Implementation of a Digital Continuous Improvement Structure in a Biopharmaceutical Plant

The project aims to implement a digital structure for continuous improvement in a biotechnology manufacturing plant. The changes are focused to the daily tiered huddle boards, the creation, tracking and storage of A3 initiatives, and the collection of impactful actions to share and recognise. The project was organized according to PDCA framework, following and continuous digital implementation in the 3 main areas of focus: Tiered huddle boards, A3 creations and management, and OpEx initiatives capture and sharing. This allowed to adjust the digital system based on feedback from voice of the customer survey. The resulting lean digital system in biomanufacturing is a connected huddle structure that improved people's engagement in continuous improvement across 7 process teams and 3 business units. The teams accomplished more than 80 A3 projects, driving cultural change, simplification, and capacity increase in the business. In addition, more than 100 shelf driven CI actions achieved up to 200 kEUR in savings. The study focuses on a 600 people workforce in a pharmaceutical company, grouped in homogeneous teams. The feedback gathered is based on Voice of the Customer sessions that are subjective and may affect interpretation. The suggestion for future developments is to integrate the continuous improvement digital system with the digital manufacturing systems for a more precise reading of the operations status. The incremental PDCA change has achieved targeted and customer-focused digital integration in biomanufacturing. The approach contributed as a change management strategy, with demonstrated social and cultural impact.