Reducing Lead Times for a Large Generic Drug Manufacturer

The Challenge

•  Corporate level initiative of a large generics manufacturer to increase productivity and reduce manufacturing lead time at its key sites
•  Each site manufactures a large number of products and constantly faces tradeoffs between minimizing changeovers and maximizing flexibility to market demands

Tefen Delivered

•  OEE improvement of critical bottleneck operations by more than 25%
•  Changeover reduction using SMED techniques
•  Redesigned planning and scheduling processes to optimize lot sequencing
•  Redesigned IT tools for productivity tracking, scheduling, capacity, and staffing planning
•  Deviations and document error reduction
•  Implementation of Key Performance Indicators to increase visibility

Results

Benefits from each site varied between $2 - $5 million generated from:

•  40-60% Lead-Time and WIP
•  20-40% Reduction in Backorders
•  15-30% Increase in Capacity
•  20-40% Reduction in storage space

For further information on SMED - click here.