Making the Case for Quality

September 2010

Critical Elements for

Major Improvements
by Ted Schaar

The MEDRAD packaging team worked 685 hours of overtime in 2007 and 443 hours in 2008. In
At a Glance . . .
addition, two temporary employees were needed each year to keep up with the workload.

• The MEDRAD Critical Overtime and expenditures on temporaries added up to a total of $40,000 in 2007 and 2008.
Elements improvement team
employed IMAGES®, the Many organizations face production problems such as excessive overtime at higher-than-normal labor
company’s trademarked rates and a reliance on temporary workers. MEDRAD’s successful packaging area improvement
continuous improvement project shows what can be done to rein in these costs.
methodology, to focus
on processes in the
packaging area.
About MEDRAD
• The team reduced
expenses by $160,000
MEDRAD Inc., headquartered in Warrendale, PA, designs and manufactures products used in medical
annually by using Six diagnostic imaging. Founded by a physician-entrepreneur in 1964, MEDRAD is now a business of
Sigma and quality tools, Bayer Medical Care, which acquired it in 2006. The company has approximately 1,700 employees and
including brainstorming offices in 17 nations.
techniques and a
solution priority chart. Forty-two MEDRAD injector, pump, and coil products are readied for shipment in the 8,888-square-
• The team also eliminated foot packaging area, which is part of the Heilman Center, a 154,000-square-foot MEDRAD
excessive overtime manufacturing facility in Pittsburgh.
and the need to hire
temporary workers on
an annual basis.
Injectors are delivery devices used to inject contrast dyes into patients undergoing CAT scans or MRI
procedures. Product names are Stellant, Provis, and Spectris Solaris EP. Pumps such as the Continuum
regulate the flow of dyes. Coils go over a patient’s head, neck, and shoulders and help to facilitate
scanning procedures. An example is the NVA-8 high-definition coil.

The packaging area is a first-shift operation where five assemblers called packaging clerks place
products in foam molds and deposit them in cartons. Literature such as operator instructions and
accessories are added; the box is then sealed and transferred to the shipping area.

Why Quality?

In early February 2009, Shawn Simpson, a process analyst and leader in the packaging area, was
concerned about the overtime and temporary employee costs and decided to take action. “I talked with
Lori Smith-Sakalousky, the manufacturing manager, to see if she would approve an improvement
project,” he said.

Her reaction was “very positive,” Simpson recalled. Simpson and Smith-Sakalousky felt that making
the packaging area more efficient would advance progress toward three corporate goals: improve qual-
ity and productivity, exceed the financials, and improve employee satisfaction.

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 Smith-Sakalousky arranged for other process leaders to fill in Getting Started
for Simpson as needed so he could manage the project. She also
apprised upper level managers and received their support. After writing a project charter to set expectations and goals, the
team created a solution priority chart and listed tasks on an
Simpson credits his action log. The focus would be increasing the packaging area’s
The Critical Elements Improvement Team
ASQ membership ability to meet its objective without overtime or temporaries.
with helping him
Team priorities were maintaining conformance to requirements
learn about many
and improving productivity. Exceeding the baseline capacity of
of the quality tools
500 units per month by 20 percent was a primary goal.
and approaches he
used in the project: Simpson had read the book Toyota Culture, and the observation,
“I’ve gained a great “Toyota trains employees like they are surgeons” stuck with him.
deal from seeing The Toyota approach calls for extensive classroom training and
From left to right:
Mike Bann, packaging clerk presentations at a support staff that supplies the tools needed to be successful.
Jeff Balog, procurement supervisor ASQ conferences
Dominic Cicchirillo, electromechanical engineer “There were similarities at MEDRAD,” Simpson said, “but I
and applied many
Ken Utiss, packaging clerk didn’t feel like a surgeon when I went into the packaging area
Jim Vida, packaging clerk of the techniques I
at the Heilman Center. I felt like a scientist. It was a discovery
Mark Suhanin, packaging clerk became acquainted
process. We were sitting down with managers and trying to
Shawn Simpson, process analyst with through ASQ
Dave Yaksetich, packaging clerk figure out how to improve the process, creating theories and test-
to build our project.” ing them. We were experimenting to find the critical elements
that lead to major improvements.” This is how the project name
He is also a Six Sigma Green Belt. “MEDRAD’s Six Sigma training
Critical Elements originated.
is called the Green Belt Wave,” Simpson said, “and it’s a combina-
tion of classroom and hands-on training.” Online coursework is taken Stakeholders
through MoreSteam University.
Nine kinds of internal stakeholders were identified as business
An earlier improvement effort had already produced major partners of the packaging team: multi-vendor service, service,
changes to the packaging area. planning, shipping, procurement, plant management, perfor-
mance excellence center, the Finish Goods Area Optimization
“Before that project, employees specialized in packaging certain Project, and manufacturing engineering.
products,” Simpson said. “It was determined that if everyone
was cross-trained, so all clerks could package any product, The Finish Goods Area Optimization Project was another
efficiency would improve. It became more of a team effort.” improvement effort running parallel to Critical Elements.

Assembling the Improvement Team The project team created a stakeholders analysis chart (Figure
1) to give each stakeholder a ranking and to create a method of
Simpson asked the five packaging clerks who work in the area to engagement. “We wanted to determine what areas and people
we would impact and rank them,” Simpson said, “So we met
join the improvement team along with two others.
with every group in the plant.”
Dominic Cicchirillo, an electromechanical engineer, was invited Figure 1—Stakeholders analysis
for his track record in packaging. He is also a Six Sigma Black Relationship to Project Priority
Belt who has helped implement numerous improvements and Stakeholder Is affected
Can Has
Provides
Has Method of
influence useful decision Total Rank engagement
mentored others on how to use project tools. by outcome
outcome expertise
resources
authority
Internal
Jeff Balog is a procurement supervisor who was chosen for his MVS 1 1 1 1 1 5 10 Inform
procurement expertise and leadership skills. Service 1 1 1 1 1 5 9 Inform
Planning 1 1 3 1 1 7 8 Advisor
Shipping 3 1 1 1 3 9 7 Inform
“We have a limited amount of area and were trying to figure out
Procurement 3 1 3 1 1 9 6 Team
ways to free up space,” Simpson said. “Jeff understood what we Plant Management 3 1 1 1 3 9 5 Sponsor
could do and what was off limits. For example, he knew what PEC 1 1 3 3 1 9 4 Steering
items we needed to order in large quantities and store to get the FGA Optimization
3 1 3 1 3 11 3 Inform
Project
best pricing. We couldn’t do anything about those things. Jeff Mfg. Engineering 1 3 3 3 3 13 2 Team
helped us focus on things that we could change.” Packaging Team 3 3 3 3 3 15 1 Team

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IMAGES® Continuous Improvement Methodology Measuring Process Waste and Analyzing Causes

The Critical Elements project team followed MEDRAD’s Time studies were proposed as a means of analyzing process
trademarked continuous improvement methodology IMAGES®: steps and identifying waste. The team needed to quantify how
much time was spent obtaining parts, putting parts away, work-
• Identify the problem ing on the computer, conducting necessary transactions, and
• Measure the current state
taking parts to storage locations in the shipping area.
• Analyze the root causes
• Generate potential solutions “We package 42 different products, and I needed help,” Simpson
• Experiment and then Execute proven solutions said. “Kennametal Center for Operational Excellence personnel
• Sustain improvements over time were conducting training at our plant, so I asked for resources to
complete the time studies. They provided interns.”
“IMAGES was our foundation throughout the Critical Elements
project,” Simpson said. The interns observed employees like Jim Vida, a packaging clerk.
“Every morning I walked across the warehouse to the MR storage
Brainstorming to Identify the Problem
location, which is 130 feet from the packaging area,” Vida said.
“I chose to have a brainstorming session early to kick off the “I’d compare the quantities of each product against the stocking
project, because I thought it was important to understand the levels and write the part numbers down on a priority list.”
voice of the customer,” Simpson explained. In this case, the
Another example of waste the team identified involved the
voice of the customer was the packaging team itself, so Simpson
Spectris Solaris EP battery, a high inventory item. “Through the
says he posed a simple, boiled-down question: “What stops us
analyze phase, we found we were carrying 963 batteries. Our
from packaging more units?”
safety stock level was 87 with a minimum order quantity of 200
The brainstorming session led to the creation of the affinity pieces,” Simpson recalled.
diagram shown in Figure 2. The team employed the Post-it® note
method and grouped waste into five categories: waiting, motion, One Spectris Solaris EP battery powers an injector and is shipped
process, resources, and inventory. with the product. It’s about as long as a laptop and five inches
high. Production and service demand inventory for the battery was
“The affinity diagram was our road map to the measure and stored in the packaging area. The project team met with service
analyze phase,” Simpson said. “All of the areas for improvement personnel to discuss the high inventory of EP batteries.
were identified.” Stocking levels for magnetic resonance (MR)
products were analyzed first. The service department was driving demand through the SAP
(systems applications and products in data processing) system,
Figure 2—Affinity diagram but it was not taking the parts on a monthly basis. This turned out
to be a major cause of the inefficiency the team was targeting.
Waiting Motion Process Resources Inventory
Figure 3—SAP times compared to overall time
60
SAP Time
Uneven Time spent Teamwork Blocked due
Not close
flow from on SAP in packaging to cycle 50
to parts Injector Times MR Times
production floor backflushing area counting
24%

WASTE
35%
Process 40
Time in Minutes

Lack
ck of
Getting units Time spent
Inefficient
nefficie visibility to Part
near the end on goods 30
layout
layou production shortages
of the day issuing parts Time Spent On
output
SAP
Backflushing 20
oduction is
Production
Time spent Shared
slow the
ow at th Transporting
making
aking boxes parts
arts w/MVS 10
i i of
beginning units
i to FGA
and molds and service
the month
0
Vistron

Solaris EP

Provis Pedestal

Avanta

XDS

Avanta Kits

Contiuum

Certo
Provis Rack
Stellant

Music Box

Extra labels High inventory

applied and space
to boxes constraints

Maintaining Product Names

stocking levels
Final Root Cause – Need to align skill
for MR products
sets within Electro-Mechanical Plant

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Figure 3 shows how much time the packaging team spent on SAP The planning department provided a report that showed material
transactions. When packaging an injector, for example, SAP trans- number, description, unrestricted stock (which is the product on
actions consumed 24 percent of a packaging clerk’s time. the shelf), and the safety stock levels. The report could also be
sent through e-mail at a prearranged time.
Time at computers completing SAP transactions was identified
as an obstacle to packaging work efficiency. The Critical Elements team met with materials management
and manufacturing management, presented time study findings,
“It was a large piece of our cycle time that we wanted to eliminate,” and proposed transferring responsibility for making a computer
Simpson said. “We had a cross-functional meeting with different record to the materials management group.
levels of management. They were supportive, but it was difficult to
accomplish. So we formed a sub-team to figure out ways to do it.” Materials management agreed with the proposal. During the
cross-functional review, the team formed a second sub-team to
The team created a fishbone diagram to ensure it had identified develop the potential solution. Simpson led the new sub-team
all root causes. The fishbone helped team members zero in on and invited representatives from materials management and
root causes such as wasted time on the computer and walking to packaging to join.
obtain needed parts.
“The Critical Elements team and the sub-team had a brainstorm-
A simple process map for the Spectris Solaris EP battery line ing session, created another process map, and developed a
(Figure 4, top half) showed that goods flowed from the supplier proposal,” Simpson said. “It showed the times for the injectors,
to quality control incoming and then to packaging, where they which was our focus due to the higher volume of injectors as
were stored until service had what it needed. compared to MR products. Our proposal specified a 16-percent
reduction in injector cycle times.” (See Figure 5.)
Mike Bann worked in the injector packaging area. “Usually we
got 200 batteries in, and my first step was to verify the batch Product Delivered to Service
codes,” he said. “Different batch codes were placed on different
pallets. Once the batteries were separated, I wrapped each pallet To eliminate waste and increase value added, product would be
and tagged it with the quantity and batch code before putting delivered directly to service instead of the packaging area, as in
the batteries away. When I had a service request, I matched the the bottom half of Figure 4. This freed up space in the packaging
quantity with one of the batches on-hand.” area and eliminated the need to handle material twice.

On-hand material for 14 days of production was needed. This The new stocking level report that would be used to eliminate
was longer than what was typical and required storage space for motion waste lists the material number and material description.
12 pallets. Doubling the handling of material and adding storage Now, packaging clerks receive an e-mailed report that shows
space were not acceptable solutions because both added costs. how many products are in stock and will need to be packaged
during a shift. Previously, packaging clerks had to walk to a dif-
Generating Solutions ferent area to check inventory.

New Report A report for a two-week period was printed and counts on the
warehouse shelf verified. No discrepancies were found, and this
Simpson met with the planning department and asked if a report produced 42 hours of savings annually.
could be created through SAP to eliminate the non-value-added
motion waste associated with maintaining stocking levels. Figure 5—Sub-team proposal for transfer of SAP to
materials management
Figure 4—Process map for Spectris Solaris EP battery 8 Transfer of SAP
QC Incoming Packaging Area Service
7

WASTE
Process
Time in Minutes

Longer Lead Time, 14 days 5

Greater requirement of storage
space, 10-12 pallets 4
Double handling of material Time Spent On
Supplier Additional Cost SAP 3
Backflushing
2

1
Value- 0
Vistron Solaris EP Avanta Stellant Provis Provis
Added Rack Pedestal
QC Incoming Service Current Time Product Names
Potential Solution Proposed Time 16% reduction of cycle times

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Daily Meeting • Improved communication through daily meetings with
business partners
“When we created our affinity diagram, we identified resource waste,
which was a lack of visibility to production output,” Simpson said. “Ultimately, we more than accomplished our goal,” Simpson
“We took a look at our SIPOC [suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, reflected. “We’ve eliminated all SAP transactions and have
customers] map and decided to invite one of our business partners achieved a 24-percent reduction in cycle times.”
to a new daily meeting. This was initiated after we received training
conducted by the Kennametal Center for Operational Excellence.” To help sustain the improvements, the team developed a 6S
auditing format for packaging by creating a binder of digital
The daily meetings brought two groups together and helped each pictures that illustrates how key areas should look. The Critical
understand the other’s unique requirements and how one group’s Elements project was officially closed in July 2009.
work impacted the other group.
Along with providing many benefits to MEDRAD, the Critical
Electrical Safety Test created a list of all the products that were Elements project was a finalist in the 2010 ASQ International
ready for test and brought it to the daily meeting. Packaging would Team Excellence Award process.
know how many of each product it would receive and could ask
Electrical Safety Test to verify products in a particular order. Employees Want to Solve Problems
“We chose the Final Test Group,” Simpson said, “since it was
Simpson summed up what made the project successful: “We
required to perform a final test on all of our injectors, and they
listened to the experts, established the voice of the customer
would know what the packaging team would receive on a daily
early, and defined our scope.”
basis.” This meeting improved communication and helped to
decrease non-value-added activities. He concluded by saying that MEDRAD employees have shown
that they want to solve problems, drive down costs, eliminate
Solution Summary
waste, and reduce how long it takes to perform a task. “Mainly,”
Before moving to the execute phase, the team reviewed its prog- he said, “our employees want to and can do a great job! They
ress. Simpson recalled, “We listed our potential root causes, final just need the means and support.”
root causes, and potential solutions and wondered if the solution
would enable us to hit our targets.”
For more information:

The table in Figure 6 lists the expected tangible and intangible • Contact Shawn Simpson at [email protected].
benefits for each of the team’s four solutions. • Visit MEDRAD’s website at www.medrad.com.
• Learn about the ASQ International Team Excellence Award
Stakeholders involved in developing a solution for reducing process at http://wcqi.asq.org/team-competition.
inventory and eliminating the non-value-added steps for the bat- • Along with insights and ideas gained through his membership
tery were suppliers, the planning department and packaging team, in ASQ, Simpson said MoreSteam University and the
QC incoming, and service. Kennametal Center for Operational Excellence were
resources that helped the Critical Elements team succeed.
Results
About the author
The improvements recommended by the Critical Elements team
were implemented with the following tangible impacts: Ted Schaar is a freelance writer who has written on quality topics
ranging from statistical process control to 5S. A graduate of the
• Savings of $160,945
University of Wisconsin-Madison, he resides in Brookfield, WI.
• New layout incorporating six new products while reducing
overall space by 48 square feet Figure 6—Expected benefits of solutions
• Increase in packaging team capacity by 35 percent Solution Tangible Benefits Intangible Benefits
• Improvement in customer satisfaction through greater • Greater control of the process
ownership of storage locations within the plant Transfer of SAP
Reduce cycle • Greater ownership of storage
times by 16% locations for the materials
• Improvement in employee satisfaction by eliminating management group
non-value-added steps Daily meeting with
Eliminate non-value- Improved communication
business partner
added steps between business partners
(Electrical Safety Test)
Intangible impacts were:
Reduce non-value-added
SAP report walking time by 15 Information delivered to the user
• Reduced process waste minutes per day
• Better alignment of core competencies within the Reduce order and
Savings of $100,000
Reduce non-value-
Heilman Center safety stock quantities added process steps

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