Title: An integrated approach of Six Sigma and QSAM methodologies for a pharmaceutical company: a shipment improvement process

Authors: Luis Rocha-Lona; Silvia Edith Alvarez-Reyes; Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes; Vikas Kumar

Addresses: Business School, National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico City, 11340, Mexico ' Hospira S. de R.L. de C.V, Mexico City, 01376, Mexico ' Centre for Supply Chain Improvement, The University of Derby, Kedleston Road Campus, Derby, DE22 1GB, UK ' Bristol Business School, The University of the West England, UK

Abstract: This paper presents a shipment improvement project in a pharmaceutical company to reduce distribution costs of a set of products shipped to Germany. The project consisted in the diagnosis and improvement of the shipment process through the deployment of quick scan audit methodology (QSAM) as a precursor to Six Sigma implementation. The original sample-shipments process was analysed to improve it and achieve the targets based on optimised sub-processes. The results showed a set of non-value added activities in transportation, motion, waiting, defects and the sub-utilisation of people. Based on the application of quality tools such as VSM, CFD, VOC, CTQ-Three under the Six Sigma approach, the improvements achieved a 26% reduction in cycle time, and no complaints from customers were reported since the implementation. A control plan was deployed to track shipments and maintain open and close communication with the customer. The resulting benefits had a significant impact on reducing distribution costs.

Keywords: value stream mapping; VSM; quick scan audit methodology; QSAM; six sigma implementation; pharmaceutical industry; shipment improvement; distribution costs; non-value added; cycle time reduction; shipment tracking; customer communications; cost reduction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLER.2015.071743

International Journal of Lean Enterprise Research, 2015 Vol.1 No.3, pp.266 - 283

Received: 04 Dec 2013
Accepted: 21 Nov 2014

Published online: 17 Sep 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article