Lean Manufacturing Works for Pfizer in Ireland

Lean manufacturing works, not only for manufacturing processes, but also in quality control labs. Laboratories are, obviously, very different from manufacturing environments and require specific adaptations of the generic lean approach. With the proper adjustments and adaptations, lean manufacturing can benefit labs in terms of both productivity and speed. And Pfizer's labs at its Grange Castle, Ireland, site are proof.

At the March 2010 PDA Annual Meeting in Orlando, Ciaran Crosbie, Operational Excellence Specialist at Pfizer's Grange Castle facility, delivered an address titled "The Search for Efficiencies in Your QC Labs – The Future is Lean" (Paul Thomas, "PDA 2010: Pfizer Lets Its Lab Flow," pharmamanufacturing.com). In it Crosbie delineated the process of implementing lean manufacturing at five labs in Grange Castle, as well as explaining why it was done and what benefits resulted from the implementation.

But first, here are just some of the benefits for Pfizer's Grange Castle labs:
• Consistent performance that reliably meets the needs of the business
• Equitable and transparent division of labor within labs
• Fewer "fires" to put out
• Less required tracking of samples
• Decreased need for planning and scheduling by supervisors
The overall assessment is that the eight-month "leaning" of these labs has been measurably successful.
This successful lean implementation was initiated because, according to Crosbie, it was time for change at the facility: it was moving past the start-up-site stage and becoming a "steady-state production facility." The early focus was on speed, but the focus was shifting to "efficiency and cost-effectiveness." Pfizer has been using lean techniques for some time, and "you can and should apply" them in labs. But, as Crosbie trenchantly noted, "Pfizer is not Toyota, and labs are not the same as manufacturing environments."

Some of the lean principles deployed at the Grange Castle labs included bridging the gap between leveled demand rate and the staffing level and thus eliminating that form of waste. In addition, lab managers enforced creation of flow and used it to reduce throughput times for samples. Managers also ensured queuing time for leveling by using differences between throughput time and lead time. As a result, lab capacity and resources were more amenable to control.

Another key component in this, Crosbie explained, was the effort to provide lab techs visual verification and updates concerning their efforts. An efficient visual management system eliminates several risks, for example, losing samples and bottlenecks. With the proper visual management, "[a]s soon as you walk in the lab, you can tell how many tests are being run, how many samples per batch, how many samples per assay . . . all the information is right there. It's not very high tech, but it worked."

Pfizer's successful efforts at implementing lean manufacturing techniques—in five labs at Grange Castle in only eight months—was accomplished as a two-phase process. In the first, and perhaps most important, phase management utilized the expertise of qualified consultants. The chief objective in this phase was to "fully internalize the learning from the very start." Then, after first-phase goals had been realized, internal staff took over to conduct the second phase.

The experienced lean manufacturing consultants with Smart Consulting Group have as their goal providing "the competitive edge you need to be the market leader in medical products."


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