Reduction in Packaging Wastes Through Identification of Lean Wastes to Deliver Efficient Waste Controlling Techniques for a Pharmaceutical Industry

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to propose a method of reducing material and time waste during packaging in the pharmaceutical industry. This is done by means of identifying the four major lean wastes i.e., motion, inadequate processing, waiting, and defects. These wastes are identified and reduced by means of using lean tools and proposing other cost-effective solutions that would increase process efficiency. Material waste is dealt with through selecting optimal requirements under the constraint limits of ergonomics, engineering, and machine space availability. Along with reduction in change over time, a strategy ensuring improvement in the primary packaging area was developed. The validity of this research has been brought about by means of a case study of a multinational pharmaceutical company. The proposed system proves to be highly beneficial in ensuring wastage and time reduction in changeovers. This strategy provides improved results without any new costs introduced and the production targets were met faster. There is also a special consideration given to the ergonomic aspect of the production processes.