The Impact of Lean and Modularity on Pharmaceutical Facilities in Ireland

Abstract

Modularity is a systematic process where the various modules of a system or product can be combined in multiple ways to form a different product or system while Lean is a user-centric approach that focuses on continuous improvement, waste elimination and project management. This piece of research is an exploratory study aimed at investigating the adoption of Modularity and Lean in pharmaceutical facilities in Ireland. This research analyzed Pharmaceutical production managers, quality managers and construction Engineers who have implemented Lean and Modularity in the development or operation of production facilities. A mixed method questionnaire survey was sent to pharmaceutical personnel involved in the implementation of Lean and Modularity to analyze the critical areas of Lean manufacturing and modular manufacturing within the pharmaceutical industry. The various Topics associated with Modularity and Lean such as benefits, challenges and contributing factors to implementation success were examined within the questions. The results obtained show that facilities implemented Modularity extensively in the production area and its components while there has been a moderate to extensive implementation of lean across critical areas. It was concluded that pharmaceutical facilities valued scalability, flexibility, order, and waste elimination.