This is a behavior I’ve noticed quite often in food industry, in chemical or pharmaceutical plants: cleaning and sanitation processes (mainly their duration) are extended beyond the standard procedures at the expense of costs and production capacity. Fear of harming In the regulatory-constraint industries like food, chemical or pharma, people on shopfloor are trained and … Continue reading When enough is… enough
Pharma
Where I could have used a Goal Tree but didn’t know about the tool then
During the June 2016 Logical Thinking Process alumni reunion, Bill Dettmer asked the participants to share their "War Stories", i.e. experience with the Logical Thinking Process (LTP) and LTP tools. I came up with several short stories. In this excerpt, I recall I could have used a Goal Tree but didn't know the tool at … Continue reading Where I could have used a Goal Tree but didn’t know about the tool then
What data for changeover monitoring and improvement?
Maximizing the exploitation of critical Capacity Constraint Resources (CCRs), so called bottlenecks, is crucial for maximizing revenue. Changeovers usually have a significant impact on productive capacity, reducing it with every new change made on those resources that already have too few of it. Yet changeovers are a necessary evil, and the trend is going for … Continue reading What data for changeover monitoring and improvement?
Performance improvement: simple things can earn big results
Silly things can cost a lot in terms of productivity and output. In this video interview, Philip Marris asks me about lessons learnt while helping a pharmaceutical plant to improve productivity and deliver drugs to patients faster. It is about how simple actions solve those silly small problems and bring big results at literally no cost.
Why SMED is quick win in pharma – Episode III
Improving changeovers in pharma industry is a relatively quick and easy way to... quick wins, faster and easier than usually assumed. This series tells you why. Episode III: How to and Why it works In the previous Episode I explained the background of the lag of many traditional pharma makers in regards to Industry Best … Continue reading Why SMED is quick win in pharma – Episode III
Why SMED is quick win in pharma – Episode II
Improving changeovers in pharma industry is a relatively quick and easy way to quick wins, faster and easier than usually assumed. This series tells you why. Episode II: What Gain? Why? In the previous Episode I explained the background of the lag of many traditional pharma makers in regards to Industry Best Practices (mainly Lean) … Continue reading Why SMED is quick win in pharma – Episode II
Why SMED is quick win in pharma – Episode I
Improving changeovers in pharma industry is a relatively quick and easy way to quick wins, faster and easier than usually assumed. This series tells you why. Episode I depicts the pharma background, introducing why mastering quick changeover is both mandatory and a hidden or long disregarded improvement potential Episode II explains what gain can be … Continue reading Why SMED is quick win in pharma – Episode I
Be prepared for success!
Some improvements in operations can be so effective that management should better be prepared for success, otherwise it can ultimately turn out as a splendid blunder. This post is a kind of sequel of “Your next bottleneck is elsewhere (and in the future)” and based on a true experience in pharmaceutical industry. The story takes … Continue reading Be prepared for success!
Trouble with manual data capture
Asking people to fill out forms in order to monitor performance, track a phenomenon or try to gather data for problem solving, too often leads to trouble when data is ultimately collected and analysed. The case is about manual data capture into paper forms and logbooks on production lines. A precious source of information for … Continue reading Trouble with manual data capture
Chris HOHMANN 