The pharmaceutical industry has its own unique dynamic as it applies to the basic tenets driving competitive advantage for most companies: quality, cost and service. Patents coming and going, quality dictated and monitored by a governmental agency and significant R&D investments that all go to adding levels of complexities to maintaining one’s competitive advantage. Teva has certainly been more than up to the task since it inception but at Teva USA it was time to try and competitive advantage to a new level by looking inwardly.
It’s was Arnold O. Lawing’s , Sr. VP of Operations North America, vision for high performance teams at theTeva Sellersville PA. that was the spark for Lee Wagner; Director of Organizational Development for Teva USA in North Wales, PA., and John Abt, Sr. Director Mfg. Operations, at the Sellersville plant. They took on the responsibility of bringing the vision to life and then joined the ranks on the front lines to make it happen.
WHY “HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAMS”? “Generic” and “lower costs” have become interchangeable terms in the consumer’s mind. Coping with smaller margins that vary from market to market success requires insightful planning, dead-on timing and flawless execution. Teva’s past level of success has shown they’ve mastered all three aspects with no signs of slowing down. To take on the job of implementing high performance teams the same year that the company’s stock was soaring sounds like a waste of time to an outsider. Teva management knows all too well what has led to their success is not necessarily doing the things that people or the market expect but what was right for the company in meeting its strategic goals and right now. High performance teams when combined with the lean tool box were a means to gain greater predictability over already reduced margins, improve customer service and boost their competitive advantage at a time when it was raging.
WHY NOW? The truth is that the management team’s vision for implementing high performance team was not being done for the present but for the uncertainty of tomorrow. The natural tendency during good times is to become narcissistic and infatuated with the applause both externally and internally. The Teva team would hear none of it but were rolling up there sleeves to get to work to creating a blue print for the future and teams were the anchor. To say it was inconvenient at t a time when demand was at an all time high was an understatement. The future wouldn’t wait though and they went to work.
DESIGN TEAM The Design Team was a management committee of plant department managers representing a broad spectrum of plant operations from liquids, tablets, packaging, HR, etc… The Design Team was chartered with investigating and selecting the available options for implementing high performance teams which led to some spirited discussions over time. A chance conversation on a visit to another company led Lee Wagner to contact Everest Consulting Group.
Professional Coach Certification Program (PCCP) Everest Consulting Group was introduced to the Design Team to provide an overview of their PCCP coaching program for supervisors. The goal of Everest’s approach was to transform the front line supervisor from a fire fighter or babysitter to a coach. A coach who could lead their team’s to not only meeting production goals but to have each and every team member to become a change agent for the processes they owned. These goals were right in line with high performing teams and success in implementing lean and continuous improvement. Teva was going to invest their time to do it right so that when lean was introduced to the Sellersville plant floor employee involvement was not something new. Everest Consulting Group was selected to lead the project with the singular deliverable of team improvement ideas generated without middle or upper management involvement.
The Program To transform a company’s culture requires that management at all levels of the company participate. In the PCCP roll out senior management act as mentors to the line managers who are progressing through the 8 month program. The mentors are trained one month in advance of the Coach Candidates so that the mentors are in a position to assist with material and activities they’ve already discussed and acted upon themselves. This also fulfills the requirement that for real change to occur senior management must first demonstrate by their actions that they’re willing to change as well. The curriculum included monthly reading assignments on change, coaching techniques, business meetings, etc… Their were monthly four hour classroom sessions as well as one on one coaching sessions with the Everest instructor and their assigned mentor. Their were strict measurements taken on comprehension of the material, 180° surveys to record changing coaching behavior and most importantly reports that recorded and tracked team generated and implemented improvement ideas. A total of seventy-five Teva managers participated across three shifts with twenty-five fulfilling the role of mentor.
John Abt summed up the results of the Professional Coaching Certification Program at the Sellersville plant by saying, “The focus on the supervisor as a leader and coach as well as measuring tangible results have been the difference in our success.”
Results Since the requirement for promoting improvement ideas was new to both supervisor and line worker alike the decision was made to tread softly at first. Initially each team would be responsible for two per month which would come as a result of holding regular supervisor led business meetings. Many teams were generating in excess of ten improvement ideas per month. Not that each one was a going to materially change a process or save substantial sums but Teva had added a new competitive weapon to their worldwide arsenal, the brain power of 450 employees all who were now thinking of ways to make Teva a stronger competitor tomorrow. When combined with the in inventory and WIP (work in process) reductions.
Clearly, it would be naïve to paint an unrealistic picture that teams at Teva were greeted with open arms and one hundred percent energized participation. It’s a journey and requires the steadfast commitment of senior management that once you start there is not turning back, even when it’s inconvenient. In this regard the commitment of Teva’s management is at the top of any scale or chart measuring commitment. There was no turning back or even a thought of doing so once the transformation was launched. One or two managers chose to move on and works elsewhere prompted by the new job requirements and some have left the management ranks entirely and have become individual contributors. The intrinsic value of the employee was recognized and they’re continuing contributions are welcome.
TODAY- A 500% Reduction Nearly three years after the fact Teva is still on the trail and relying on high performance teams to take them to the future. John Abt has since been promoted to Sr. VP of Mfg. operations for North America and Mike Randolph has assumed Sr VP of Mfg. Operations of the Sellersville plant. Mike has since been the one to lead the charge on melding teams and lean together on the floor. Is it working? He can now report there has been a 500% reduction in inventory and WIP along with a cycle time reduction of up to 50% in some product lines and that teams played an important role in bringing these about.
Goal Mike is the first to say the journey is not for the faint of heart or easy but the above results have made it all worth it. He knows that continued success transforms an operation from tactical to strategic and that’s the part of the journey Mike really takes satisfaction in. Mike Randolph’s visual concept on how the Teva Sellersville PA will continue to achieve significant reductions in cost and cycle time in the future.
Pull/Kanban | Cellular Flow | Total Productive Maintenance |
Jidoka/Built In Quality | Point of Source Storage | SMED/Quick Changeovers |
Standard Work | Batch Size Reduction | Kaizen |
5S | Visual Controls | Value Stream Mapping |
Mike Randolph’s visual concept on how the Teva Sellersville PA will continue
to achieve significant reductions in cost and cycle time in the future.
