Potential) Rise of Lean”, Colin Masson, AMR Research, June 8,
2006).
According to Invistics President and CEO Scott Geller, “Many companies in industries
that traditionally haven’t applied Lean and Six Sigma are now trying to benefit from these
techniques and they are learning that it is not as straightforward as they expected it to
be. The good news is that new approaches helping to ensure sustained success are
emerging, along with software solutions that apply Lean principles to the reality of
shared equipment and product proliferation found in complex batch processes and
packaging options.”
Invistics MachSix™ software enables pharmaceutical makers to hit increasingly
aggressive inventory and cycle time targets, while achieving maximum throughput and
extremely high service levels. Based on proven techniques like Lean Manufacturing and
Six Sigma, Invistics’ MachSix methodology and software extend traditional Lean
manufacturing via next generation flow techniques like CONWIP to help plant managers
identify and control variability in products, processes and demand by pinpointing
immediate problems and generating scenarios for continuous improvement.
For one of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s manufacturing facilities that applies Lean
methodologies, deploying Invistics MachSix software and focusing on team-building
produced dramatic results. Cycle times were slashed by 80 percent, work-in-progress
(WIP) was reduced by 75 percent, inventory turns increased fivefold, employee
productivity doubled (output per employee hour) since the 1990’s, and first-pass quality
rose to 95 percent in the last three years despite a significant increase in product
variability.
As a thought-leading provider of Lean manufacturing software solutions, Invistics has a
clear view of the challenges pharmaceutical, consumer packaged goods and other batch
process manufacturers face when implementing Lean practices on the factory floor. The
company has developed a white paper to help process manufacturing executives and
plant managers improve performance and profit margins by applying Lean techniques
modified for complex, highly variable and asset-intensive environments.
The paper, entitled “Processing Lean: Modifying Traditional Techniques for Complex
Environments”, can be downloaded free at http://www.invistics.com.
About Invistics
Invistics helps manufacturers in complex, asset-intensive industries such as consumer
packaged goods and pharmaceuticals achieve operational excellence in an often
overlooked, yet core element of their supply chain—production operations. Built on Lean
and Six Sigma principles, its manufacturing performance optimization solution, Invistics
MachSix™, is specifically designed to redefine complex plant-level tradeoffs between
inventory costs, customer service, production throughput and cycle times. Companies
use Invistics’ methodology and software to identify and manage sources of variability
while breaking down organizational silos. Invistics customers have achieved dramatic,
sustained results including over 99 percent on-time deliveries, an average reduction of
50 percent in inventory and reduction in cycle times by more than half. MachSix
integrates with, and enhances, ERP, supply chain and manufacturing execution
applications by providing more accurate data, while accounting for variability and
improving visibility into plant floor operations. More information is located at
www.invistics.com.
