What is Operational Excellence (OpEx)?
Operational Excellence is a discipline the team at Pillar5 has used to streamline the delivery of our products and services to our customers. Our OpEx program is led by a Six Sigma Master Black Belt (MBB) with over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry.
Our OpEx program evolved from a legacy Six Sigma focus to incorporate various Lean manufacturing strategies. From Six Sigma ideas, we developed methods for reducing process variability. From Lean principles, we discovered ways to reduce process waste. Today, the OpEx program is a key tenet of our Class A operating system.
The approach established by the Lean Six Sigma program is built into the DNA of the Pillar5 team — it has been a company-wide effort to achieve continuous improvement and add value for our team and our customers.
Six Sigma
Our team implements the following Six Sigma methodologies:
- Trained Yellow Belt (YB), Green Belt (GB), and Black Belt (BB) personnel.
- Executed numerous YB, GB, and BB projects.
- Embedded Six Sigma culture to reduce process variability and eliminate defect root cause.
Lean Manufacturing
Our team implements the following Lean manufacturing methodologies:
- Value Stream Mapping (current and future state).
- Visual management tools implemented in various areas of site, including:
- 5S (Sort, Set In Order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain)
- FIFO lanes, supermarkets, visual management white boards.
- SMED (rapid changeovers)
OpEx Strategic Programs
Our Operational Excellence approach includes a number of strategic programs, including:
- Value Stream Mapping — Designed to shorten cash-to-cash cycle, reduce variances, increase capacity, and identify key strategic projects for the organization.
- Benchmarking — Conduct rigorous benchmarking within (and outside) of the pharmaceutical industry to ensure we maintain best practices.
- Instill Operational Excellence — Ensure the OpEx is part of our DNA at all levels of the organization, in order to build a workforce fully engaged in continuous improvement.
Want to learn more about approach to operational excellence? Contact our team for more information.
