What are some of the general information/ facts available about the company?
Medtronic Neuromodulation is a company which manufactures medical devices which are surgically implantable for example electrical simulators, drug pumps among others. The organization is found in Minneapolis and as of 2010, the firm had an income of 1.5 million dollars. The firm has grown its experience in the trade of electrical simulations of the heart and has around one hundred and forty suppliers. Medtronic Neuromodulation specializes on creation of devices which treat issues related to the spine, pain issues and fractions of the spinal cord. In general, the firm deals with pain medication. The company has been said to use the lean approach and have been motivating other corporations to take up this direction. The firm uses the procedure of plan-do-check and (PDCA) act as a means of solving the problems of they have. Nevertheless, Medtronic has been applying other techniques of solving issues of the firm so as to follow the metrics of being lean. The management of this firm is also motivating their suppliers to employ lean; the speeches of the leaders of Medtronic such as William Hooper clearly show that they want their suppliers to follow the lean metrics and be lean (Comm & Mathaisel, 2018).
The firm strongly believes that for it to be successful, the strategic supplies also have to succeed. Hence, the firm ought to encourage the suppliers to take up the lean model also. This is because the test of field reliability which the firm conducted indicated that seventy five percent of the issues found were related to the suppliers. Moreover, the firm has been using the PDCA approach to improve the performance of their supplies. This approach has also assisted the firm in other sectors, for example, aligning the business requirements of the dealers so as to meet the needs of the firm and to create a method that is standard in the selection of goods and following on the efficiency of the suppliers and making sure that the stakeholders of the firm receive deliveries faster. The firm is said to have taken on this technique from the Toyota industry. The later is well known for treating its suppliers as their partners. Therefore, Medtronic has also adopted this approach to ensure that they minimize the issues and to treat the suppliers as their partners to improve its efficiency.
What issues or problems was the company facing?
The firm was facing many issues before they implemented the lean approach. Some of the issues include lack of the culture of continuous improvement, defects, over processing, handling big jump in demand, issues of quality control among others. These challenges are said to be related to the inability of the suppliers of the firm to meet the expectations that the firm had and the challenges of delivering to the stakeholders of Medtronic (Maskell.et.al, 2017). The firm was having a challenge of handling the big jump in demand without having to increase its expenditures. The firm had to strategically make plans on how to increase its production without having to increase the workforce. This necessitates the firm to adopt a lean transformation so as t balance their production to their expectations (Graban, 2018). The firm was experiencing an issue of over processing the items resulting in wastage and increased costs of production as indicated by Shawna Pearson. The firm realized that much of the wastes were caused by over processing after conducting an analysis that indicated that the time required to stage the apparatus in the storehouse, double bag them and prepare the labels and lids as well as takes out the outer bags was seen to be a lot thereby implying that they were over processing the items. Additionally, the firm was experiencing some leadership issues which led to the failure of the firm in its productions and coordination of the employees (Tapping & Shuker, 2018)
What lean processes or tools has the company used to address the issues?
The firm has taken up the plan-do-check act which is a methodological approach that enables the firm to strategise on its activities and resolve the issues which are present. This approach enables the firm to act on their plan of resolving the issues, calculate and assess the targeted metrics, formulate changes to attain the target and set the next actions of enhancement. Medtronic has been able to solve the issues regarding quality control through breaking down the 2000 piece batches into 50. They put these fifty pieces into bins which are passed over a table with four employees for picking and placement. The 50 unit lots serve as the quality control since the workers can now easily identify the kits with defects and place them aside. Moreover, the firm has rescued the wastages of defect products through ensuring that those kits are placed together and repaired then they are packed into the 50 piece lot after being passed on the table for cross checking. This helped in noticing the defect products and reducing the wastes while at the same time making the company’s products which are sold of high quality (Elbert, 2018)
The issue of over processing has been resolved through the built-in quality in the batches of 50 kits which enabled the firm to significantly handle the wastes and lost production whenever the employees identified an abnormality. After the implementation of the PDCA the workers were able to observe the issue of excessive wastes which were caused by over processing. This required the team members as well as their leaders to develop a culture of continuous improvement in order to solve this issue. The dramatic changes in the firm in the behaviours and practices of manufacturing, after the adoption of the PDCA helped in ensuring that the issue of over processing items was resolved. The teams were educated on the importance of manufacturing products of highest quality, within short time so as to reduce the costs of production. The training offered to them enabled them to increase their efforts towards their contributions in the firm which was very much significant in handling the issues which had increased (Tsigkas, 2015).
What goals has the company accomplished?
The firm has been able to achieve many objectives after the implementation of the lean tools and processes. The suppliers have been transformed into the partner of the firm through ensuring that they adopt the lean metrics and be lean. The training and education which was offered to the suppliers have enabled them to be more sensitive in their operations as they have been provided with information regarding how to be efficient in their jobs.
Medtronic has also been able to successfully improve its production and the quality of its products. Breaking down the lots has helped in ensuring that the employees are able to check all the products to ensure that they do not have defects and those with defects are put aside. Packing the items into 50 piece kits has enabled the firm to make sure that these products are as per the expectations of the clients. Moreover, the education and training given to team members and leader has been very essential in ensuring that their performance are improved which has been observed in the improved productivity of the organization (Bozdogan, 2018).
Moreover, the firm has been able to attain its goal of satisfying the high demand for its products. The increased production of high quality products have increased the demand for these goods which is satisfied by the firm through the improved production. The firm has been able to promote its sales and increase its revenue over the years after the adoption of the lean tools. Also, the firm has been able to increase the performance of its employees through ensuring that they are all put in teams when they work together and ensure that all the products which are put in the bags have no defects. The leaders have also been more involved in their work as the team members are supposed to report the issue they find to them and the former are obligated to resolve them and observe how the process of production goes (Akugizibwe & Clegg, 2016).
What are the key success factors at the company?
Medtronic has been able to get many benefits after being lean. Its production has increased dramatically as it has hit a 98.7 percent production even though it anticipated a 60 percent increase in production. This improvement n the firm’s productivity has been attributed to the firm’s choice to follow the lean metrics and to be lean. Moreover, the performance of the workers has been improved since the firm can now fulfil the market demand (Hernandez, 2017). The goods of the firm are being reported to be of highest quality. This is one aspect which shows that the workers are efficient in their work. The increased revenues of the firm have shown that the organization has promoted its sales while at the same time it has reduced its costs of production. The wastes have decreased which shows that the firm has successfully solved the issue of over processing products. The success of this firm has been resulted by the firm’s ability to implement the tools and process of lean management (Soares.et.al, 2015)
References
Akugizibwe, A. M., & Clegg, D. R. (2016). Lean implementation: an evaluation from the implementers’ perspective. International Journal of Lean Enterprise Research, 1(2), 132-161.
Bozdogan, K. (2018). Evolution of the lean enterprise system.Encyclopedia of Aerospace Engineering.
Comm, C. L., & Mathaisel, D. F. (2018). Implementing a lean enterprise approach to achieve business excellence.International Journal of Business Excellence, 1(4), 448-456.
Elbert, M. (2018). Lean production for the small company. Productivity Press.
Graban, M. (2018). Lean hospitals: improving quality, patient safety, and employee engagement. Productivity Press.
Hernandez, A. (2017). Just-in-time manufacturing: A practical approach (pp. 5-6). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Maskell, B. H., Baggaley, B., & Grasso, L. (2017). Practical lean accounting: a proven system for measuring and managing the lean enterprise. Productivity Press.
Soares, D. J. P., Bastos, J., Rodrigues, D. R. G., Pereira, J. P. G. T., & Baptista, A. J. C. (2015). Lean management methods in product development-a case study based on human respect with productivity focus. International Journal of Lean Enterprise Research, 1(4), 393-411.
Tapping, D., & Shuker, T. (2018). Value Stream Management for the Lean Office: Eight Steps to Planning, Mapping, & Sustaining Lean Improvements in Administrative Areas. Productivity Press.
Tsigkas, A. C. (2015). The lean enterprise. In The lean enterprise (pp. 1-10). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
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