Doing more with less. What company wouldn’t sign up? Well, the key is applying the Lean methodology created by Toyota in the 1950s but adapting it to each company’s culture and sector.
Lean is based on an organisational system that improves long-term efficiency and sustainability using a series of tools recommended by experts. In Catalonia, companies like Kern Pharma, Leanbio Pro and Qiagen are pioneers in making this philosophy part of their day-to-day business.
All three of them shared their experience at the Lessons Learned session hosted by CataloniaBio & HealthTech on 24 October at the Barcelona Science Park. “Continuous improvement is one of the goals of companies and organisations in the healthcare and biomedicine sector,” noted Judit Anido, CataloniaBioHT board member and general manager of Mosaic Biomedicals, in her speech welcoming the more than 30 directors, heads and technical supervisors of research, production, operations and quality departments at pharmaceutical corporations, biotech or medtech firms, CROs and CMOs that participated in the session.
Francisco Gil, founder and CEO of the consulting firm Leanbox, opened the debate by explaining that “to make a company Lean, we start off analysing their processes to find out which ones add value and which are just costly. After that, it is a question of using constructive thinking to ask, ‘how can we be more efficient’ instead of ‘why do we have to do it’,” explained Gil. It can take between three and five years to make this change. Leanbox has carried out more than 50 Lean engineering, consulting and training projects with start-ups, SMEs and multinational corporations.
The Lean methodology can be integrated into all areas, from design (Lean Biodesign) to production Lean Manufacturing or Lean Bioproduction). A good example of this transversal use of the philosophy is Kern Pharma. “We started off re-thinking the processes in all our departments and changing our internal business culture,” explained Rosa Torres, project manager for Generics and Biosimilars in the Strategy and Development Department of this pharmaceutical company that currently has more than 900 employees and subsidiaries in Portugal and the United States.
To get the whole team involved, it is very important to choose the right Lean Leaders and a coordinator for them. We recommend choosing determined professionals, with personal initiative, who know how to lead with both the carrot and the stick.
Andreu Soldevila, co-founder and CEO of Leanbio, explained how at Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) “We have incorporated it as our business model. So, our processes are under control and we lower the risks and development times for biological products for our clients.” Soldevila believes that it is harder for those who don’t implement the Lean methodology to reach the market, “because preventing cost deviations and optimising development times are critical to a company’s success.”
“I learnt the Lean method at Grifols. In 2015, I joined the start-up STAT-Dx, where we also used it. It has helped us grow and also has a great motivator: continuous improvement,” explained Àlex Boada, head of operations for Qiagen Barcelona. In fact, Lean is based on respect for people, getting them involved in improving the work process.
During the debate, some participants mentioned the 5S (Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu and Shitsuke). In English, these words are often translated as Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardise and Sustain. Under this umbrella, the session moderator and Director of Innovation and Pipeline Management at Reig Jofre Isabel Amat invited the speakers to look to the future. All agreed that the Lean methodology is a good way to standardise and automatise development of new health solutions more flexibly and quickly, with the benefits that this brings for companies, the healthcare system and patients.
We look forward to seeing you at the next Lessons Learned session!
What are Lessons Learned?
The Lessons Learned sessions, which kicked off in 2014 promoted by CataloniaBioHT, are a knowledge forum for professionals in the health, biomedicine and innovative medical technology arena to share experiences and reflections with experts on various strategic areas to boost the competitiveness of companies. The Lessons Learned sessions are also a great opportunity for networking. Check out upcoming sessions on the agenda on this website.
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