Enterey Launches LTAC's Lean Six Sigma Program for the Life Sciences

Enterey Life Sciences Consulting teams up with Lean Training and Consulting, Inc (LTAC) to offer certified Lean Six Sigma courses for businesses and individuals in the life sciences.

Six Sigma is a system used to train individuals to solve business-related problems in a calculated way. Created in the 1980s by Motorola, its purpose was to drive creation of error-free products. Six Sigma has its origin in statistics and rests on the idea of DMAIC, which stands for define, measure, analyze, improve, and control.

Lean methodology evolved from the Toyota Production System (TPS) that embraces the Japanese idea of the seven wastes, which, in manufacturing, includes the wastes of transport, inventory, motion, waiting, overprocessing, overproduction, and defects. The idea is to eliminate waste in order to enhance profitability.

Combined, Lean Six Sigma is a problem-solving technology aimed at reducing waste while striving for quality and continuous improvement. It's a best-of-both-worlds methodology.

LTAC founder and Certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Tom Lawless, implemented Lean Six Sigma while serving in the military. "I was an operations officer, and my job involved tracking anything that moved -- by air, truck, or rail. When I started, tracking was at about 10%, but we brought it up to around 97% using Lean Six Sigma to increase truckloads and track convoys."

Lawless also brought his knowledge of Lean Six Sigma to the business world and has been working with manufacturing companies to improve productivity for over 20 years. One case study illustrating his success is that of a private equity group who acquired a major automotive manufacturer and sought help bringing the business back to life after the acquisition.

"People called it 'Gotham City.' Not only was productivity low, but so was morale," Lawless says. "In three years, we created one of the best turnarounds I've seen over the course of my career using Lean Six Sigma." He explains, "We trained people, which is one of the key premises of Lean Six Sigma, and showed them what they need to do to be successful."

Lawless recommended a workflow change from two simultaneous eight-hour shifts to one 12-hour shift in order to reduce cost and increase efficiency. But, as Lawless describes, employees were not laid off: "Lean is not mean; we don't advocate firing people, but instead move them to positions where they can be more productive."

"We took the plant from making 60 units a day on one [manufacturing] line to 160, and each unit sold for about $1,200, so revenue was significantly increased," he adds.

In fact, Lawless stresses the utility of Lean Six Sigma for any company involved in manufacturing, particularly in the life sciences and biotech. "We can manufacture anything in the U.S. and North America at a more competitive price and with better quality than the rest of the world," he says.

With LTAC's accredited program, learning is online in a self-paced environment, allowing for more flexibility with demanding work schedules and eliminating classroom burnout. The program is enhanced with weekly webinars with Lawless, who guides learners through the material and helps them apply it to real-world problems.

According to Lawless, "All companies have their bad turns, but they come out of them a lot quicker by figuring out what went wrong and implementing change using Lean Six Sigma."

The Enterey/LTAC partnership can benefit manufacturing companies in the life sciences by providing them with the knowledge and tools necessary to create a culture of continuous improvement, creating the potential for consistent and increasing ROI.