It was January of 2018 and the talks for making strategy for FY19 were on. Everybody was happy with the current performance level they were achieving. However, looking at the current market scenarios, coming financial year was supposed to be more challenging for Pharma business.
Then arrived the Strategy Meet 2019, team was cherishing their achievements so far however the eyes were set on The President of Manufacturing, who is always passionate about new challenges.
“This year’s numbers are coming up pretty well. But, what yield number are you going to hit next year?” asked the President looking at the Site Head.
“Sir, Most of our yields are already in 90’s but we can try to attain some incremental numbers” responded the Site Head, with a confident smile.
“Since you’ve made an impressive change in the yield this year, I would like you to go 3% higher this time, after all, we are committed to improve on costs under our Cost Leadership Initiative too.” proposed the President.
“I know it’s a challenging task. However, this API Product A contributes significantly to the site revenue”
President further added.
“All right sir! We will give our best shot in this.” Site Head accepted the challenge. He knew it was quite an uphill task however he had confidence on his team.
The Site Head formed a cross functional team, the approach was chalked out & responsibilities were assigned. Last financial year batches were mapped for yields. Batches having higher yield as well as lower yield were studied for different parameters using Pareto, DOE & various other quality tools.
It took 4 brainstorming & review sessions for the team to derive a clear cut action plan. It was time to start implementation.
The days were moving & the implementation too. However, the yield number improved only marginally.
“Team, I think we need to do something more. What areas are we missing on?” asked the Site Head in quarterly review.
“Sir, there are certain fluctuation in vacuum & pH which we should control through automation” answered one team member.
“Okay! Let’s explore this area, but it should be a Low Cost automation.” responded the Site Head.
The Area Effectiveness Team of that block involving the shop floor employees and managers, came up with three best ideas related to Low Cost automation. It had strengthened the implementation plan further.
During the second quarterly review, the numbers were awaited & people were eager to see how they did.
“Brilliant! We have got 4.01% against the 3% target. We finally did it, Fantastic work!” announced the Site Head with joy.
Soon, during the next Reach Out session, where all the Site leaders had joined -
“Congratulations Team Digwal, Well Done! This is a great example of your commitment towards improvement. This definitely calls for a celebration.” Appreciated the President.
The team not only achieved the target but also was sustaining the same for all batches in the monthly report.
Lessons Learned
- One can achieve most difficult challenges with commitment, right approach & right mind set.
- Usage of quality tools is very impactful in solving complex business problems.
- A complex task can be accomplished, if the involvement from top to bottom is present in the organization.