QUESTIONS FOR YOUR LAB APPLYING LEAN IN THE LABQuestions for your lab Question #1 Do you need to improve Speed, Productivity or Capacity in your lab? Question #2 Is your daily incoming workload unpredictable? Question #3 Is your reward for being good at your job, that you get more work? Question #4 Do you have trouble visualizing the work or understanding the true capacity of your lab? If you’ve answered yes to any of these Questions, then you should read this!Applying Lean in the Laboratory Laboratories are not the same as manufacturing environments. While the key principles of Lean still apply, there are many unique challenges involved in effectively implementing Lean in Laboratories. The number of samples arriving into an analytical lab often varies greatly from one day to the next, both in terms of the overall volume as well as the mix of sample types. Dealing with this var- iability, i.e. ‘Leveling’ is the key to Lean Lab operations. In Labs, simple, generic, Lean techniques involving “waste elimination” type improvements, rarely, if ever, deliver actual improvements in measurable performance. How can this be? If you can save an analyst 20 minutes per day, what happens that time? Does it result in more tests being completed? Usually the answer is NO! Question #1 What would you like to improve in your lab: Speed, Productivity or Capacity? There are lots of improvement projects that you can undertake which, while good to do, will de- liver almost nothing in the way of measurable improvement in lab performance. There are 3 core measurable deliverables for any BSM lab project, Speed (Lead-time), Productivity or Capacity. Lean in the Lab should not just be about applying generic techniques, but should be primarily focused on improving measurable performance. Of course people will learn valuable new skills, but firmly in the context of reducing lead time and/or reducing costs. Question #2 How volatile is your incoming workload: Do you have fairly similar amounts of work arrive each day, or very different amounts? We have implemented lean laboratory solutions in hundreds of labs all across the world. We have found that by far the biggest opportunity in any lab is tackling the volatile nature of the workload. Any experienced Lean practitioner can apply 5S and Spaghetti Diagrams but to apply Leveling in a Lab environment, you need to thoroughly understand laboratories. We have developed meth- odologies specific to the Lab environment which minimize non-value add activity and maximize throughput and velocity. Levelling workloads will typically unleash a 20% improvement in productivity. Leveling in a lab environment is not an easy thing to do, but we have developed lab specific leveling mechanisms to do just that. Question #3 How is work scheduled? Are people dedicated by test, product or project? Is your reward for being good at your job, that you get more work? The 2nd biggest opportunity in most labs is standard work. Most labs will simultaneously, over- burden some analysts with work, while underutilizing others. This is very common where volatile workloads are dedicated to specific resources. Dramatic gains are realized when the ‘waste of uneven- ness’ and the ‘waste of overburdening’ are eliminated and/or reduced. Standard Work, address these wasteful practices, and can deliver another 10-20% improvement in productivity. Often we find, that your reward for being good at your job is that you get more work and vice versa. Standard work also addresses this by giving everybody a fair balanced workload every day. Feedback from implementing standard work, after some initial trepidation, is overwhelming positive. People see that it is fair and that everyone is contributing to success of the business. What we find in Laboratories Lack of Focus Chemists and Microbiologists are typically focused on accuracy and individual test run efficiency but rarely consider the progress of the overall batch. Very often, personnel are dedicated to specific tests and there is little or no control of the progress or flow of samples through a, sometimes, highly variable testing routing. Long and variable lead times In many laboratories, we find queues in front of each test, where individual samples wait, until enough similar samples arrive to constitute an efficient test run. This approach causes long and variable lead times and, contrary to popular belief, does not result in higher productivity. Ineffective ‘Fast Track’ systems ‘Fast Track’ systems are often developed in an effort to deal with urgent samples but these often dis- rupt the cadence of the lab and frequently end up causing more delays. The proportion of samples designated as priority can easily become so large that ‘Fast Tracking’ quickly becomes unworkable. A much better approach is to re-engineer the process to improve the velocity for every batch. It can be done! High levels of WIP Most labs we see have high levels of WIP (work in progress) which inevitably results in lots of (non-val- ue add) effort being expended in controlling, tracking, prioritizing samples and in planning analyst work. Companies often respond to this situation by investing in costly IT based sample tracking solu- tions. Yet, these systems do not in themselves improve performance. The underlying process by which work is organized and moves through the lab must first be re-engineered based on lean principles. Volatile incoming workload For many labs the incoming workload is inherently volatile with significant peaks and troughs. This causes low productivity (during troughs) and/or poor lead time performance (during peaks). Very often the capacity of the lab is not well understood and there is no mechanism to level the workload. The surest way to fail is to put more work into the lab than it can handle! This may seem obvious but it is remarkable how often this is exactly what happens.Check your forward move Lean in the Lab should not just be about applying generic techniques, but should be primarily focused on improving measurable performanceBSM’s Solutions Four Key Components 1. Level the load into the Lab using a leveling ‘Q’ or other Heijunka device. 2. Apply ‘Pacemaker’ scheduling to the 1st process step downstream from the Heijunka. 3. Create Standard Work and analyst’s roles that ensures FIFO after the Pacemaker (i.e. once a sample is launched into the Lab do not let it stop or ‘Q’ again). 4. Short interval performance management (i.e. review performance daily and correct if necessary. FIFO TEST A TEST B TEST Y Approve & Release FIFOFIFO Load & Mix Leveling Pacemaker Scheduling Total Lead Time Testing Time in the Lab‘Q’ Time Incoming Workload (Volatile) Mean Results in consistent and predictable Lab performance!Question #4 Do you have trouble visualizing the work or understanding the true capacity of your lab?s We use a combination of tools such as Role Cards, to manage performance control, in combination with Visual Management and Key Performance Indicators, to develop unique tailored solutions that quickly and easily display the labs current operational status. Results The results of any Lean Lab project will depend on the chosen focus, either Productivity or Speed. Generally speaking, most projects yield benefits in both. A good rule to work to is be as productive as possible within the ‘real’ value stream constraint – in other words, be as fast as the real constraint allows you to be and the remaining benefits will come in the form of increased productivity and/or cbsmost reduction. Results from Actual Lean Lab Projects KPI/MetricFocusBeforeAfter% Improvement Lab Lead TimeSpeed15 days5 days67% Testing Right First Time (RFT)Quality49%90%84% Batch Approval to Target TimeSpeed43%98%128% Earned Hours (measure of produc- tivity) Productivity3.43 Hrs5.29 Hrs52% Samples per AnalystProductivity1737118%BSM Ireland 3013 Lake Drive, Citywest Campus, Dublin 24, D24 PPT3, Ireland T: +353 (0)1 469 3761 E: info @ bsm.ie W: www.bsm.ie BSM USA Inc. World Financial District, 60 Broad Street, Suite 3502, New York, NY 10004, USA T: +1 443 478 3903 E: info @ bsm-usa.com .ie W: www.bsm-usa.com BSM EFESO are leading Operational Excellence Experts working in the Life Science sector. We deliver significant measurable improvement across a range of manufacturing, testing and business processes. Our core competence is end-to-end ‘Value Stream Optimization’. We have developed innovative and sustainable solutions for real-world problems, via the application of best practice lean, re-engineering, and change management techniques. Copyright 2019, BSM EFESO, all rights reserved. No unauthorized reproduction without the Author’s written consent. All references to this publication must cite BSM EFESO as the author and include a link to BSM’s website. BSM EFESO is not liable for any errors contained within this document. To discuss any aspect of this briefing or your own organisation and opportunities for improvement please contact: Andrew Harte - E: andrew.harte @ bsm.ie / andrew.harte@efeso.com T: +353 (0)1 469 3761Next >