New Dimensions
With long lead time and a revolutionary new product waiting for FDA approval, Hologic knew they needed to fully integrate Lean methodologies into the facility's processes to create positive, lasting change and to develop solutions to their lead time, inventory and product flow troubles.
After eight years at Hologic, Vice President of Manufacturing, Greg Safarik, considers the Danbury facility to be a unique working environment. Danbury is the only Hologic plant that manufactures digital mammography equipment; "Our company culture is reflected by the employees' personal and professional commitment to women's healthcare. Many of our employees are connected with the products they develop, whether through a family member, friend or colleague affected by breast cancer. A dynamic, collective energy results from their dedication to excellence and the personal support of improving women's healthcare." Since the Danbury plant is frequently visited by customers, doctors, product technicians, and patients alike, employees are often able to see and meet the end users of the products they manufacture.
In 2003, Hologic employees participated in several training sessions to broaden their understanding of Lean processes and continuous improvement tools. However, sustaining continuous change and expanding on the basic foundations of Lean proved to be challenging to their resources. With the focus on meeting the expanding revenue goals and new product introductions over the next few years, Lean became less and less of an emphasis, but more and more of a necessity.
Despite meeting the projected revenue growth, Michael Parrilla, Senior Vice President of Corporate Manufacturing Operations, still felt that there was room for improvement. In 2008, while Hologic worked to develop a new line of mammography products, the Danbury plant prepared to address their battles with long lead times (averaging 60-90 days), inefficient product flow and unmet inventory requirements.
Under Michael's leadership, Greg and his team were determined to fully integrate Lean methodologies into the facility's processes to create positive, lasting change and to develop solutions to the lead time, inventory and product flow troubles. Michael and Greg knew that for Lean to be truly effective, continuous improvement tools must be built into the overall company strategy.
It was then that Michael met with Bob Colapietro and Tom Southworth of CONNSTEP for assistance in improving the current shop floor layout to accommodate the new line of mammography equipment. The Hologic team knew that to strengthen business growth, they needed to apply Lean thinking to their work practices.
Michael sought funding from the state to offset the cost of instituting Lean practices at his location. Upon reviewing the needs displayed by Hologic - basic Lean training, value stream mapping and the ability to implement these practices to improve production capacity - CONNSTEP recommended the Northeast Utilities PRIME Program as their needs aligned perfectly with the program's methodology.
The Kaizen team at Hologic represented an ideal mix of participants - manufacturing and assembly representatives were joined by planning, procurement, materials and engineering members providing the valuable input needed from all interested parties. CONNSTEP's Lean Consultant, Tom Southworth, worked with the Hologic team to establish best practices to improve product flow and streamline their shop floor layout. They sought to address inefficiencies in how products were built and identify obstacles in the need for lead time and inventory reduction. Ultimately, they aimed to drive product cost down to make their products more accessible to healthcare providers.
The Lean training took place as a companywide initiative to educate the Hologic workforce about implementing continuous improvement tools with the Lean knowledge they already possessed. The team organized a kaizen event to create a functional Kanban system and organize individual work cells as part of an overarching strategy to eliminate non-value added activities throughout the facility. They utilized Value Stream Mapping, 5S, spaghetti charts, and point-of-use storage, as well as cellular manufacturing as a model for improved workplace design.
Like most companies, Hologic encountered employee resistance when it came to altering and sometimes reducing work spaces to streamline the manufacturing process. "It's a tough sell, culturally," Greg admitted, "when you're expected to go from four workbenches to a single table workspace and from 'my area' to a shared workspace, it is not an easy transition." Yet, once the team experienced the positive results from their efforts, they realized the benefits and "the desire to participate in kaizen events increased," Greg added, "the energy was contagious and employee cross motivation was the critical element which improved the company culture and acceptance of our new Lean processes."
As a result, Hologic's Danbury plant successfully developed a new manufacturing floor layout, implementing a cellular design in favor of the batch/cell oriented process. Now all of the cells on the production floor can accommodate any of the Hologic product lines allowing for an 11% increase in total units produced, a 50% lead time reduction and flexibility in the facility's mixed model operation which consists of four product lines and 27 SKUs.
Upon reaching the future state goal within the desired time frame, Hologic found additional constraints that needed to be removed. During a follow-up NU PRIME event in October, 2010, Tom Southworth worked with Hologic to open-up an additional 6,000 square feet of floor space to accommodate the new Selenia Dimensions 3-D imaging product line, which received FDA approval in February of 2011.
These new initiatives, along with the implementation of Lean beginning in 2003, enabled the Danbury facility to increase throughput six-fold, while only doubling the workforce. The company is now adding positions in engineering, sales and production.
As a result of CONNSTEP's work in facilitating Hologic's Lean implementation, the Danbury facility realized an estimated $280,000 in cost savings and an expected $80 million increase in sales while meeting client demand with a 100% on-time shipment rate.
Lean continues to be a vital component of the company's strategy moving forward, "We've only scratched the surface," Greg admits, "that's why they call it continuous improvement. Employees see the improvements everyday which maintains the motivation and keeps the momentum going."
This spring the Danbury facility plans to continue their formal training with the CONNSTEP Lean and Green program, Training a Green Collar Champion, and become more environmentally focused through developing the skills needed to lead workplace-based sustainable practices.
Progress in the Danbury facility has spearheaded a corporate effort to incorporate Lean practices in all Hologic facilities domestic as well as internationally. "We're happy to be the 'pioneers' and share our lessons learned with our colleagues so that we all can develop the best product and provide the best user experience."