Innovation of the Week: Innovation at Merck
Posted by: meikah | 22 July 2011 | 2:44 am
This week’s edition of innovation update features the renewed focus on innovation at Merck.
A global healtchare leader, Merck wanted to make sure that they are among the successful stories in business. To achieve that goal, Merck knows that innovation is the only way to go.
Here’s what Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier has in mind and what he plans to do to achieve this.
“We must make certain Merck is among the success stories,’’ Frazier said.
Filed under: Healthcare, Innovation, Innovation Update, Merck, Pharmaceuticals
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The SixSig Roundup
Posted by: meikah | 11 July 2011 | 2:26 am
Almost a year after my last roundup, I’m bringing back again the link-loving and see what other blogs are saying about Six Sigma, Lean, Lean Six Sigma and other quality improvement processes.
Let’s start with Mark Graban of Lean Blog, who compiled Dilbert’s strips that touch on Six Sigma or Lean. The strips are amusing and at the same they make you think hard about quality strategies. Check out A Collection of Dilbert Cartoons on #Lean and/or #SixSigma!
Over at Huntington Post, Aaron Hurst shares an interview with Ellen Lambert. the Executive Vice President of the Merck Company Foundation. Ms. Lambert talked about how they are using Six Sigma at Merck to make their processes more efficient and effective. Check out The Positive Side of Negative Space: An Interview With Merck’s Ellen Lambert!
Motley Fool reports that 3M used to lead in the area of innovation. In the recent years, however, 3M appears to have lost its innovation magic when it launched Six Sigma. Perhaps, many of you will disagree but this observation seems to be valid. Check out The Innovation Magic is Gone at 3M!
At PharmaExecBlog, there is an article there that is a good follow up on the case of 3M. Kevin Duffin, senior fellow, translational sciences at Eli Lilly – and a Six Sigma practitioner was asked during the Drug Information Association panel if Six Sigma indeed stifles innovation. Some believe so, others don’t. Weight it out for yourself by checking out DIA: Does Six Sigma Stifle R&D Innovation?
An article on Vision Systems Design, even automated systems to improve inspection processes need Six Sigma. How? Find out at how software seeks to minimize false positives in machine-vision inspection systems.
Filed under: 3M, Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Pharmaceuticals, Quality, Six Sigma, Six Sigma News, Software/Technology
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AstraZeneca Improves with Lean Six Sigma
Posted by: meikah | 6 January 2010 | 8:02 pm
AstraZeneca, one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, is starting the year 2010 right. Already, it is working with Genpact to improve its processes and service.
According to an article on CIO, Genpact will be focusing on “processes affecting procure-to-pay, record-to-report and order-to-cash functions. It will implement Lean Six Sigma management and development methodology.”
Graham Russell, head of global transactional finance at AstraZeneca, said that streamlining business processes would enable the company “to improve the effectiveness” of its finance function “in driving, measuring and reporting business performance”. It would also cut operational costs.
Filed under: AstraZeneca, Lean Manufacturing, Lean Six Sigma, Pharmaceuticals, Six Sigma
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Innovation of the Week: Big Pharma for Biotech Innovation
Posted by: meikah | 19 November 2009 | 10:01 pm
For this week’s edition of innovation update, I’m sharing with you how big pharmaceuticals will be supporting biotech innovation.
If the past week is any indication, big pharma is showing that it is willing to pay for biotech innovation. On the receiving end this week, Alder Biopharmaceuticals stands to reap more than $1 billion from collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) for the development and commercialization of ALD518, a novel biologic that has completed phase 2a development for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Bothell, Washington-based Alder is granting Bristol-Myers Squibb worldwide exclusive rights to develop and commercialize ALD518 for all potential indications except cancer, for which Alder will retain rights and grant Bristol-Myers Squibb an option to co-develop and commercialize outside the United States.
Filed under: Innovation, Innovation Update, Pharmaceuticals
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SixSig Reference Feature: Lean Six Sigma and Operational Excellance at Roche
Posted by: meikah | 6 August 2009 | 8:50 pm
The Roche Group is a Swiss global health-care company. Its slogan “We innovate healthcare.” Initially, here is what the company has been doing so far:
Over 50Â projects implemented resulting in substantial cost and operational efficiency improvements
Leadership by six Black Belts, Quality Engineers, & eight project managers
- 20 Green Belt projects completed
- 85 Green Belts class-room trained
Projects included
- Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) & Waste reduction
- Efficient space utilization and Process Cycle times
- Laboratory test & compliance reporting cycle times
Read the company’s presentation to The 2009 Global Lean Six Sigma and Business Excellence Summit & Awards.
Filed under: Healthcare, Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Pharmaceuticals, Roche
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Six Sigma and Lean for Pharmaceuticals
Posted by: meikah | 4 March 2009 | 10:23 pm
I’m both surprised and worried when I stumbled upon iSixSigma‘s article, which says that for pharmaceuticals, compliance is not a true quality practice. And that their quality programs are 15 to 20 years old already. This means they are not up to date.
Isn’t this a bit alarming? We are talking about pharmaceuticals. These are the companies that bring us products for our health and well-being.
Perhaps these pharmaceuticals had not been updating their quality programs because they don’t have the right guidance and perspective. Six Sigma and Lean can do that for them.
Going back to the article, it says that Six Sigma is an opportunity for operations and quality professionals to modernize quality practices.
By improving process capability, Six Sigma sets the stage for leaner organizations. As published in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing in fall, 2004, Novartis has cut costs by 40 percent and improved cycle-times by 70 percent at its site in Suffern, New York. The company has done it by applying Lean principles not only in the direct labor areas but in supporting functions like quality, IT and maintenance. It has eliminated the need for supervisors by integrating those functions into line teams. Six Sigma is entirely compatible in that it removes the roots causes of deviations which otherwise slow up processes and add to overhead costs.
Read more about how pharmaceuticals can use Six Sigma and lean to improve their operations.
Filed under: Healthcare, Lean, Novartis, Pharmaceuticals, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations
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GSK R&D and Lean Six Sigma
Posted by: meikah | 2 February 2009 | 7:39 pm
When GlaxoWellcome/SmithKline Beecham merged in 2001, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) came to being. And like all mergers, the newly formed company has to deal with the different operating systems and processes.
GSK went into Lean Six Sigma as it was deemed suited to help incorporate the processes and develop a joint culture. Let me give you a shortline outline of how GSK went into its Lean Six Sigma journey.
- Embarked on Lean phases
- Implemented DMAIC
- Consolidated Lean and Six Sigma
Some of the lessons learned:
- It is important to capture and display baseline facts and data before an improvement activity.
- Sponsorship and senior management, and even middle/lower management, support throughout the organization is essential.
- Communication of the overall Lean Sigma programme is vital to obtain support.
- Lean Sigma approaches are particularly appropriate for optimization of bureaucratic activities in R&D.
- Sigma approaches can be useful in reducing the variability of inputs.
Filed under: Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Pharmaceuticals, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations
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Six Sigma Product Development Models
Posted by: meikah | 17 December 2008 | 8:54 pm
Product development here refers to drug development in pharmaceuticals. The characteristics of the process are:
- it is a single event unique to itself
- highly cross-functional, which needs communication, coordination
- decision making is complicated
- bring products to the market quickly
HERE is the process of drug development. And to improve the process and ensure a successful development, many pharmaceuticals go into Six Sigma.
Six Sigma models concentrate on eliminating potential sources of variation in processes. On the shop floor, Six Sigma follows what is known as the DMAIC roadmap (Define Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control). Moving Six Sigma into the product development phase would employ a version of DMAIC tailored according to the type of development structure being used and the product being developed. When Six Sigma moves to the product development phase of a product’s lifecycle it is termed Design for Six Sigma (DFSS). Three different versions of DFSS have been developed: DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design and Verify), IDOV (Identify, Design, Optimize and Verify), and DCOV (Design, Characterize, Optimize and Verify). The DMADV model has been very successfully deployed in the medical device industry, while DCOV, with its characterization phase is more suitable to in the drug development process.
Click on the image for a bigger version.
Related post:
Lean Six Sigma to Product Development
Filed under: DFSS, DMAIC, Deployment, Pharmaceuticals, Six Sigma, Tools/Toolkits
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Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Embrace Lean Six Sigma
Posted by: meikah | 14 September 2008 | 9:49 pm
Pharma Focus Asia reports:
Pharmaceutical manufacturers are looking to Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma principles to help them boost operational efficiency and improve quality, while facilitating compliance.
The reasons:
- increasing cost of research and development
- growning inefficiency in the manufacturing environment
- rising product recalls
- increasing competition from generic drug manufacturers
- declining development pipeline
Are you undergoing the same problems?
Then, maybe it’s time for you to also look into Lean and Six Sigma.
Filed under: Benefits and Savings, Lean Six Sigma, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals
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Lean Six Sigma and Process Analytical Technology (PAT)
Posted by: meikah | 17 July 2008 | 12:38 am
According to the iSixSigma article:
PAT is a scientific program designed to reduce risk and is, essentially, about improving processes for effectiveness and efficiency in the pharmaceutical industry. PAT consists of four basic components:
- Process understanding
- Risk-reduction-based approach
- Regulatory strategy to accommodate innovation
- Real-time release
From the definition alone, it’s quite obvious that it is a perfect fit with Lean Six Sigma. Because like PAT, Lean Six Sigma:
- breaks down processes to make them more manageable
- works toward streamlining processes to reduce waste or risk
- encourages and supports innovation
- improves processes to achieve efficiency
Care to add to the list of reasons?
