Tosara Pharma
Sudocrem Antiseptic Healing Cream (SAHC) is 15.25% zinc oxide emulsified water in oil cream. It has been used by healthcare professionals for over 90 years. This product is probably best known for its treatment of incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD) in babies and older people. Furthermore, it is licensed to treat eczema, bedsores, acne, minor burns and surface wounds.
By way of background, Thomas Smith first developed the product in 1931. It was launched nationally in Great Britain in the 1980s for the treatment of nappy rash. In 2011, Sudocrem celebrated 90 years of skincare for all the family. It is now available in over 50 countries worldwide.
Teva Pharmaceuticals is Tosara Pharma’s parent company. This organisation is a global pharmaceutical company serving 200 million people every day. It employs around 800 people in Ireland and has three sites in the Republic of Ireland (Baldoyle, Swords and Waterford) and a site in Northern Ireland (Larne).
Lean Project Objectives
Tosara Pharma engaged ETAC Limited in 2009 using our Lean Business Tools training programmes. While working with them over the last 12 years, their employees identified process improvements that could be made within their own work areas.
Some of these Lean projects related to Regulatory Training, Label Applicator Issues and Operational Excellence. We have been working with them on other projects since then. A brief outline of 3 of these Lean projects is described below. You can also read the full case studies below. You may also be interested in our other case studies.
Case Study 1
Regulatory Training
An employee at Tosara Pharma identified an issue regarding regulatory training. She reported that it was time consuming and everything was hand written. Subsequently, they used Value Stream Mapping to map the current process and assess the impact of computer-based training. As a result, trial results showed savings of over 70% per employee per year. Read the full case study here.
Case Study 2
Label Applicator
The company had one label applicator on the assembly line. They mainly use rolls with 3,000 labels. They are single labels and it takes between 18 and 22 minutes to use up a full roll of labels. However, it takes 3 minutes to change a roll. By using Kaizen, SMED, Kanban, Value Stream Mapping and 5S, a team member saw an opportunity to make improvements. Read the full case study here.
Case Study 3
Operational Excellence
Our final case study was identified at Tosara Pharma by the Site Production Specialist/OPEX Site Lead. Prior to 2009, Tosara Pharma could be considered a traditional manufacturing company. As the company was growing, their focus was on market growth with little consideration for all other aspects of the business. Things had reached crisis point around this time. Read the full case study here.
“The Lean Manufacturing tools (5s and Kaizen) and concepts will provide measurable profits.”