Driving operational excellence: Application of lean practices to minimize turnaround time in a pharmaceutical manufacturing company

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to apply Lean practices in a pharmaceutical manufacturing company and demonstrate the effectiveness of Lean in the pharmaceutical industry. The objective is to reduce turnaround time (TAT) in a filling by 30%, the defect rate of manifold tubing by 50%, and develop standardized work using an integrated approach of different Lean tools. Frameworks for problem-solving Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) the defect rate, standard work for streamlining the processes, and Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED) for investigating downtime were setup with instructions and guidelines considering the limitations of a pharmaceutical manufacturing company. The defect rate was reduced by 66.5%, TAT by 29%, standardized work was developed using the following Lean tools: process mapping, standard work combination table, operator balance chart, Kanban, and 5S. This thesis demonstrates the effectiveness of applying Lean in a pharmaceutical company. It contributes to literature in a novel way by utilizing PDCA to identify the root cause of defects in manifold tubing in a detailed manner that has not been documented previously.