Medical Device Maker Streamlines Workflows

Our consultants developed a number of solutions designed to address the above issues.

Solution No. 1: Streamlined CIP processes

The client not only hoped to recover the throughput gains generated during its first engagement with USCCG but also sought to catalyze additional run rate increases and eventually break the 35 million unit threshold. With this goal in mind, our consultants went to work. They started by streamlining the existing CIP processes by introducing batch readiness guidelines and implementing changeover rules. This led to a significant reduction in CIP time, giving operations and maintenance teams the structure they needed to work efficiently. The average changeover period dropped from 75 minutes to 40 minutes.

Solution No. 2: Formalized maintenance workflows

USCCG first tackled the maintenance escalation process, which was essentially nonexistent. Technicians would regularly execute in an unfocused manner, devising solutions that either did not work or served only to kick the can down the road, as it were. Some maintenance personnel would abandon tasks altogether if they could not develop a viable repair strategies. Our consultants addressed these issues by working with the staff to develop formalized escalation protocols that not only emphasized immediate action but also incentivized quality.

The USCCG team addressed technician deployment as well, for this was another significant issue hampering maintenance operations. The client relied on workforce management processes centered on a mixed group of maintenance generalists and engineering specialists.

While the former could easily float between shop floor assets, they could not take over jobs from the latter, which meant that the operation would get stuck without the right talent in some cases as a result of scheduling. USCCG swapped this model for an alternative approach wherein maintenance technicians and their colleagues from the engineering group were assigned to specific machines. This catalyzes a culture of ownership and created natural channels for escalation.

Our consultants looked also into the issue of technician competency. Skill level varied drastically within the maintenance department. While some specialists in the group displayed great technical skill, others were not as competent and sometimes degraded equipment quality while attempting to apply repairs. The USCCG team worked with internal stakeholders to bring technicians up to speed and lend them the knowledge they needed to properly maintain shop floor equipment.

Finally, USCCG looked at maintenance operations in relation to batch changeovers. Ineffectual scheduling and coordination practices were slowing batch transitions, as maintenance technicians seemed to wander in and out during these prolonged moments of planned downtime without direction and hard deadlines for completing preventive maintenance work. Our consultants developed and deployed a new model wherein maintenance teams moved to implement pre-scheduled maintenance during changeovers as quickly and effectively as possible.

Solution No. 3: Strengthen quality control operations

Like the maintenance department, the quality control group suffered from a lack of escalation workflows. While the company’s existing quality control team could effectively pinpoint defects due to engineering and production deficiencies, it could not address these root causes. USCCG moved away from this approach and got the engineering division involved. This collaborative approach allowed the quality control team to identify skewed upper and lower control limits and narrow these parameters, leading to a 15 to 20 percent reduction in defects.