The case study concerns the plant of a primary multinational company of the pharmaceutical industry. This plant produces pharmaceutical products in a solid form (pills, tablets, capsules, etc.). The company has about 400 employees and its annual production adds up to about 100 million packages sold in the European market and to more than 100 markets globally. The pharmaceutical industry has been greatly affected by the 2008-2010 global economic crises. Revenues are decreasing because of competition from generic alternatives, while the costs of R&D are rising for and competition is increasing. All these features push pharmaceutical companies to apply methodologies for performance improvement

1. A CASE STUDY IN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
IMPROVEMENT OF MANUFACTURING
OPERATIONS THROUGH A LEAN MANAGEMENT
APPROACH
PRESENTED BY:
SANOBAR HANIF
LEAN
TARGET
QUALITY
GROWTH

2. ROAD MAP TO PRESENTATION
CASE
BACKGROUND
LEAN
MANAGEMENT
THE CASE

3. CASE BACKGROUND

4. LEAN MANAGEMENT
Lean Production’, or rather ’Lean
Management’ is an intellectual
approach consisting of a system of
measures and methods which, when
considered as a whole, have the
potential to bring about a lean and,
therefore, particularly competitive
state in a company.

5. LEAN MANAGEMENT
Different types of wastes

6. CASE STUDY

7. CASE STUDY
OBJECTIVES

8. CASE STUDY
•Total Pipeline Lead Time reduction
•Throughput Time reduction
•Layout re-design
•WIP (Work In Process) reduction
GOALS
The plant analyzed had been
chosen to produce ‘growing‘
products. A specific project that had
been developed in two synergic
ways in a pilot production flow:
1. Re-engineering of the production
flow.
2. Implementing a pull-based
production system.

9. CASE STUDY
TOOLS
1. VALUE STREAM MAPPING
2. RE-ENGINEERING OF LAYOUT DESIGN
3. HYBRID KANBAN-CONWIP SYSTEM
Eliminated various kinds of waste, such as:
• Inappropriate processes-unnecessary processing or procedures
• Overproduction
• Rework
• Inventory and WIP
• Material transportation and handling reduction

10. CASE STUDY
RE-ENGINEERING

11. CASE STUDY
IMPLEMENTING THE PULL SYSTEM HYBRID KANBAN-CONWIP SYSTEM
In a push system,
the production
order is scheduled
and the material is
pushed into
the production line.
In a pull system, the
start of each
product assembly
process is triggered
by the completion of
another at the end
of production line.
This pull-variant is
known for its ease of
implementation.

12. CASE STUDY
Controlling WIP benefits are
• It limits the amount of material released into the system
• The amount of material that needs to be scrapped or reworked is
reduced, and financial losses from sales of a now inferior product are
diminished
• It reduces cycle time variability
• Production systems have a degree of flexibility that is lost when
large volumes of WIP remain in the physical system
CONWIP (Constant Work In Progress) are
pull-oriented production control systems.
CONWIP systems are easier to implement
and adjust, since only one set of system
cards is used to manage system WIP.
CONWIP uses cards to control the number
of WIPs. For example, no part is allowed to
enter the system without a card
(authority). After a finished part is
completed at the last workstation, a card
is transferred to the first workstation and
a new part is pushed into the sequential
process route
Kanban is a scheduling system for
Lean Production. It is a system to
control the logistical chain from a
production point of view, and is an
inventory control system Kanban
became an effective tool to
support running a production
system as a whole, and an
excellent way to promote
improvement. Problem areas are
highlighted by reducing the
number of Kanban in circulation

13. CASE STUDY
RESULTS
LEAD TIME
REDUCTION
THROUGHPUT
TIME REDUCTION WIP REDUCTION LAYOUT REDESIGN
TARGET
RESULTS
6 Days
5 Days
3 Days
2 Days
30%
37%
300 mt
284 mt
The re-
engineering of
the production
flow through
Lean
Management
and the
implementation
of both Kanban
and CONWIP led
to the following
results after 90
days

14. CASE STUDY
CONCLUSION
The company has chosen to focus on
efficiency improvement. The results
show that it is possible to create a
competitive advantage in this way.
Practical remarks about the case study
provide the opportunity to perform a
continuous production flow instead of
a batch flow in order to control the
production flow.