An integrated approach of Six Sigma and QSAM methodologies for a pharmaceutical company: a shipment improvement process
by Luis Rocha-Lona; Silvia Edith Alvarez-Reyes; Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes; Vikas Kumar
International Journal of Lean Enterprise Research (IJLER), Vol. 1, No. 3, 2015

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.

Online publication date: Thu, 17-Sep-2015

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Lean Enterprise Research (IJLER):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com