Case studies

Relevant service: Total Productive Manufacturing

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Adapting TPM to a Laboratory Environment

About the Company

Our client is a Global Biopharmaceutical company that develops and produces medicines and vaccines for oncology, cardiology, immunology, endocrinology, and neurology.

The Challenge

The company decided to target TPM not only in their manufacturing operations but their laboratory operations as well. This was due to the processes within the laboratory being identified as “bottleneck” processes for internal customer delivery because of reliability issues within the analytical equipment operation.

What We Did

As part of the organization’s global transformation strategy, we applied the 11-step model to their laboratory and quality assurance functions. Our work began with an in-depth analysis of equipment bottlenecks to identify pilot areas for improvement. We gained organizational buy-in for the TPM approach, ensuring alignment and commitment to the process. Implementing TPM’s five founding principles was central to driving change, and embedding effective standard work and best practice routines within laboratory operations. By collaborating with laboratory analysts, we developed a deeper understanding of equipment criticality and standard conditions, fostering sustainable improvements in performance and efficiency.

Results

The implementation resulted in a significant increase in High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) OEE from 20% to 40%, enhancing the efficiency of analytical equipment and reducing re-testing caused by equipment failure. Improved equipment reliability led to better internal and external customer delivery performance across the organization. Laboratory analysts became more equipment-conscious, fostering greater ownership of equipment conditions and effectiveness. Enhanced knowledge of equipment functionality also strengthened problem-solving capabilities. Over the last two years, the laboratory has experienced a substantial reduction in breakdowns, leading to lower costs for "bought-in" services and eliminating the need for further capital expenditure