Lean Pharma Evolution ...

Survey shows pharma industry implementation of lean six sigma is evolving slowly. ...

... "Despite its huge popularity in the automotive and high-tech industries, Lean Manufacturing hasn't experienced the same high success rate in the pharmaceuticals industry, where complex process manufacturing processes are used. This is according to the results of a recent survey of more than 1,500 pharmaceutical manufacturers conducted by Invistics, a developer of manufacturing performance optimization solutions for complex, asset-intensive industries.


The recently conducted 2006 survey showed that while more than half of the respondents said their companies have implemented Lean, Six Sigma or Operational Excellence, less than half of those Lean initiatives have produced satisfactory results. This is due to the fundamental complexities of the pharmaceutical manufacturing process, which produce challenges not found in simple high-volume manufacturing plants that can dedicate production equipment to specific product lines, such as automobiles and computers. " ...

Via Invistics: Traditional Lean Manufacturing May Not Be Rx for Pharmaceutical Companies ...