The Perfect Cure - Adopting Lean Six Sigma in the UK Pharmaceutical Industry

The Perfect Cure - Adopting Lean Six Sigma in the UK Pharmaceutical Industry

Does your business suffer from bloating, disorders or infirmity? Are you finding it difficult to fight off the bugs that are stopping you getting your processes to full health? You might be surprised to know that even the organisations at the forefront of researching and developing cures for a whole range of human conditions are also working to resolve potentially deadly syndromes in the corporate world as well. In the pharmaceutical industry, manufacturers adopt six sigma or lean six sigma in order to reduce their operational costs, increase their efficiency and processes and ensure they provide a great service for their clients.  GlaxoSmithKline, the world’s second largest pharmaceutical company, head-quartered in the UK implements Six Sigma as one of its approaches to a range of different tasks in several departments to increase operational efficiency.

The Lean Six Sigma methodology allows businesses, like GlaxoSmithKline, to adopt process improvement strategies that focus on delivering near perfect products and processes, by reducing defects. For example, in the pharmaceutical industries Lean Six Sigma can improve research and development projects and ensure that cycle time is reduced, improve sales and marketing initiatives and reduce manufacturing costs and processes to maintain profitability.

Every business that is involved these functions -  R&D projects, sales and marketing, manufacturing or administration, knows that quality within their industry is extremely important, but within the pharmaceutical industry it is essential, because lives and reputations are at stake. 

Therefore when it comes to developing and manufacturing medicines it is essential that quality is maintained at all times. Building quality in the manufacturing process is an integral part of Lean Six Sigma, as it enables pharmaceutical companies to successfully integrate the correct IT infrastructure which relies less on human checks and more on automated ones – leaving less room for problems and errors.  From an administrative point of view, automated checks enable pharmaceutical companies to collect data, quickly and easily without over collecting the data or making mistakes.

In the case of GlaxoSmithKline, adopting the Six Sigma methodology enabled them to cut their production time for a particular product from 120days to 30 days, saving the company significant production time and costs. By investing in Six Sigma GlaxoSmithKline was able to meet and exceed their client's expectations which allowed them to take on new contracts and challenges.

The introduction of Lean Six Sigma can guarantee quality, cost savings and improved processes. It may even have further effects in the pharmaceutical industries, including reducing and health safety incidents and improving environmental performance as well as substantial business returns. As technology becomes increasingly integrated into our day to day lives and business developments, exploring methodologies like Lean Six Sigma is becoming increasingly worthwhile for any pharmaceutical manufacturer. 

If you want to find out more about how our Lean Six Sigma courses can improve your pharmaceutical company, give us call today on: 0800 0354 348.