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"A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON LEAN AND SIX-SIGMA IMPLEMENTATION AT VARIOUS PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES IN INDIA AND IRELAND." by Dr Bala Sneha Chavva

by Finbarr Sheehy | Oct 26, 2020
Dr Bala Sneha ChavvaThe research was set out to compare the extent of LSS implementation and different tools used in India and Ireland in various pharmaceutical manufacturing sectors. For this, the main objectives were to compare differently sized industries like small, medium and large. To achieve this, a qualitative method was implemented and the data sourcing was done by primary and secondary methods with the questionnaire being the main source of the data. A study population of 11 participants who were presently working in the pharmaceutical manufacturing sectors of India and Ireland filled out the questionnaire. The study found out that there is not much gap in LSS implementation of these two countries. Top five facilitators, barriers and benefits were summarized, with cultural differences being the most important factor to be considered among the two countries. The study also found out that there is no gap in the LSS implementation in various industries in Ireland, as the small-scale industries too were found using the tools.

 


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 Objectives:

There main aim of this research was to carry out qualitative research on comparison between implementation methods and tools used in LSS in both India and Ireland. The macro-level objectives were:

To compare the extent of LSS implementation and different tools used in India and Ireland.

To compare the differences in LSS implementation and tools in Large Vs Small- medium-sized pharmaceutical manufacturing sectors in India and Ireland.

Micro-level objectives:

To find out the factors which help in implementing the LSS.

To identify the factors that deteriorate the LSS.

To list out the possible solutions to the factors that pull back the improvement in LSS.

Methodology:

The research method selected and used by the researcher will involve the use of surveys by employees of pharmaceutical companies, knowledgeable and expert in the field of LSS, which will provide the researcher with a better understanding of the barriers and facilitate the implementation of LSS by Irish and Indian Pharmaceutical Companies. Research Philosophy: Interpretivism. Research Approach: inductive. Design: Qualitative and Quantitative.
 
Findings:

The findings of this thesis were:

The extent of implementation of LSS in India and Ireland was almost the same, there was not much difference as many other studies said while comparing a developed and developing nation.

The usage of tools is always dependant on the requirement for the projects, size of the industry etc., tools implemented in India and Ireland were compared and their patterns were analysed and found out that Ireland has a wide of LSS tools in use when compared to India, irrespective of the size of the organization.

Process map, FMEA and Fishbone were widely used and the least used tool was ridge cost analysis.

When the size of the organizations was taken into consideration, Ireland had more SME’s than in India, while India had more large-scale industries.

In India especially in the large-scale industries, LSS is implemented in the entire organization, while in Ireland, the equal number of participants opted to say that LSS is implemented in a few departments and only in their departments. But, in both countries, LSS implementation is still at infancy or not yet established in the small-scale industries or lower.

There is a very strong agreement that the cultural differences among both the countries are causing a huge variation in the pattern of LSS implementations.
 
Analysis:

A cross-sectional analysis was done on the results, for this analysis the questionnaire of 23 questions was grouped into 4 subcategories namely,

i. Demographics and Personal information: This section includes the information obtained from questions 1, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 13. Areas covered as per these questions were demographics, their present role, number of years of experience, size of their industry, similar role experience in India/ Ireland and years of experience with LSS.

ii. Knowledge on LSS: It includes questions 2 and 12 which analyze the person’s knowledge and their certification in LSS. iii. LSS Implementation in the industry: This section has got questions 3, 4, 14, 15 and 16. It briefs about the scope of LSS implementation in the participant’s organization, tools being used and their recommendations on additional tools to be used by their organization.

iv. Opinions: This section is huge and remains crucial in analyzing the results. Questions 9, 10, 11, 17, 18, 19, 21, 21, 22 and 23 belong to opinions. It gathers the opinions from the participant about the success factors/ facilitators, barriers, benefits of LSS, their level of agreement about cultural impact and benefits that LSS has done to their organization.

Conclusions:

In the end, the findings of this thesis were:

The extent of implementation of LSS in India and Ireland was almost the same, there was not much difference as many other studies said while comparing a developed and developing nation.

The usage of tools is always dependant on the requirement for the projects, size of the industry etc., tools implemented in India and Ireland were compared and their patterns were analysed and found out that Ireland has a wide of LSS tools in use when compared to India, irrespective of the size of the organization.

Process map, FMEA and Fishbone were widely used and the least used tool was ridge cost analysis.

When the size of the organizations was taken into consideration, Ireland had more SME’s than in India, while India had more large-scale industries.

In India especially in the large-scale industries, LSS is implemented in the the entire organization, while in Ireland, the equal number of participants opted saying that LSS is implemented in a few departments and only in their departments. But, in both the countries, LSS implementation is still at infancy or not yet established in the small-scale industries or lower.

There is a very strong agreement that the cultural differences among both the countries are causing a huge variation in the pattern of LSS implementations.

The major differences between India and Ireland in terms of LSS were answered by the participants who had a similar experience in both the countries, they answered this as:

- there isn’t a huge corporate culture gap, but surely there are national culture differences, India is under vigorous development unlike last century in terms of the pharma sector, the small-scale industries may not be able to enough funds and resources from the government in India, unlike Ireland.

- State of the industry.

- Levels of maturity.

- Corporate culture

- Cultural differences and ownership of the activity.

The justification for the usage of current tools and why not the other, the answers reported were:

- These tools were sufficient to cover their manufacturing activities

- To remove non-value task

- To understand the current state, to simplify processes, to ensure adequate controls are in place

- Standard tools are used, Proven track record that these tools work. Our company do not exclude any particular tools.

- The tools used have given the desired outcome

- I think they are well for our industry size

- Tools will be packed based on their application


The recommendations on other tools that the participant’s come need to implement was:

- Continuous processing with Process Analytical Tools

- Design for Six Sigma. TRIZ

- Error proofing answered by 2 participants

- Pareto charts, control charts

Majority of the study participants agreed that their organization has been benefited from the LSS in terms of waste reduction, reduction in the financial burden, increased customer compliance and quality of the products.

The top facilitators in LSS implementation were:

- Management commitment and capability
- Linking LSS to business strategy
- Training o Organizational culture and ownership and
- Leadership style.

Where is the top 5 barriers were:

- Lack of leadership from the top executives.
- Poor execution
- Fear of change in organizational culture
- Failure to recognize the need for change and
- Lack of resources.

And the benefits reported on the top 5 list were:
- Improvement in business and quality
- Standardization
- Helps in gaining experience in quality management.
- Organizational growth and
- Ensuring compliance.

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