DRL Training Report
Transcript of DRL Training Report
PROJECT ON
Understanding of
SELF MANAGED TEAMS
At
Dr. Reddy’s Labs – FTO VI (Baddi)
Submitted By: Under Guidance Of
Sadhana Centre for Management & Leadership
Development (SCMLD), PUNE
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Anagha Yeri
Roll No. 2007 B-30Mr. Surinder Pal Singh Head HRDr. Reddy’s Labs
Mr. R.K. VivekaanandaCentre for excellence in organization
Acknowledgement
I take this opportunity to extend my gratitude to all those people
who have helped me reach a platform in my life where I could put to
use all that I have learnt till date & also give me a chance to learn
more that will help me equip myself with better tools to enhance my
performance in the future.
At the outset I express my gratitude to Prof. M.S. Pillai, whose
valuable teachings throughout the two years have sown the seeds of
continuous learning in me which helped me in performing in my
project.
I would like to thank our Business Head, S. Karthikeyan at CEO
who thoughtfully gave us a project which presented us with a platform
to learn a totally new concept & thus build our knowledge. I am also
thankful to our project guide Mr. R.K. Vivekaananda & Mr. Umanath
from CEO who were always helpful to guide us during our difficulties.
I am immensely grateful to our project guide Mr. Surinder Pal
Singh Head HR, Dr. Reddy’s Labs, FTO VI who left no effort in helping
us in every aspect of our project & without whose help our project
would have remained incomplete. His timely guidance has resulted in
the growth of our knowledge about the HR functions to a great extent.
I specially thank the Self Managed Team Members as well as the
Hand Holding Team Members at Dr. Reddy’s Labs, FTO VI, who were a
great help to us in understanding the finer aspects of the SMT concept.
I am the most indebted to my parents who have been the pillars
of support & confidence for me & who have always stood behind me in
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whatever I did. They trusted me with my abilities in doing my project
outside my home city. I seek God’s blessings to strengthen me with
the ability to live up to everyone’s expectations.
CONTENTS:
1) About Center for Excellence in Organization…………………………
04
2) Abstract…………………………………………………………………..
07
3) History of SMT…………………………………………………………..
08
4) Terminologies of SMT…………………………………………………..
09
5) Difference between traditional organization & HPWS………………..
10
6) Key disciplines of SMT…………………………………………………..
11
7) Advantages of HPWS…………………………………………………….
13
8) Challenges of HPWS……………………………………………………..
14
9) HPWS Implementation approach……………………………………….
15
10) SMT systems &
outcomes………………………………………………. 18
11) About Dr. Reddy’s
Labs………………………………………………….. 19
12) Executive
Summary………………………………………………………. 21
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13) Introduction……………………………………………………………
……. 23
14) Scope of Study,
Sample…………………………………………………… 26
15) Need for the study, Significance, Objective, Method,
literature review... 27
16) Actual
Study………………………………………………………………….. 28
Centre for Excellence in Organization Pvt. Ltd.
Often an organization, after ages of its existence, despite an
established culture that has weathered the ravages of time, the
organization discovers that the world around it has transformed
without a word. Now, plans that have proved to be profitable are in
need for a revamp.
Adding to this the developing trends in harnessing and utilization of
human potential and the evolving environments of human relations
propounded by a hundred new gurus and theoreticians - Great
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solutions that just don’t look so practical when they near the
implementation phase…
Centre for Excellence in Organization realized that in these times of
hard survival what is needed are not conceptual ideas and solutions
but practical remedies that might deviate from the perceived norms
but GENERATE RESULTS!
CEO prides itself in having brought out radical changes in the business
culture and performance of many goliaths. By emphasizing the power
of human resources and handholding the client in every aspect of the
business processes, it has carved for itself an indisputably unique
niche in the consulting firmament.
Expanding its horizons relentlessly during its existence for nearly a
decade, CEO has been the catalyst for path breaking innovations in
some of the most reputed organizations in the Indian soil as well as in
Global Business.
Over the years CEO believed that no pre-packaged methods exist than
are universally applicable but rather believes in handholding to
construct the best possible solutions to the organization’s unique
culture and position.
CEO Vision
“To be the most preferred partner for holistic growth of every
constituent of Business”
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CEO Mission
“Value Exploration through People & Process Integration”
Provides Expert Services in
Creating High performance work systems
Culture building
Competency mapping and development
Performance Management System
Balance Score Card
Operational Excellence & Resource Optimization ( TQM/ TPM/
Kaizen/Process Mapping)
HR Process Re-engineering & Outsourcing
Organization Surveys
Green field turn-key recruitment
Family business
Among others
CEO Spread
As on today CEO operates across 3 countries (India, Malaysia and
Dubai) and has clients across India, Middle East, South East Asia and
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West Africa. CEO has branches in Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and
Haridwar in India, Penang in Malaysia and Dubai.
This project is being hand holded by CEO in Dr. Reddy’s Labs, FTO VI
Baddi
Abstract:
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In the challenging climate & environment, to survive in the market
place, it is increasingly apparent that one of the key to successful
organizational performance is the people within the organization, & the
management system that harness their talents & capabilities
Organizations & the way they are managed have evolved over a period
of time. Right from the beginning of the nineteenth century till today,
long living companies have adapted themselves to the changing
requirements of the market place. Earlier the culture in most of the
organizations was of hierarchy & a boss & subordinate relation existed
amongst the employees where the boss or the manager was the
decision maker & the subordinate was just an executer.
Over a period of time organizations have realized that empowering
their employees & enabling them to take the right decision will be
beneficial to the overall success of the organization in the long run.
Simply put a Self Managed Team is a group of people working
together in their own ways toward a common goal which is
defined outside the team.
The basic aim of high performance work systems or a Self Managed
Team (SMT) is to enable employees to exercise decision making,
leading to flexibility, innovation, improvement and skill sharing. By
facilitating the development of Self Managed Teams we help
organizations make continuous improvement a way of life.
As organizations move from a paradigm valuing individual work to
focusing on team efforts, the leader no longer simply manages tasks.
The role instead requires facilitating processes to create fertile team
environments. This demands a different orientation to leadership and
different skills and actions. Leadership, rather than residing in one
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person, is now "accomplished as a team function, with and through
teams.
SMT History:
In London a study was conducted by the Tavistock institute & a system
called the socio technical design was developed. The system arose
from work done in the coal mining industry. Under this study
conducted in the coal mines of London, it was observed that the
miners worked without any supervisors or any sort of technology.
Therefore in order to increase productivity supervisors as well as
technology like wireless etc. were introduced. It was however found
that the productivity decreased instead.
This was because earlier the miners worked without any supervision &
they had an emotional connect between them. With the introduction of
the technology as well as the supervisors their emotional connect was
lost.
Later, miners were formed into multi skilled work groups to support a
redesign of the way in which work was carried out underground. Teams
were made responsible for their own decisions & for the flow of their
work. The system achieved greater productivity & better morale within
the workforce.
In the USA P&G based an entire new facility on the concept of SMT’s.
the success was so spectacular that P&G treated it with the greatest
confidentiality, classifying information about their team organization &
treating it as a trade secret. Later Volvo, with the commissioning of it’s
now famous Kalmar plant, broke new ground. Teams built complete
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components of cars as manufacturing cells rather than as operators
supporting zones of a linear production line. This produced a dramatic
increase in productivity & demonstrated the power of teaming.
TERMINOLOGY:
The concept and principles remaining same, different companies have
given different terms to SMTs:
Self Managed Teams are also known as:
Socio-Technical Systems
High Commitment Systems
Technician Systems
High Involvement Systems
Participative Management
High Performance Work Systems
Self-Directed Work Teams
Empowered Work Teams
Autonomous Work Teams
Performance Development Systems, etc.
A BREAK THROUGH APPROACH TO DESIGNING WORK
HPWS represent a new approach to the way work is organized and performed.
Instead of organizing work based on the traditional Taylor model-reducing a
process to individual simple steps, work is restructured around the whole
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processes. The new system integrates the needs of the people with the work to
be done and those closest to the job help design the job. It redistributes power,
authority and responsibility so that people closest to the customer and the
end product or result have decision-making facility.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL ORGANISATIONS AND HPWS
HPWS differs from a traditional organization in structure, design,
process, communication flow, leadership roles, and reward and
recognition systems. It is a shift from individual based design to team
based design.
The following are the differences between Traditional Organization and
HPWS
Ele
ment
Traditional
Organizatio
n
Self Managed
Teams
Organizationa
l Structure
Layered/
Hierarchical
Flat/Team-based
Job Design Narrow/
Single-task
Whole Process/Multi-task
Manager’s
Role
Direct/
Controls
Coach, Facilitator
Leadership Top-down Shared with team
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Rewards Individual
Performance
Team based
Information
Flow
Controlled
and limited
Open and Shared
Job Process Managers
Plan, Control
and Improve
Teams Plan, Control and
Improve
KEY DISCIPLINES OF A SELF MANAGED TEAM:
Self-management for teams involves, a team, assuming a set of new
roles and responsibilities that have traditionally been the exclusive
preserve of managers and supervisors. As a result, when a
conventional group or team moves to become self-managed work
team, a whole host of new challenges emerge along with, exciting
opportunities. To successfully survive these challenges and achieve
self-management, the traditional team must learn certain key
disciplines of the self-managed team. These disciplines are a set of
skills, approaches, insights and practices that are to be mastered and
gradually to become self-directed. The six key disciplines are: -
1. Establish and communicate the boundaries of team
authority
Self-managed work teams should develop charters that define the
boundaries of their work and communicate to its members, to the
steering committee, to other teams and to entire organization. Every
Team member must have clarity of his roles and responsibilities and
the boundary within which the team operates.
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2. Develop Cross Functional Skills
A key factor that sets self-managed work teams apart from
conventional teams is that all members of the team are intimately
familiar with all of the tasks done within the team. All members of a
SMWT must not only understand the variety of jobs and tasks within
the team; they must also have the capability to perform each of these
tasks. Training all team members in each other’s tasks is an important
component of SMW skill set.
3. Develop Critical Thinking Skills
Self- Managed teams must critically evaluate its role in organization, its
charter, its goals, its evolving norms of behavior, its performance, its
successes, etc. A critically thinking SMWT does not settle for
yesterday's success. It is always examining its processes, its
environment, and its results.
4. Becoming Self-Directed Learners
Traditional work groups and teams depend upon the learning priorities
set by management. Self-Managed Teams must break this dependency
and define for themselves what they need to know. This must happen
not just to learn what they must do to get their job done today, but the
team has to take responsibility for identifying needed skills and
knowledge essential for their and the company's long-term success.
The team assumes full responsibility for exploring the methods and
approaches for learning to become self-directed, long-term learners.
5. Manage Team Performance
Conventional teams may be involved in goal setting and performance
evaluation, but management still plays a major role in molding these
goals and in evaluating the team's performance. A SMWT assumes full
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responsibilities for these tasks. The SMWT must therefore be trained in
the skills and knowledge of team’s performance management. This
includes the skill of goal setting, establishing benchmark standards,
evaluating performance and developing plans for performance
improvement with minimal assistance from management.
6. Manage Human Resources
In traditional work groups, management usually assumes the
responsibility for defining needed positions, recruiting the right
candidates, establishing criteria for evaluating the candidates and
orienting him/her to the job. However in self-managed teams, teams
assume full responsibility for managing its human resources. As a
result, team members must learn to master such HR skills i.e.
recruiting and selecting new incumbents, monitoring individual
performance and then taking action to correct performance plans.
ADVANTAGES OF HPWS
It has been observed that organizations practicing HPWS are on
average 30 to 50% more productive than their conventional counter
parts. The following are the advantages of HPWS:
1. Improved quality, productivity and service.
2. Greater participation, autonomy and flexibility.
3. Reduced operating costs.
4. Faster response to technological change.
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5. Fewer, Simpler job classifications.
6. Better response to workers values.
7. Increased employee commitment to the organization.
8. Ability to attract and retain the best people.
9. Improved employee quality of work life and job satisfaction.
10. Reduced absenteeism and employee turnover.
CHALLENGES OF HPWS
Most of the managers and supervisors are uncomfortable with losing
power and control over people and process. They viewed these
processes as geared at making them look weak and tend to confuse
them as roles becoming blurred. This creates a lot of resistance as
issues of accountability are challenged.
HPWS encourages substantial investment in people who become highly
skilled and thus opening a multitude of attractive opportunities that
other companies might have at levels that the parent company cannot
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afford. Those systems tend to promote predatory tendencies from
competitors who do not want to develop employees but prepared to
buy skills. Implementation of HPWS is a long-term process and requires
patience and enduring support of management and employees
through out the process. HPWS entails continuous learning and up
gradation of skills and many incur huge expenses in training the
employees. Developing HPWS requires a high degree of planning,
selecting the right team players, designing the work, training
continuously and carefully managing the shift of power and
responsibilities from supervisors to team members.
The major challenges organizations face in changing from a traditional
environment to a high involvement environment includes developing
the teams and fostering the culture of management support. Teams go
through several stages of increasing involvement on their way to self-
management. This journey can take between two and five years and is
never ending from a learning and renewal perspective.
An SMT coordinator is a facilitator. He realizes that like a seed, will be
productive only as long as they have the necessary resources.
Although, not all team members are productive, just like not all seeds
germinate, most produce results in favorable conditions. SMT
coordinator creates favorable conditions for higher crop yield.
HIGH PERFORMANCE WORK SYSTEMS – IMPLEMENTATION
APPROACH
The HPWS model would pass through various transition stages to reach
the ideal HPWS structure (with having only three layers and
supervision-less functioning). Better the maturity level of the teams
better the autonomy and empowerment.
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- The teams are configured based on VAPs (Value Added
Processes). The ideal team strength is around 8 to12 members.
- A team could be of members from across shifts or within shifts
also. Also, it could consist of members from cross functional /
section or within functional / section.
- Maintenance function generally gets disintegrated as
autonomous maintenance except for specialized maintenance
and projects. Quality team would extend support - acts as a
trainer and conscious keeper, and not as an inspector.
- Stores would remain as a centralized support team but will have
a defined resource person to support each team.
The project shall be executed in 4 stages with clear objective
and distinct approach for each stage.
Stage I Stage 2 Stage 3Step 7
Stage 4
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Step 1 Step 1 Step 1 Step 1
Studying Organization Expectations
Sourcing & Selection (Based on skill & personal qualities)
SMT Teams Configuration
Introducing Team Score card
Designing Skill Evaluation Tools
Step 2 Step 2 Step 2 Step 8 Step 2
Mapping Biz Processes (To Determine Selection Criteria & Training Module)
Institutional Training (Extensive preparation for High Performance - Technical & Behavioral Focus)
Creating Empowerment Map
Initiating Sunrise Meeting
Initiating Human Value Action Team
Step 3 Step 3 Step 3 Step 9 Step 3
Blue Print Creation (Selection, Training & Culture Building)
On The Job Training (During Commissioning)
Selecting SMT Leaders/ Facilitators
Initiating Team Meeting
Conducting Skill Assessment & Certification
Step 4 Step 4 Step 4 Step 10 Step 4
Leadership Alignment & program Launch
Conducting SMT Awareness Programs
Designing Team Score Card
Commensing Detailed skill Mapping
Initiating Open House Forum
Step 5 Step 5 Step 5 Step 11 Step 5
Forming Steering Committee
HPWS Readiness Programs
Launching of SMTs
Initiating Face to Face Review
Conducting Reviews & Audits
Step 6 Step 6 Step 12Initiating Learn Teach Learn Session
Designing Team Charter
Initiating Star Model roles
Stage 1: The pink cells represent the processes that are aimed at
diagnosing the requirement properly and aligning all the stakeholders
on the challenges and outcome.
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Stage 2: The blue cells refer to processes that are foundation for
creating the HPWS culture, which are to be carried out before the roll
out of teams.
Stage 3: The yellow cells refer to processes that are core processes of
a SMT. To start with, these can be implemented in pilot area and on
seeing results (say within 4-5 months) it can be replicated to others
areas.
Stage 4: The green cells are the advanced processes which can be
initiated only after establishing the core processes of SMT.
SMT Systems Outcomes
1) Team Formation 1. Emphasizing on team work and
team deliverables
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2. Sharing of accountability and
ownership with the grassroots
3. Facilitating performance
through coaching and guidance
(not thru
supervision)
2) Team Charter 1. Agreeing on common goals and
building synergy & team bonding
3) Team Leader Role 1. Enabling grassroots to take-up
and perform leadership role within
the
defined boundary
2. Managing through peer
management than hierarchical
powers
4) STAR Roles 1. Sharing the ownership of
delivering critical success factors
(CSF)
among the team members
2. Gaining clarity and focus on the
CSF
5) Team Score Card 1. Converting the feel good factors
into measurable business
performance parameters
2. Continuous monitoring and
updating of the team performance
and
creating healthy competition
among the teams through
benchmarking
3. Establishing objective reward
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and recognition mechanism
6) Communication
Continuum
1. SAM - Facilitating timely
exchange of information (shift
handing over
and taking over)
2. Team Meetings - Thoroughly
analyzing the improvement areas
and
preparing the SMART action plan
3. Face to Face - Reviewing the
monthly performance of the teams
4. Open House – Creating space
for transparent exchange of
information about company’s
business plan, customers, future
goals,
challenges, opportunities etc
7) SBPS (Skill Based
Progression System)
1. Enabling individuals to progress
in the career ladder through
proper
skill acquisition (Identifying value
added processes, defining skill
blocks & inventory, evaluation,
training and certification)
2. Transparent understanding of
the skill levels and its related
reward /
Recognitions
8) HVAT (Human Value
Action Team)
1. Facilitating celebrations,
perception surveys, handling
disciplinary
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issues, thinking from macro level
for higher level of team
empowerment
9) Training &
Development
1. Enabling all participants across
levels to acquire the skill sets /
qualities required to perform their
role in SMT context
ABOUT THE COMPANY:
Dr. Reddy’s Labs is an Integrated Global Pharmaceutical Company.
With a purpose of providing affordable & innovative medicines for
healthier lives, their vision is “To be a Top 20 global pharmaceutical
Company by 2020”.
Dr. Reddy’s aim is to help people lead healthier lives through two
parallel objectives:
1) making medicines affordable & accessible in all parts of the
world so that as many people as possible benefit from them;
2) Discovering, developing & commercializing innovative treatment
options that satisfy unmet medical needs.
Headquartered in India, it has a presence in more than 100 countries.
It has wholly-owned subsidiaries in the US, UK, Russia, Germany &
Brazil; joint ventures in China, SA & Australia; representative offices in
16 countries; & third-party distribution set ups in 21 countries. Dr.
Reddy’s is the first pharmaceutical company in Asia outside of Japan to
be listed on the NYSE.
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Its strong portfolio of businesses, geographic & products gives it an
edge in an increasingly competitive global market & allows it to
provide affordable medication to people across the world, regardless of
geographic & socio-economic barriers. Dr. Reddy’s is a global,
vertically integrated pharmaceutical company with a presence across
the value chain, producing & delivering safe, innovative, & high quality
finished dosage forms, APIs & biological products. Its products are
marketed across the globe, with an emphasis on North America,
Europe, India, Russia & other emerging markets.
It conducts NCE drug discovery research in the areas of metabolic
disorders & cardiovascular indications at research facilities in Atlanta
(USA) & Hyderabad (India). Through its custom Pharmaceutical
Services business unit, it provides drug substance & drug product
development & manufacturing services on a proprietary basis.
Their near medium term value creation business encompasses:
Preparation of Active pharmaceutical ingredients & Custom
pharmaceutical ingredients & Global generics.
Long Term Value Creation (Proprietary Products): Drug discovery,
specialty pharmaceuticals, Biologics.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
More often than not a seasoned organization looks back over its
shoulders only to realize that its performance over the years though
good (or even excellent) is just not maximal. A reigned in business,
when harnessed & trained to maximum efficiency would undoubtedly
take the venture far beyond lines that are now perceived as intrinsic
limitations.
Getting yourself to do these need a change in the business process
redesign of your systems.
Self Managed Teams is an organizational architecture that brings
together work, people, technology and information in a manner
that optimizes the congruence or fit among them. A specific
combination of HR practices, work structures, and processes that
maximizes employee knowledge, skill, commitment, flexibility and
contribution.
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The basic aim of Self Managed Teams is to enable employees to
exercise decision making, leading to flexibility, innovation,
improvement and skill sharing. By facilitating the development of high
performance work systems we help organizations make continuous
improvement a way of life.
The Self Managed teams not only to do their routine work but also,
take on Management functions formerly performed by Supervisors,
Engineers and Managers.
This allows Supervisors, Engineers and Managers to focus on
teaching, coaching, developing and facilitating rather than
controlling.
Just like any other organization, Dr. Reddy’s laboratories is an
organization which would like to improve it’s performance &
productivity in the long run.
In the year 2000, with the help of CEO consultants Pvt. Ltd., Dr.
Reddy’s became the first pharmaceutical company in India to
implement Self Managed Teams in it’s organization.
An innovative scientific selection process & an intensive training
curriculum were devised for the spanking new plant at Yannam, a town
in the Union Territory of Pondicherry on the eastern coast. It was
decided to recruit young people who had completed 12th standard
(with science background) & filtered out the best candidates through a
series of tests – written, psycho diagnostic & neuromuscular - & a
group discussion & personal interview.
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In the bargain these young people were getting an opportunity
to pursue their B.Sc. in Pharmacy totally funded by the organization, &
a free hostel accommodation.
. Later on, after a technical & a behavioral training of 45 days,
these employees were ready to be inducted in the organization.
At the plant, these employees were divided & were formed into
self managed teams, who then went on to manage their daily work in a
systematic way. A team from the middle level management, known as
the Hand Holding Team facilitated the formation of the Self Managed
Team.
Later on the experiment was repeated at Baddi, in Himachal
Pradesh in December 2005, where the current study was undertaken.
INTRODUCTION:
As discussed a Self Managed Team is a group of people working
together in their own ways towards a common goal. It is a team of
people with individual strengths & weaknesses which compliment
each other in managing their daily work management activities
& improve their performance & to achieve their goals.
These team members take their own decisions w.r.t. planning,
executing & evaluating their daily work activities.
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Traditional organizational systems, suffer from a tall hierarchal design.
Under such a system there are a lot of layers between the top
Management & the lower level management.
The organization’s situation here becomes like a dinosaur, if something
hits the tail, it will take a long time to reach the head. I.e., if something
is wrong at the lower level management it will take a long time to
reach the top management, by which time the situation would have
worsened.
Moreover, most employees would not be able to reach their maximum
potential under constant supervision.
An SMT is an empowered, multiskilled team with operational decision –
making authority. The team largely handles plant operations on it’s
own, with minimal supervision.
Therefore the basic objective of a Self Managed Team is:
1) to break the hierarchy
2) to improve production
The Self Managed teams not only to do their routine work but also,
take on Management functions formerly performed by Supervisors,
Engineers and Managers.
This allows Supervisors, Engineers and Managers to focus on teaching,
coaching, developing and facilitating rather than controlling.
Under this concept the hierarchical structure of the organization takes
the following form:
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I. Plant Head
II. HHTs (Hand Holding Team members)
III. SMT members
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In fact, one of the major differences between SMTs & traditional
teams is the complete lack of layers of seniority & hierarchies. This
concept empowers the first level people. Generally there are 4-5 layers
in an organization, with the result that people often don’t feel
ownership; they feel disconnected.
Under this model, people are responsible, accountable & feel a
sense of ownership.
There is also a financial benefit in this model. At the Yannam
plant, the initial manpower requirement came up to 120 people, but
when the SMT concept was put on the table, they realized they could
manage the same operations with 40 people & the work done was
more effective.
Similarly, the Baddi plant which gives an output of 130 million
tablets & capsules, 2.5 lac vials of injectables, 6 – 7 lac tubes of
ointments & pastes & a revenue of 30 – 35 crores every month is
managed by just 120 SMTs, who take care of the entire chain of value
addition right from management of warehouse to the dispatch of
goods.
The number of SMT as well as HHT team members at the plant is as
follows:
Department HHTs SMTs Total
Production (Tablet & Capsules Mfg.) 6 26 30
Production (Packaging) 4 28 34
Production (Injectables) 5 11 16
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Production (Ointments) 3 7 10Ware House 1 6 7Engineering 9 9 19
Quality Assurance 13 1 14Quality Control 13 17 30
Supply Chain Management 1 0 1
Safety health & Environment 1 0 1Finance 1 0 1Human Resource 1 1 2
SCOPE OF THE STUDY:
The study is conducted at Dr. Reddy’s Labs, FTO VI, Baddi.
Geographical Scope: The geographical scope of the study is limited to
the SMT & HHT team members at Dr. Reddy’s Labs, FTO VI, Baddi.
Functional Scope: The functional scope of the study covers the
understanding of the SMT concept & it’s various tools with a focus on
one of the Tools i.e. SPBS (Skill Based Progression System) all the
areas where the SMTs are deployed & are working, i.e. the shop floor,
the Quality Assurance department, the Quality Control department, as
well as the HR department.
SAMPLE SIZE:
The plant runs in 3 regular shifts i.e. the A shift (7 a.m. to 3 p.m.),
General Shift (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) & B shift (3 p.m. to 11 p.m.) If however,
there is a demand for higher production, then the plant also runs in an
extra shift (11 p.m. to 7 a.m.).
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For the purpose of understanding the concept of SMT, the interaction
was done with around 35 SMT team members as well as 8 – 10 HHT
team members from A shift & General shift.
NEED FOR THE STUDY:
The concept of SMT was earlier implemented at Dr. Reddy’s plant, FTO
IV, Yannam, with a great success. The experiment was replicated at
the Baddi plant.
The study is being conducted to understand the concept of SMT at FTO
VI, Baddi & to understand how one of the tools i.e. Skill Based
Progression System (SBPS) can be implemented by understanding the
various processes.
SIGNIFICANCE: This study would be significant in understanding the
challenges as well as advantages of a SMT concept.
OBJECTIVE: To understand the challenges & advantages of
implementing SMT in an organization.
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METHODOLOGY: For the purpose of the study, primary data was
gathered by visiting the plant & interacting with the SMTs. The SMTs
were interacted through a random sampling method.
LITERATURE REVIEW: For the purpose of the study, various articles
from websites have been read, books like “The Toyota Talent” have
been read.
ACTUAL STUDY
In an SMT concept the Team Members are inducted within an
organization through a proper selection process.
1) Scientific Selection Process: In an SMT model the team
members are selected through a well developed Scientific
Selection Process. First of all, the business processes of an
organization are mapped & the requirements of an organization
are determined in order to know the selection criteria.
The team members are selected through a series of tests - written,
psycho diagnostic & neuromuscular - & a group discussion &
personal interview.
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The following shows the process flow of a Scientific Selection
Process.
= PASS
Aptitude TestPsycho
Diagnostic Test
Neuro Muscular Test
Structured Interview
Yes
No
Thank You
Yes
No
Medical Checkup & Antecedent Verification
Yes
No
Pass
OfferYes
No
Pass
Pass
Pass
Initial Screening
Induction
Requirement Profiling
Group Discussion / Task
Exercise
NoYes
Multi Mode Integrated Talent Multi Mode Integrated Talent SelectionSelection
33
P
For the purpose of Dr. Reddy’s Labs, the selection criteria
was identified as 12th pass students from science Background
(Non medical + Medical). Candidates from almost every district
of Himachal Pradesh underwent the selection tests. These
candidates under went an Aptitude Test, Psycho diagnostic
Test, a Neuro muscular Test, Group Discussion & then a
personal interview. Later on the selected candidates were
called for a medical test the next day.
At the time of selection most of the candidate did not
know about the SMT concept and they were new to it. Initially
the young team of selected candidates was trained at Punjab
University for two months.
According to one of the SMT members, “initially it seemed
to be very difficult that whether we would be able to
coordinate properly with each other or not, but at the time of
training in P.U. we came closer to each other and started
understanding each other in a better way. After training we
had to join the new plant at Baddi. Hostel was provided to us
for the initial two years. During the hostel period our
relations grew so strongly that we were residing like family
members.”
Moreover, this initial orientation marked an important
phase for the SMT members as this training period laid a
foundation for all of them to strengthen their relationship &
develop a feeling of being in a family & not just as employees
34
of the organization, which is hardly found in other
organizations.
SMT Tools: The implementation of a proper SMT concept involves the
execution of certain tools. Most of these tools are yet to be
implemented at unit FTO VI & will be put into action after the VAP
(Value Adding Processes) model comes into existence. Though not fully
implemented, we can see the impact of these tools at various places in
the organization. These tools are as follows:
1) SMT team formation:
In order for the Self Managed Team members to perform to their
fullest, proper team formation has to be done.
Three major aspects have to be kept in mind before the formation
of a team.
I. Skill: As mentioned earlier, the traits or skills of a team
member should compliment each other in order to achieve
expected results. Their strengths & weaknesses will help them
perform all their work from end to end, right from planning to
dispatch. If this happens, then they will become more
independent & productive.
II. Process: The processes followed will differ from organization
to organization & from industry to industry. In such cases, the
35
teams will have to be formed keeping in mind the processes
that an organization follows.
For eg: In some organizations teams are formed to perform a
particular process, where as in some organizations, teams are
formed to perform the end to end process.
III. Layout: The layout also differs from organization to
organization & the formation of a team to a great extent is
determined by the layout.
For e.g. the team formation in an organization with a process layout
will be different from product layout.
Before forming a team, we should keep in mind that the Size of
the team is in terms of numbers should be appropriate.
We should work towards building proper compatibility &
cohesiveness amongst the team members. This will help to build
proper synergy amongst the team members.
The aim of the team formation is that the team should be able to
sustain & manage itself as well as to achieve it’s goals.
At Dr. Reddy’s although formal Teams for various
departments have yet to be rolled out, an informal team
formation can be seen within the various departments. There
are SMT members who look after the production of tablets &
capsules, there are others who take care of Ointment, of
Injectables etc., who together act as a team fulfilling their
responsibilities & achieving their goals.
This shows that the concept of SMT itself creates the
feeling of a team & the attitude of team work amongst
individuals, making it beneficial both for the organization to
36
achieve it’s goals & create a right atmosphere for the
individual to work.
This is also the result of the seeds of an emotional
bonding laid down during their training period which has
developed further in the form of informal teams within the
departments.
2) Star Caps: According to the structure of the SMT model, after
the formation of the SMT team, one of the steps is the formation
of the Star Caps.
Star Caps are the captions or leaders to take care of particular
contingent situations, which arise within a team. For any team
generally, there is a Production Star Cap, Safety Star Cap, HR Star
Cap, Quality Star Cap, etc. These members take up their role
depending upon any situation that arises in front of a team
otherwise they are as good as the other members of the team.
For e.g. If the productivity is not met according to the planned
schedule, & there is any problem to be solved, then the production star
cap will take the lead to analyze the situation, & solve the problem,
while the other members will follow his advise.
37
The guiding philosophy of STAR model is to propagate ‘situational
leadership’, where the role & accountability are clearly defined.
The model can be better understood in comparison to the SEAL
model of the US commando force. SEAL is a team of 4 commandos
where one is an expert in Sea, one on Earth, one in Air & the last one
is an expert of Landmines. Based on the situation one of them
becomes the leader of the team & the rest follow his instructions. For
example, when the team should accomplish a task of defusing
landmines in the sea, the Sea expert takes over the leadership of the
team till they reach the landmines. Once they reach the spot, the
landmines, the Landmine expert takes over the leadership & others
follow him.
This philosophy is important for an organization when there is more
than one critical factor for success that a Self Managed Team needs to
address. A STAR Cap is assigned for each of these critical factors, who
will be accountable for the delivery of a critical successes factor & will
guide the rest of his/her team members in ensuring the delivery of the
results.
For a Star Cap:
Situation (Job context)
To understand the current situation, opportunities and constraints that
existence at the work place
Task (Job Content)
To know what are the tasks that are relevant to achieve team goals
Action
To understand what are the actions that are necessary to
improve the current situations / achieve the team goals
Result & Review
38
To understand the results that are achievable on taking the correct
actions.
The Star Caps are formed within a team on rotation basis. Even the
selection of Star Caps is preceded by some evaluation & Selection
criteria. The following knowledge, skills & attitudes are important.
1. Attitude
• Regular Attendance
• Involvement in improvements ( Suggestions & other
improvement activities )
2. Skill
• Interpersonal Skill
• Planning Skill
• Communication Skill
• Data Management & Record Maintenance Skill
• Problem Solving Skill
3. Knowledge
• Knowledge on cGMP (Current Good Manufacturing
Practises).
• Knowledge on Equipment & Accessories
• Process Knowledge
• Product Knowledge
• SAP & Computer Knowledge
Benefits of STAR model
1. Structured process for empowering employees
2. Teams operate under a situational leadership model.
3. Ensures the focus on all the critical success factors of an
organization
4. Develops future leaders from within the organization
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5. Focuses on continuous improvement
Steps for implementing STAR model
Step 1: Defining the STAR points
Step 2: Evolving the roles of the STAR Caps
Step 3: Defining the critical skills required for a STAR Caps
Step 4: Identifying STAR Caps
Step 5: Training the STAR Caps
Step 6: Implementing the STAR Caps
Step 7: Handholding the STAR Caps
3) Skill Based Progression System:
Traditionally the work structure for any organization was based upon
the concept of “Division of Labor” i.e. the work is divided & broken into
various parts & each individual is expected to perform only one task &
excel in that area. As a person would do the same work again & again,
it was believed that such a method of working would reduce the time
taken to do the work & thus would improve the efficiency of the
employee.
It was soon found that such a method of work structure makes
the work monotonous for the employee; lack of any other task to be
done decreases the level & application of creativity; it ultimately
decreases the efficiency of the employee. The employee would then
look for other job opportunities in search of challenging jobs. This
40
would ultimately increase the attrition within an organization.
Moreover along with the employee, the skill & the talent of the
organization also move away. It is therefore important for
organizations not to depend on individuals but a multiskilled team.
Organizations today are looking for highly efficient people who can
deliver superior performance in their work, people who are adroit at
multi skilling.
Multi skilling: The Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) defines
multi skilling as the “Acquisition of additional skills, supplementing
those already achieved in a craft”.
It can be defined as a way of working where the traditional divisions
between areas & the separate disciplines are removed & individuals
are given a range of responsibility for a range of different types of task.
Fundamentally multi skilling can be considered as:
Increasing people’s skills & competencies &,
Enabling & allowing them to carry out tasks previously or
traditionally carried out by another function.
SBPS helps organizations to overcome their dependence on individuals
& help them to achieve results through a multiskilled team of
employees.
Skilled Based Performance System: SPBS is one of the tools of
the SMT concept which classifies the skills required to perform a
particular task & also the various levels of that particular skill. There
are four levels on which any skill can be classified:
41
S.No. Level Definition1 Learn Individual is at the learning stage by shadowing
others.2 Execute Can perform task with the assistance of others.3 Excel Can handle tasks independently4 Propagate Can teach others & is a resource for the
organization
Skill Based Progression Systems recognizes the actual & the desired
skill level amongst individuals & tries to bridge the gap through
focused training. It promotes vertical & horizontal multi skilling within
individuals.
SPBS can be designed from two perspectives:
Horizontal or breadth of skills: This aspect talks about acquisition
of skills across various departments of an organization. Here cross
training is emphasized. (E.g. a multi-skilled trade worker possesses
electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and carpentry skills.)
Vertical or depth of skills: This aspect talks about acquisition of
various different skills within the same department or across different
functions within the same department. Here specialization and
expertise is valued (e.g. an electronic technician possesses the entire
range of electrical and electronic skills).
42
Steps to implement SPBS:
Step1: Analyze the business process and identify the Value Adding
Process (VAP) –
Here the various processes done for each function is mapped &
skills required to perform these processes are identified.
Step2: Identify Skill Blocks in each VAP – The accumulated skills
required to perform a particular function or within an area
together are known as a Skill Block. Thus the next step would be
to study the various functions & identify Skill Blocks for these
functions.
Step3: Prepare Skill Blocks - Identify the Knowledge and Skill
requirements for each task at various skill levels (Operate,
Maintain, Improve, and Resource). The various skills for different
functions at the four levels are identified.
Step4: Design progression system – Then a road map is developed
according to the requirement of the function or the area & the
team is trained on the skills. The team members would then be
rotated later depending upon the level they are at to skill blocks
in order to develop other skills.
Step5: Design & develop training manuals & training methodologies –
After identifying & developing the skill blocks, it is important to
train the employees, so that they develop on the various levels.
Therefore the next step would be to design proper training
modules & methodologies for the same.
Step6: Develop assessment criteria for progression – The objective of
developing the assessment criterion is to identify at what level
43
the employee is & what training should be imparted to him in
order to develop his skills further. It is a sort of identifying the
“As Is” & “To Be” stage & to further bridge the gap.
Step7: Implement the system – The final stage is the implementation
stage, wherein the employees are evaluated on their current skill level,
& a skill matrix is developed for the organization.
1. Skill Based Progression System recognizes employees for the
depth, breadth, and types of skills they obtain and apply in their
work.
2. The foundation of Skill Based Progression System improves the
performance & productivity of employees as they demonstrate
that they are obtaining and using more and more skills that are
valuable to the organization.
Benefits of SPBS:
Organizational flexibility: As employees become efficient in
performing more than one task/job, they can easily take over the
job performed by the other employees in case of their absence or
unavailability. This also reduces the functional demarcation within
the departments & the work of the organization does not come to a
still in case of non availability of man power. Thus makes the
organization flexible.
Reduced Labor Costs: Traditionally organizations employed one
or more than one employee each for the various tasks to be done.
However through multi skilling, one employee becomes efficient
enough to deliver the work of more than one employee. It thus
reduces the number of people to be employed, ultimately reducing
the labor cost for the organization.
44
Reduced Downtime: If employees start performing more than
one employees’ task, it will reduce the time taken to form the
finished product. For E.g. If the production employee also knows the
task of inspection or fault detection then he will inspect the work
done during the process itself. It will reduce the time taken for a
separate inspection process to be done later.
Human Resource Issues: Multi skilling in organizations is also
beneficial from employees’ point of view. It develops & enhances
their skills, making them more efficient & increasing their job
security in today’s world where organizations are chucking out more
& more inefficient people.
Based on the above & with the help of the book, “The
Toyota Talent” a study was done focusing on this particular
tool at the plant as follows:
Guidelines for Multiskilling
Objective: To develop guidelines for identification of critical
knowledge/skills & transferring the same to the employees, thus
enhancing the people capabilities.
Scope: All SMT members of SMT members of FTO VI
Procedure:
The foremost important step is to map the process & define
the critical requirements of work.
From the perspective of skill development, work can be divided
into two further categories i.e.
o Task Variety
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o Task Analyzability
Task Variety: It is the different types of skills required to do the job.
i.e. How many different types of tasks does the job require? Does the
employee spend most of the time doing the same type of activities or
he is equally likely to move between different types of tasks?
Task Analyzability: To what extent the job can be broken down into a
set of clearly specifiable tasks that can be easily taught? i.e. Can we
specify what the content of each task is & the sequence of each task in
such a way that we can standardize the task?
Based upon the above classifications the Organizational Design can be
classified into the following quadrants.
46
LO
W
People development requirements for different types of jobsType of work Example Jobs What can be standardized Accumulated know
how requirementsRoutine (Low variety, high analyzability)
Assembly line work, fast food server, bank teller, data entry clerk
Work elements, sequence, timing, fundamental skills, product specifications, workplace layout – tools
Recognition of problems, problem response, problem solving
Technician (High variety, high analyzability)
Inspection, material handling, lab data analyst, computer technical support work, equipment maintenance
Generic procedures, core processes, fundamental skills, product specifications, workplace layout –tools
Trouble shooting ability, intuitive problem solving, mental map of problem situations
Mostly organic structure
1. Moderate standardization2. Moderate formal structure3. Deep work experience &
formal apprenticeship.Craft work
organic structure
1. Low standardization2. Little formal structure3. Professional training plus
extensive experience under mentor.Non routine work
Mechanistic structure
1. High standardization2. High formal structure3. Structured job specific
training.Routine work
Mostly Mechanistic structure
1. Moderate to high standardization
2. Moderate to high formal structure
3. Job specific training & mentoring.Technical work
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Task
Analyzability
HIG
H
LOW HIGHTask VarietyHIGH
Craft (Low variety, low analyzability)
Group leader, nurse, buyer, some engineering jobs
Generic procedures, fundamental skills, product guidelines, workplace layout – tools
Intuitive problem solving, reading situations
Non routine (High variety, low variety)
Program manager, R&D scientist, development engineer, surgeon
Generic procedures, fundamental skills, product criteria, workplace layout – tools
Creative – innovative ability, intuitive problem solving, reading situations
Identification of Skill Blocks: Different types of tasks & skills for a
particular activity together form a skill block. The different types
of skills/ tasks can be captured under the following sub heading;
o Fundamental: Fundamental skills are those that are
applicable to all technical situations. They are
equivalent to learning to use common hand tools for
assembly operation. The fundamental skills may be
learned in a classroom setting & would most likely be
learned off line i.e. not on the machine practically.
Fundamental skills are practiced prior to the actual task.
They are completed as a part of the primary job, but
they must be combined with other skills & accumulated
know how in order to do the complete task. They may
be routine & repetitive or non routine & repeated in a
random sequence. The fundamental skills are first
learned off-line if possible, & then after basic
competency is achieved, they are transferred to the
actual workplace. This also depends upon the
importance of the task & risk associated with working in
the actual condition.
o Ancillary Task: Ancillary tasks are secondary &
supportive in nature. At some point it will be necessary
to learn to do these tasks, but it is entirely possible to
perform the core task without ever doing the ancillary
48
tasks. It would not make sense to attempt to teach the
ancillary tasks in the same session as the core tasks.
The trainer should teach each ancillary task separately.
These items may be covered in classroom training, but
this must generally be supplemented by on the job
mentoring (i.e. Offline + Online)
o Core Task: After the fundamental skills & sound
judgment regarding the operations have been achieved,
it is put it together on the actual job. This is the core
task. The learning process moves from “Offline” to
“Online”. The person learns to apply the fundamental
skills in context of the actual work & must deal with real
work conditions such as operating a different machine
with similar functions etc.
o Accumulated know how: The person, under the
watchful eye of the trainer, begins to acquire knowledge
on the job that will enable them to know instinctively
what to do. This is known as “Accumulated Know how”.
This is the ability to compile a mass of experience &
turn that into correct actions. There is no substitute for
experience. The experience may be gained by first
studying the policy knowledge. These skills must be
repeated numerous times before the mentor can be
assured the student is capable of handling the novel
situations he will face on his own.
All the above skills/ tasks to be based upon VAP
Study:
For the purpose of study, one of the processes of tabled manufacturing
i.e. Granulation was selected.
The basic activities for the process of granulation are as following
49
1) Dispensing
2) Segregation
3) Sifting/Milling
4) Binder Preparing
5) Granulation
6) Drying
7) Sifting/Milling
8) Blending
These activities were mapped & the various skills required to perform the
activities were identified
It was found that in case of shop floor SMT structure, as the SMT work
is “Low on task variety & high on task analyzability, the following
intervention to be followed:
1. Structured job specific training
2. High standardization of jobs/ tasks.
Based upon the study conducted in the granulation area the activities
were broken & studied in detail & the following skills & knowledge
were identified:
Granulation
S.No. Activities Fundamental Core Tasks Ancillary TaskAccumulated knowhow
50
1 Dispensing
What is meant by dispensing
Documentation of dispensing
BMR reading
Cross verification of dispensed material with label & BMR
Different ingredients used in the products
What are the measures to be taken while dispensing
2 Segregation
The different types of API's, excepients, Binder materials & lubrication Material. Material Identification
3 Sifting
What is Sifting & why is it necessary
Operation of Sifting machine
Able to identify any abnormality in machine operation
Trouble shooting in sifting machine
Identification of sieves & screens
Setting of various parts of sifting machine
Utilities used in the process of sifting
Selection of different meshes sizes for sifting
Knowledge of Process flow
Process flow, including input & output weight calculation
4Binder
Preparation
What is Binder Preparation of binderEffect of improper binder on product
Identification of any defect in binder preparation
Importance of BinderVarious types of Binder for different products
Knowledge of BAP Vessel
Time taken to prepare a Binder
Utilities used in the process of Binder preparation
5 Granulation
Importance of Granulation/ Why is granulation done
PLC, MMI Control & Operations
Improper granulation
Inprocess testing of the material
Understanding of the RMG machine Blade Settings
Utilities in the process of granulation
Granulation end point detection
Usage of Chopper & Impella
6 DryingUtilities used in the process (Compressed air, electricity, steam)
Operation of FBD machine
Defects of Over/ Less drying
Trouble Shooting, Defects Detection
Monitoring of the FBD machine
51
What is LOD
52
Importance of LODCalculation of LOD, Moisture Content
Understanding of the safety measures while operating the FBD machine
Temperature control (Inlet, Bed, Outlet Temperature)
Documentation at every stage
7 Milling
Why is milling done/ Importance of Milling Operation of a Clit mill
Should know the safety measures related to Milling
Usage of Clit mill Setting of Blades Utilities used for milling
8 BlendingUsage & importance of Octagonal blender
Time & RPM of blender, it's operation
Safety measures related to Blending
9Hygiene & cleanliness
Importance of Hygiene & cleanliness in the work area
Handling of types of cleaning
Process of cleaning & maintenance of equipments
Measures to be taken in order to maintain hygiene at the work area
Understanding of various types of cleaning
The various disinfectants used in cleaning & in what time duration they are changed
Safety measures to be taken while cleaning
Utilities used in cleaning Utilities used in cleaning Importance of gowning Frequency of cleaning
Method of gowningCare to be taken while change over
10 MaintenanceWhy is maintenance required in machines
Actual maintenance of different machines
Frequency of maintenance
Use of various components like Oil, grease etc in maintenance
The Next Step……
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Now we know the skill blocks as well the quadrant that the SMT’s are in. The next step would be to prepare training module for standardizing the work & methods.
For the purpose of preparing a training module, the knowledge & skills & the processes were divided & the following framework was made.
Skill/ Processes Fundamental Core Miscellaneous Machine OperationMaintenanceQuality relatedPrecaution & Safety related
After the training framework has been prepared, the training hours for each process or skill block has to be decided.
As a general guideline;
1) Each session should last approximately 30 minutes or less, & later some time should be given in order to absorb & practice the technique before moving to another training event.
2) For repetitive manual tasks, a work that takes about 15 seconds to perform will take approximately 30 minutes to present & teach.
Therefore each training session should be planned taking the above things in mind.
If it takes 2 minutes on an average to perform an activity, & there are 30 such individual tasks in one process. Hence the number of training hours can be calculated in the following way.
Task duration Teaching time15 seconds 30 minutes2 minutes 240 minutes
One session of 30 minutes, therefore 8 such sessions for teaching one process. The total training time in such a case would be calculated as follows:
[(30 tasks * 8 sessions)] * 30 minutes for each session = 7200 minutes or 120 hours
For our purpose, we first have to do the process mapping in the area of granulation, calculated the total number of tasks in one process & calculate the average time taken to perform each task.
54
Later using the same method we can calculate the total hours required for training. The further work will be done after approval from the Head HR of the organization.
At Dr. Reddy’s also multi skilling can be seen in all the
departments. A formal Skill Based Progression System is under
implementation in the organization. However, team members
working in the organization for more than 6 months to 1 year,
are capable of looking after the whole process of their
particular department, the various critical activities etc. Even
if one of the team members is not able to attend to his duty
due to any reason, another team member is ready to take up
his work because of his ability to perform both activities with
equal ease.
The SMTs are aware of this need to develop & improve
themselves & therefore are responsible enough to learn
newer skills pertaining to other departments in order to
enhance their knowledge. Whenever the SMTs find that they
can take time out from their work, they go to other
departments to learn work of the other department.
4) Team Charter:
It is very important for any team to have a common goal &
mission in performing any task. It is this common goal or objective
which unites all of them together & helps them succeed.
Moreover having a common logo or a symbol brings together the
people members of the group as they find united to one identity,
making them work like a family & in harmony. It gives them a sense
of ownership & belongingness to that particular group & makes
them feel responsible for the success of that group.
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Thus one of the SMT Tools, i.e Team Charter creates that feeling of
being in a harmonious group.
The designing of a team charter comes at a later stage after the
proper teams have been formed & rolled out. At this stage the team
members form a charter with their name, logo, photo etc. on the same.
An example of a team charter –
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• SMT Name• SMT Logo• SMT Photo• SMT Leader• SMT STARS• SMT Members• SMT Score Card• SMT Imp. Projects• SMT Meeting
The importance of a formal Team Charter is
1. To show the commitment of Leaders towards their SMT
2. To increases the energy level & enthusiasm among SMT
3. To declare SMT goals and targets
4. To determine SMT boundaries
5. To communicate the purpose behind SMT design
The objectives of creating charter are as follows:
Creating team synergy and bonding for producing extra-
ordinary performance
Evolving Team identity: Team Name & emblem
Evolving Team Vision and Mission and Goals
5) Team Score Card: As mentioned earlier, a Self Managed Team
is a group of people who manage their daily work management
activities. However it is also important to measure their
performance in order to improvise on them, because anything
that cannot be measured cannot be improved.
SMT Scorecard reflects the performance of the teams on a
daily basis. The scorecard captures the important attributes that
are required for the success of the organization (the end
delivery) which includes the technical attributes like Quality,
Cost, Delivery and softer attributes like Team (which includes
parameters like Synergy, Innovation, Punctuality). These
attributes are common across the organization.
Parameters under each of the attributes are identified
team-wise, which could be different from team to team. Then,
targets are set for these parameters & scores are given based on
57
target Vs actual delivery. This scoring system helps the team to
understand & appreciate their performance better like that of
sports teams. They also compete with each other based on the
scores, thus enhancing the organization delivery, efficiency &
performance levels.
Steps for Designing SMT Score Card
The following steps are followed while implementing a scorecard
Step 1: Identify the Critical Attributes for Organization’s Success
Step 2: Identify the Parameters for each of the Attributes Team-
wise
Step 3: Identify the Units of measurement, frequency of
measurement & targets
Step 4: Design the Score Card
Step 5: Develop Reward & Recognition systems
Step 6: Create Awareness & Understanding
Step 7: Rollout
6) Communication Continuum: When we talk about a team, it is
important to have a transparent communication channel
amongst the team members. Because right kind of
communication is one of the important keys for a strong team &
trusted team members.
The concept of SMT lays down provision for a strong
communication Continuum.
The main aim of this tool is to:
• Create forums and devise channels of communication to
communicate all business related information to every
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one involved in the business in a timely manner, to
enable decision making at action point.
• Foster a transparent culture for better teamwork.
There are various kinds of channels in order to foster communication
within an organization:
1. Open Board Communication System (OBCS): It is a platform
to explore people’s ideas, to suggest ideas by members & to ask
questions to clear any doubts or difficulties within the
organization. It is a board to wish & appreciate team members
for their contribution. This type of communication system plays a
vital role in empowering the team members.
2. Daily SMT Meeting (DSM): These are conducted in order to
convey about :
The important happenings like cGMP incidents (current
Good Manufacturing Practices), Update on the Schedule of
the running batch of products, Update on the facilities/
Resources available
Any business information
The performance, productivity etc. in the previous shift to
the members of the next shift.
The plan of the next shift to the incoming shift members.
The people who partake these meetings are the Outgoing
SMT leader, Star Caps, Members, Incoming SMT leader, Star
Caps, Members as well as the departmental HHT members.
- It is a standing meeting for a maximum time of 10
minutes.
- The DSM format should be duly filled & the members
should come pre - prepared with the relevant data.
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- It is important to stick to the time & agenda of the
meeting.
- The communication should be crisp loud & clear.
- Here only issues relating to the shifts can be raised &
solutions be found later.
- Moreover it should be noted that it is not a grievance
sharing forum.
3. Weekly SMT Meeting (WSM): This meeting is conducted in
order
to analyze & review the performance of the SMT in the past
week
To develop action plans for improvements & review that of
the previous week
All the SMT members as well as the department HHT members
partake this meeting.
- The SMT leader should convene the team meetings every week
for duration of 60 minutes.
- The SMT should come prepared to the meeting.
- The SMT leader should convene the meeting & ensure
participation of all the SMT members and could allocate activities
to the members.
- The SMT should adhere to timing & agenda of the meeting.
- The discussion should be data oriented to the extent possible.
- The meeting should be duly documented.
- The SMT leader should use this forum to appreciate & recognize
the performance of the SMT members whenever applicable.
- Any SMT issues should be raised & sorted out during the
meeting.
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- The SMT leader should use this forum to build trust & motivation
of the SMT members.
The Agenda should comprise of:
1. cGMP Standards Adherence
Sharing of any violation in cGMP standards
2. Present the previous week’s performance
3. Discuss Customer Complaints & Concerns
4. Discuss the SMT Score Card Score
5. Analyze the Data
6. Identify areas for improvement & develop action plans along with
target dates & measure
7. Freeze the performance targets for the next week
4. Monthly SMT Meeting (MSM): This meeting is conducted in
order to:
review the performance of the plant and SMTs for the
pervious month and to set goals for the next month
To recognize best-performed SMTs and create positive
competition between the SMTs to strive for excellence
To clarify the queries of the SMT if any in the open forum to
foster transparency and openness
Participants
• All the members of the SMT
• HHT
• HR Head &
• Plant Head
- The performance of the SMTs should be reviewed monthly
where each SMT has about 15 minutes time to present
their performance
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- The meeting would be spread over different weeks of the
month to cover all the SMTs effectively
- The convener of the meeting would be the HHT
- The SMTs have to come prepared for the meeting
- The forum should be used to motivate the members,
Reward & Recognize the performance of the SMTs & any
specific SMT members
- The forum should be used to address the grievances of the
SMT, and any inter SMT conflicts also can be addressed at
this forum
- The forum should focus on improvement than finding faults
or analyzing the past
5. Quarterly SMT Meeting (QSM): The basic objective of a
Quarterly meeting is to
- To clarify the concerns/ queries of the SMT members if any in
the open forum to foster transparency and openness
- To collect ideas from the SMT members for organizations
growth or development
Participants
All SMT members,
HHT
Head – HR
Plant Head &
Business Head
- The meeting should be conducted once in every quarter to
start off & then move on to a half yearly basis once the issues
start coming down.
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- The objective of the meeting is to allow issues to come to the
open forum so that they can be addressed, hence the
facilitators of the forum should encourage as much
participation as possible.
- The SMT members should not use the forum to complain or
criticize an individual but only to raise a genuine concern or
grievance with facts wherever possible.
- No abusive language is entertained.
- The forum is also to pool any ideas of the SMT members have
that would help in organizational development or growth.
At Dr. Reddy’s the above model will be implemented later in
the year. However we can still see informal communication
channels in some or the other form which foster
communication amongst members.
- Josh: Josh is a monthly meeting of the SMT members
which takes place at the plant. This meeting is for 1 ½ to 2
hours. All the SMT members, HHT members etc partake the
meeting. During this meeting the plant head addresses all
the members & discusses about the month’s production,
productivity, desired v/s actual targets etc & the team
members discuss about issues raised during the month.
This meeting is also a platform for the members to
showcase their talents in the form of any dance or singing
which is appreciated by the HHT members. The SMT
members can present on any topic they have gained
knowledge on & can share the same during these meetings.
The birthdays of the team members is celebrated & all the
employees generally have fun.
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- Saral: Saral is again a form of communication channel
which encourages ideas & new suggestions from the team
members. In this, the team members are encouraged to
come up with any new suggestions to improve production,
productivity, method of production, any solution to any
problem etc. At the end of the month, during the
celebration of Josh, the best suggestion of the month is
chosen, appreciated & awarded. According to an HHT
member, there have been several improvements on the
machine maintenance & operation front too, thanks to
suggestions by SMT team members. In fact, they are able to
come up with improved suggestions is because they are all
fast learners & are curious & not afraid to ask questions.
This is also useful, because at the end of the day, it is the
SMT members who actually work on the machines, & it is them
who can understand the problems related to machines &
productivity & come up with suggestions & ideas to improve
them.
7) Learn Teach Learn: Talking about a team, a successful team is
formed when within a team there are people with different levels
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of knowledge, skills & attitudes & all of them work compliment
each others strengths & weaknesses.
A Self Managed Team goes on step further in strengthening
this team. This particular tool helps to improve the skills & the
knowledge level of the team members. This is a platform for the
team members to share their knowledge with others. Here the
team members teach others what they know & in turn learn from
others.
Thus the main objective of this tool is to:
- Enhance the communication & presentation skills of the
employees, which build confidence into the individuals.
- Enhance the bonding among the members to build trust &
respect.
8) Rewards & Recognition System: Motivation is a drive which
encourages individuals to perform better in whatever they do.
Similarly, in any system, rewards & recognition are a way to
motivate individuals.
Rewards & Recognition are to:
- To acknowledge positive contributions and achievement of
SMTs in way that:
i. Encourages desired attitudes & actions
ii. Enhances self esteem of the employees
iii. Motivates employees to strive for business
excellence
- To recognize people who make the difference as well as
encourage
people to make a difference.
Type Means For what PurposeIn What Frequency
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Quick Recognition
On-the spot or day during the daily meeting by the HHT or anyone appropriate as per the procedure
Extraordinary shift performance •Extraordinary performance in any of the critical performance / score card parameter Collectively achieved the stretch target set for the first time. •Idea generation or execution of idea which brought significant change
On the spot or during the shift (Within the day)
Public Recognition
Display of the achievement in notice board. •Highlighting the achievement in the DRL’s in-house magazine
•Any achievement which is a first time achievement / a milestone / a new positive trend achieved by the team (this needs to be validated by HHT before actioning)
•As and when it happens (Within the next day) •Magazine periodicity
Reward in Kind
•In any common gathering of small or large groups
•This requires deliberation at the SMT Champion and HR level as it involves finance. Also there has to be a uniform approach to extending this reward.
As and when it happens or on a defined periodicity
As mentioned earlier, even at Dr. Reddy’s, there is an
informal rewards & recognition system existing in the
organization. Monthly gatherings like Josh recognize & reward
ideas & suggestions given by members to improve any existing
processes, any achievement by the team members during the
month etc.
Apart from that, the unit has display boards at various
places within the plant which displays daily achievements by
team members of various departments.
For E.g. – the achievement of the Injectables department
to pack a whole batch within a short period of time by just 2
SMT members was displayed on the display board. These
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small forms of motivation go a long way in increasing the
morale of the SMT members.
9) Empowerment Roadmap: Empowerment unlike authority does
not come altogether & suddenly. It is a step by step process &
has to be given with a little handholding till the team is capable
of taking all the responsibilities.
8 Principles for Empowering Employees:
- Tell Employees what their responsibilities are.
- Give then authority equal to the responsibilities assigned
to them.
- Set standards of excellence.
- Provide them with training that will enable them to meet
the standards.
- Give them knowledge and information.
- Provide them with feedback on their performance.
- Recognize them for their achievements.
- Trust them.
10) Human Value Action Teams (HVAT): One of the unique
features of the SMT concept is self governance, embodied in the
HVAT team. Since, under this concept, the team does not
operate within the traditional hierarchies, there was essentially
no clear way to address the problems, enforce discipline &
recognize merit. Hence HVAT is a tool which governs discipline &
fosters a culture that is conducive to business. It is basically a
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team representing employees from various functions of
Organization. This team comprises of SMTs, as well as HHTs. The
purpose of creating this team is to address any misconduct by
done by anybody in the organization.
The formation of this team takes place when individuals
from various departments are chosen to be a part of this team.
The membership is voluntary & members are selected those who
are free from biases, those who have a good conduct within the
organization etc. This team is not perpetual in nature & keeps on
rotating regularly.
A charter is prepared by the organization, which decides
upon 3 basic categories of misconducts in the organization viz.
Mild, Severe & the ones, which if done, the presence of the
member becomes detrimental to the organization, & also the
punishments to be given in case of the above mentioned
misconducts.
At Dr. Reddy’s an HVAT team exists which takes care of
the misconducts done by any of the members. Their
responsibility is to deal properly with the misconducts & see
that they don’t get repeated in future. In case of any
reportings, this team does the review & decides what is to be
done. It counsels the person who has done the misconduct, the
other members of the team in order to find evidence. The
HVAT team has to validate the evidence & argue with the
evidence.
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For e.g. few of the incidents, which the HVAT team has
dealt with, are as follows:
a. In one of the cases, few of the team members,
during the time period of morning 7 to 9 & evening 7 to 10
were found using the Orkut website during office hours.
The HVAT team found that 5-6 people were involved in it.
Inquiry was made, & their parents were called up &
informed about this act of theirs. The embarrassment
caused in front of the parents itself was a punishment
enough for them. Apart from that, 2 days salary was cut &
their names were put on the notice board.
b. In another case, there was some delay in the
company vehicle leaving from the company. Some of
the members raised an issue which eventually
involved outside people. The HVAT team identified
the people & they were punished to work without
salary for 15 days.
c. In yet another type of punishment when, earlier the
SMT members were residing in hostels, they were
asked to implement 5S in not only their rooms, but
in whole hostel. Such type of punishment also is
constructive on one hand & on the other punishes
the people.
Moreover, the rules or punishments come out from the
suggestions from the SMT as well HHT members & therefore
are acceptable to them.
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Before starting the actual study on any concept it is very important to
know & understand the business of the organization. It is the business
& the industry which determines the course of further action for any
process.
Even for the sake of our study it was very important to
understand the processes that take place in a pharmaceutical
drug manufacturing plant.
Dr. Reddy’s Labs being an organization which it into
manufacturing of Active pharmaceutical ingredients & finished dosage,
it is important to understand what the processes that are followed at
the organization are. At the plant all the processes right from
acquisition of raw material to dispatch of materials were studied.
VIABLE VISION: One of the things practiced within the company is to
Simplify things & make them easy. It is for this purpose that the
company uses Viable Vision. It is one of the concepts adopted by Dr.
Reddy’s Labs in order to simplify their inventory management. It is a
theory from Goldratt’s “Theory of Constraints”.
This concept was first introduced at the Baddi plant in March
2008 because the company felt that this concept can be readily
implemented at a plant where a team of young & energetic individuals
is working. Later on this was implemented at the other units as well.
The company uses color coding for easy identification of the
stock of material. According to this concept, the level of both the Raw
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Material inventory as well as the Finished Material inventory are
divided into four colors i.e. Black, Red, Yellow, Green according to the
availability of the stock. The motto of the company while using Viable
Vision is”EVERY COLOR SAYS SOMETHING! FOLLOW COLOR
PRIORITIES”
This stock is maintained in the online inventory management
system called “Symphony”. The material is procured or produced
when the stock available is less according to the Viable Vision.
Level of stock
> 10%
38% - 10%
64% - 38%
100% - 64%
Under this system, stock of goods & Raw material in black color
are given the highest priority, Red the next, followed by yellow & then
finally green for production & procurement respectively. This system is
connected with the vendor of material who sends the RM, PM
according to the requirement. This ensures that the level of inventory
managed at the plant is maintained accordingly & there is no excess
inventory.
It is the responsibility of production SMT members to
ensure that no product under symphony comes under Black
color, & even if it comes, they have to rapidly bring that to
Yellow & Green level.
Raw Material & Packing Material: There is a certain buffer level of
RM & PM inventory which is maintained at the plant. As & when the
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inventory goes beyond the minimum maintained level, a Purchase
Order is automatically generated by the system & it is sent to the
concerned vendor, who in turn sends the required material to the
plant.
Finished Goods: The Final products manufactured at the plant are
sent to Ghaziabad, which is the Hub for the Baddi plant. Here also a
minimum buffer of Finished Goods inventory which is maintained here.
As & when the inventory level goes beyond the minimum level
maintained at this hub, the Symphony system shows inventory of
Finished Goods in that particular color. Based on the color of the
product, further planning of production cycle of that product takes
place. The whole planning & production department at the plant runs
depending on this system.
This system is helpful because it helps in the lean inventory
management of both the Raw Material as well as Finished Goods, thus
reducing the holding cost for the company. It also helps in timely
production of those products which are in demand in the market.
Supply Chain Management: The process of supply chain
management at the company is based on the concept of viable vision
as mentioned above. The process of SCM is as given below.
SCM of Revenue Items
SCM of Raw Material & Pack. Material
SCM of Capital Items
Request is raised by "SYMPHONY" & a PR is generated by the system
Request is raised by Authorized Personnel
Request is raised by Authorized Personnel
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The PR goes through a chain of approvals
The PR goes through a chain of approvals
A PO is raised in the system & is sent to the vendor as well
Materials are received at the plant
They are cross checked with the PO
Basically, three kinds of items are procured at Dr. Reddy’s Labs, Baddi.
d. Revenue items
e. Raw Material & Packing Material
f. Capital Items
For the procurement of Revenue items (spare parts of machinery,
stationery etc.) & Capital items, (based on the value, E.g. the whole
Machinery itself), the request is raised by the authorized personnel,
either the SMT members or the HHT members. This request goes
through a chain of approvals like the FTO head, the Accounts Head &
when it is approved, a PR (Purchase Requisition) is raised in the
system.
For the procurement of Raw Materials & Packing Materials, the
request is raised automatically in the system with the help of Viable
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Vision. When the stock of Raw Material or Packing Material goes below
the buffer stock, the SYMPHONY raises the PR.
There is one person who centrally looks after the PR of many FTOs. He
checks the PRs generated in the system & raises a Purchase Order or a
Stock Transfer Order with the particular vendor of the material.
A copy of the PO remains in the system. After the receipt of the PO, the
vendor sends the material to the plant. This material is then received
by the warehouse, after cross checking with the copy of PO that is with
them.
Warehouse: The warehouse is one of the important functions at the
plant. It is the place which stores the Active as well as the Inactive
ingredients. It is the responsibility of the team to manage the activities
of the warehouse properly. The process of a warehouse is as follows:
Physical Verification of goods
GRN is Prepared
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Pool SampleAttaching UNDER TEST labels on them
Container wise sample
Reserve sample
Samples for QC testing for both Active as well as Inactive ingredient
ApprovedNot Approved
Ready for dispensing
Sent back to the vendor
Destroyed within the plant
When the material sent by the vendor the warehouse team
members receive it at the warehouse. First of all they do the physical
verification of the goods, to check for any damages, any kind of
spillage, weight (Net weight, Gross weight, Tare weight etc.).
After the receipt of the material, they prepare a Goods Receipt
Not, which includes information like GRN no., date of receipt,
Manufacturing No., Expiry date, Batch No. etc.
For any product, it is very important that the raw material that
goes in the manufacturing is of a very good quality so as to get a good
quality of output. Mores over if it is a plant manufacturing medicinal
dosage forms as it’s final product, it is very important that the raw
material that goes in the manufacturing of these products are of the
highest quality & without any defects as it will be affecting the person
who will intake the drug. Therefore Quality Assurance plays a very
important role in all the steps of the process.
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When the materials are received, immediately, Under Test labels
are attached on the containers. At this level also color coding is used
by the company for easy verification. The under test labels are yellow
in color so that they are easily identified & don’t get mixed with other
material.
After the GRN preparation, the samples of the materials are sent for
Quality verification with the Quality Control department.
The samples are taken out in three ways:
1) Pool Sample
2) Container wise Sample
3) Reserve Sample
Pool Sample: This is the sample taken from all the containers put
together. For E.g. if there are 10 containers of Raw Material, & we have
to take a sample of 100 gms, then a total of 100 gms. From all the
containers put together will be taken for verification.
Container wise Sample: This is the sample taken individually from
each container to verify the material.
Reserve Sample: At Dr. Reddy’s, the sample of the raw
material is stored till the expiry of the drug that is manufactured from
that particular material so that even after the material is consumed &
any complaint is received, they can go back to the input material &
check for defects. For this purpose only a reserve sample is
maintained.
After the testing, the material is either rejected or accepted by
the QC department. If the material is accepted, then it is stored in the
shelves with a green label attached to it for dispensing. If it is rejected,
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then it is either sent back to the vendor, or if it is not feasible to send it
back, then it is destroyed within the plant. The plant also has an
Effluent Treatment Plant for the purpose.
It is the responsibility of the Warehouse team members
to
g. Receive the material sent by the vendor & maintain
the proper GRN of the same
h. Segregate & store the various raw materials as well
as the packing materials according to the different
color coding.
i. Maintain & continiously monitor the temperature as
well as the Relative Humidity of the warehouse after
every 4 hours.
j. Maintain the daily calibration log.
k. To maintain proper stock record of all the material.
l. Maintain proper documentation as per the
requirement of the SOPs.
m.Maintain the cleanliness of the dispensing area, as
per the QA & SOPs.
n. To dispense the correct material as & when
required.
The whole of warehouse which stores raw material as
well as packing material worth 25 to 30 crores & it’s activities
for thousands of dosage forms is managed by just 5-6 Team
members, & one Hand Holding Team member.
Dispensing: According to the Viable Vision, whenever the stock
of Finished goods is seen in the priority color list in SYMPHONY, the
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same is planned to be produced by the Planning & production
department.
Dispensing is done through the following process.
As mentioned earlier, the QA department plays a very important
role in all the processes of the plant, & therefore the approval of the
QA department is very important before the starting of any processes.
Requirement of Finished products seen in SYMPOHNY
BMR & BPR is raised to QA department
QA Approves & sends the same
Manufacturing Work order is sent to the W/H requesting them to send the required Raw Material & the Packing Material.
The Warehouse receives a line clearance from the QA before dispensing the material
The material is dispensed under highly controlled environment.
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The planning department raises a “Batch manufacturing Record”
as well as a “Batch Packing Record” to the QA department. The same
is approved & sent by the QA. The planning department sends the
Manufacturing Work Order, which is a part of the Batch Manufacturing
Record, to the warehouse requesting them to send the required raw
material as well as the packing material for the production.
BMR & BPR instruct manufacture of a product in accordance with
prescribed specification & provide a means for ensuring that the
product is manufactured under controlled & orderly conditions & for
documentation of all operating & Q.C. related data required for final
acceptance or rejection of the product.
Batch record shall contain a formulation work order for product
to be manufactured, packing & appropriate forms for recording of
production & quality control data for final disposal of product.
Before dispensing the material, the warehouse takes the
approval or the line clearance from the QA department. This approval
is necessary because the QA department checks whether the area is
clean & in accordance with the SOP mentioned for the purpose.
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Before the dispensing of any raw material, high degree of
control is required to be maintained by the Self managed Team
Members who manage the warehouse.
It is their responsibility to:
1) Read the shelf life/ Expiry date & see that the
material being dispensed is approved & not yet
expired.
2) Read the Batch manufacturing Record in order to
send the right material in the right quantity & check
the material before dispensing.
3) Analyze the report number of the accepted material
from the system.
4) Calculation of Essay. (Many products lose some of
their weight during processing, they have to
calculate this loss & send the extra material which
will cover the loss. This calculation is known as
Essay calculation).
5) Continuously monitor the temperature in the
warehouse.
6) To see that the dispensing booth is totally clean &
free from any cross contamination from any
previous product.
7) To check proper calibration of weighing machine.
8) Maintain proper cleanliness & hygiene in the
dispensing area.
The warehouse dispenses the material according to the requirement
mentioned in the BMP & BPR.
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After the dispensing of the material is done, the Team Member from
the respective department receives the material at the dispensing
booth. The production team member accepts the material after proper
physical testing & cross verification with the copy of BMR which is with
him, for proper materials & weights.
The production area at the plant is basically dividend into:
1) Production: production of Tablets & Capsules.
2) Injectables: Production of Omez Injectable.
3) Ointments: Production of Pastes & creams.
The process of manufacturing a capsule is as follows:
Pellets are micro crystalline cellulose sugar particles. These small
particles are coated with layers of Active ingredient or the drug in a
wruster coater machine. These pellets are then tested for Assay
calculation & water content. After testing these are further processed
Pellet Formation
Testing
Further Processing
Filling in Shells
Testing
Packing & Dispatch
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for Seal coating & Enteric coating & finally filled in the empty capsule
shells. After this the capsules are tested & sent for packing & dispatch.
At times an individual SMT member is capable of looking
after 2-3 areas of pellet formation.
The process of manufacturing a tablet is as follows:
Sifting/ Milling
Binding
Granulation
GRANULATIONDrying
Testing (LOD)
Sifting/ Milling
Blending
Compression
Testing
Coating
Packing
Blister Strip Packing
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packing
The formation of tablets is basically divided into 4 areas:
1) Granulation
2) Compression
3) Coating
4) Packing
Under this, the process of granulation is the biggest part, which is
again sub divided into: Sifting/Milling, Binding, Granulation, Drying,
Milling & Blending.
The process of Granulation starts with Sifting & Milling. The raw
material (the Active ingredient & Excipients) for tablet is in the form of
powder. This powder has to be first sifted & so that no big particles
remain in the mixture, which is known as Sifting. Next the big particles
that are remaining have to be broken down into uniform particles or in
the form of powder, which is known a Milling.
The powder form used in the production is not capable of getting
formed in a tablet. Therefore the next step is binding which will bind all
the material properly.
For the smooth formation of tablets, proper granules of the
materials have to be formed. For the formation of granules, the next
step is granulation.
The material from granulation is still wet & not capable of getting
formed into a tablet. Therefore proper drying has to be done to get the
proper moisture content in the material. This process is known as
drying.
After drying again the process of sifting & milling is to be
followed, so that no lumps remain in the material, & it attains a smooth
flow.
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The final step of the process of granulation is Blending. In this
process, the material is mixed with the blender & the lubricant so that
the material flows smoothly while compression & tablets are formed
easily.
The smooth & the right formation of the blend is the
responsibility of the production team member.
After the material is properly blended, it is taken in the
compression area. Here the material is put through a hopper & tablets
are formed through punches of various capacities, shapes & forms.
Here the team member has to continiously monitor the thickness of
the tablet, the hardness of the tablet, the Analysis of Balance, the
various types of testing of the tablet, the frequency of testing etc.
Thus a tablet is formed. These tablets are later sent for the QC
testing before they are packed.
Some of the tablets are sensitive in nature, & therefore they are
required to be coated with some chemicals before they can be packed.
Therefore the next step after compression would be coating. In case
the tablets are to be coated then they are sent for testing directly after
coating & not after compression. After testing if the lot is approved by
the QC department, the batch goes for packing.
The tablets & capsules undergo two types of packing.
o Primary packing: It involves the packing of tablets & capsules
in their first cover. The primary packing area as well as the
material has to be maintained & handled with care because here
the drug comes in direct contact with the packing material.
The primary packing material comes in two forms:
i. Strip packing: It is for those kinds of tablets/
Capsules which are sensitive to light & heat. This
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type of packing is costlier as compared to Blister
packing as both the sides of the packet are of
aluminum material.
ii. Blister packing: It is for other regular tablets which
are not very sensitive to light & heat. This type of
packing has on one side the cover of aluminum foil
where as the second side is made of
Polyvinylchloride (PVC).
o Secondary packing: Here the strips & blisters are further
packed in cartons & shippers & sent for dispatch.
During one Shift, one team member takes care of
granulation, one of compression, one of coating, one does the
inspection, & 2 team members do the packing. i.e, the outcome
of a whole batch of millions of tablets is the result of a team
work of mere 5 – 6 team members.
These members work individually taking care of their own
areas, but the end result is that of a team.
This is possible because, within a given boundary, they have
been given the empowerment to plan, execute & analyze their
work amongst themselves, solve the problems, without any
supervision. Even if one team member is not able to finish his
work, the other member is ready to come to his help. At the
end of the day, what the management wants is productivity,
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which the SMT members deliver. This outcome is the result of
not a team, but a Self Managed Team
The next type of product produced at the plant is Ointments.
Gum Soaking
Adding Ingredients
Water based
Mixing in Manufacturing Vessel
Oil Based
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Sampling
Filling
Testing
Packing & Dispatch
Any type of Ointment or Cream requires some kind of base for
it’s formation, a base in which the Active ingredient & the Excipients
can be mixed to form the product. The base for Ointment
manufacturing is Gum. This Gum is first soaked in certain solutions.
After soaking, the Active ingredient of the particular product is added
in the Gum. After adding this ingredient, the mixture is properly mixed
in the mixing vessels.
The Ointments can be of two types: water based & Oil based.
At the plant, two different vessels have been maintained for the
purpose.
After the mixing of the ingredients has been done, the sample of
the same is taken by the QC department for testing & verification. If
the test results are approved, then the batch goes for filling in the
tubes. Next, the tubes are also tested for any defects for in case of the
body of the tube or printing of the tube etc. After this the tubes are
packed & dispatched,
Again here, a team of 7 SMT members deliver the result
of around 6 lacs of ointment tubes per month.
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During the month of March, the ointment department
reported a production of 7.3 lacs of tubes, which was the
highest, since the inception of the department in April ’08. The
department managed to cross it’s average productivity within
1 year. This is the strength of a SMT.
The next type of product manufactured at the plant is Injectables:
Decartonating, Transportation & washing of Vials
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Dry HeatUnit Preparation & Sterilization
AutoclaveMoist HeatRadiation
Filtration
Filling
Lyophilization
Sealing
FG storage
Inspection
Loading
Packing & Dispatch
Extreme care has to be maintained in the manufacturing of
injectables because it is that product, which, when injected gets in
direct contact with the blood of the individual. If there is any sort of
defect or negligence during manufacturing then it will directly affect
the patient who has been injected.
The first step is to decartonate (removal from cartons as supplied
by vendor), visually inspect the vials for any manufacturing defects like
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cracks in glass, deformed shape etc. & transport the vials to the vial
washing area.
Vials are the small bottles in which the injectables are filled.
After this, the next step is vial washing. It is very important to
hygienically wash the vials taking utmost care because they will be the
carrier of the drug. The vials are washed with in the following cycle:
Recycled Water
Compressed Air
Purified Water
Compressed Air
Water For Injectables (WFI)
Compressed Air
After vial washing, unit preparation is done. It is the sterilization of all
the components used in the manufacturing of injectables.
In the first sterilization, all components are passed through Dry heat or
Thermal heat.
In the next, i.e. Autoclave, Rubber bungs, Aluminum seals,
Garments, Gloves, Filling and Sealing Machine Change parts,
Autoclavable shoes and other items or equipments used in the Aseptic
and Drug manufacturing area are sterilized at 180° for 15 minutes.
The next step is sterilization through moist heat, & the last type
of sterilization is Radiation.
Radiation helps to kill the micro organisms in the solution
through UV rays. In the solution of the injectables, even though the
micro organisms are killed through UV rays, their remains are still
there. Therefore in order to remove those remains which are approx. of
3 microns, the solution is filtered with 2 micron filters.
After filtration, the solution is filled in the vials. After the filling
activity, the liyophilization of the injectables takes place. It is the
process of converting the liquid injectable into a dry cake form by
freezing primary drying & secondary drying. Lyophilized Injectables are
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made with the Products which are not stable in liquid form as well as
they are not stable at higher temperature.
The next step after liyophilization is the sealing of the vials. Here
full stoppered vials are sealed with 4 head sealing machines. After
sealing, the vials are manually inspected against black & white board
to inspect different defects in liyophilized a vial.
The sealed vials are kept in FG storage for 7 days before packing
& dispatch. After these 7 days they check whether there is any defect
in liyophilization, whether there has been any melt back of the cake
form etc.
If everything is inspected & is fine, then the vials are loaded on
the machine & are packed & dispatched.
Cleaning & Hygiene: The teams responsible for any type of
production will also be responsible for the hygiene & cleanliness of his
area.
Basically there are two types of cleaning –
Type A: It is the cleaning done when there is a batch to batch
change over. i.e. when there is production of the same type of product
but of a different batch. When there is production of the same type of
product, the raw material used is the same. Therefore, the cleanliness
to be done would mainly consist of dusting, & dry cleaning. It takes
around 1 hour to complete this type of cleaning. Type A cleaning is
done whenever the batch changes or after 24 hours whichever is
earlier.
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Type B: It is the cleaning done when there is a product to
product change over, i.e when the production changes from one
product to different product. Here the raw materials used in one
product are different from the raw material used in the other product.
Hence there are a lot of chances of cross contamination of the raw
material used in one product to another product, the mixing of the
previous product into the next product etc. In order to avoid this, the
whole manufacturing area, the vessels, the machines etc are totally
washed & dried before starting a different product. This type of
cleaning takes 6-7 hours to get complete. In case there is no product to
product change, it is done after 7 days or 5 batches whichever is
earlier.
Before any type of production, either of these is followed. It is the
responsibility of the team members to follow the cleaning criteria &
clean the area as mentioned in the SOPs.
At Dr. Reddy’s FTO VI, so much care is taken that area for each
process is maintained separately to prevent cross contamination from
one drug to another, unlike other units or other pharma companies
where the process for one product is not separate. Even the SMT
members are aware of this & they themselves take extra care to follow
the processes. They know the importance of manufacturing a medicine
& also that it is going to be consumed by a patient , therefore feel
responsible for it.
Gowning: Gowning is an integrated part of any pharmaceutical
drug manufacturing plant. Anyone entering the shop floor has to be
completely covered with the dresses meant to be worn while entering
the shop floor. In the area where the drug comes in direct contact with
the individuals, like production area, primary packing area etc.
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secondary gowning has to be done over the primary gowning. It
comprises of a fully covered gown from shoulder to toe, a headgear,
long shoes covering the feet, gloves to cover the hands, & a mask to
cover the mouth. This is to prevent cross contamination from outer
environment.
QA & QC: As mentioned earlier both QA & QC play a very
important role in the pharmaceutical industry. Each & every process
has to be validated & tested by QC & approved by the QA department.
In the pharmaceutical industry, there is the concept of doer &
checker, i.e. the doer of an activity is a different body & the checker is
different, because incase the persons are same, then there is an
element of biasness in the processes. To remove this, the QA
department acts as a checker for the processes of all the departments.
Any process or activity has to be approved by the QA department.
Before starting any process, it is mandatory to take line clearance from
the QA department. The QA team member will come & verify whether
the area is fit for the continuation of the process or whether there are
any chances of cross contamination from the previous product or any
harm from the external environment.
There is in process testing done by the QC department for every
product right from material handling to packing. The samples as well
as the results are passed through the QA department. After the
packing, a Finished Goods Transfer Note (FGTN) is prepared by the
packing department to take approval from the QA to dispatch the
material from the shop floor to the warehouse. Later a Final Release
Request (FRR) is prepared by the production to get approval from QA
to dispatch the FG to the final depo.
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Apart from that, whenever there is any deviation in the
manufacturing of any process or if any batch has failed, the QA
department has to be intimated giving them the incident, as well as
the reason for the incident & what was done.
Any changes in the system, facilities, documentation etc will be it
has to be rooted through various stakeholders they give their
suggestions & the QA department does the review of the suggestions.
All the above are the requirements of regulatory authority in
order to avoid any biasness in the system.
All the above processes are more or less a part & parcel of the
pharmaceutical industry. However the concept of SMT has made these
processes work in a better way. Few of the examples of the
performances of the SMTs in the organization are as follows:
- Last year, the Baddi plant reported a zero accident year, a hit
miss ratio of more than 95% & a drop in cost of unit by 10%.
- During the month of March’09, the company reported “No Black”
in the symphony system, i.e. no product was in the black color.
- During the month of July last year, the pellet formation team of 5
members gave a production of 5.5 ton as against an average of 4
ton in a month. During this month the production was run in only
2 shifts. The efficiency increased by 45%, productivity by 50%, &
a cost saving of 3.32 lacs in terms of utilities & cost of casuals
etc. A detailed planning of 2 months & convincing the HHT
members with facts & data for 3 months resulted in such
achievement.
- Apart from that, in the month of December last year, the
production department gave a production of 154 million tablets
& capsules as against an average of 130 million.
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These are just few of the examples of the success stories
of the plant.
Team spirit is probably the single most important ingredient for
the success of this experiment. The environment in which the SMT
members work in is hardly that of conventional work place, on the
contrary they work in friendly setting sharing jovial & cordial relations
both with all the team members, whether SMT or HHT.
The level to which the SMTs take their values to heart is what is to be
appreciated most amongst them. They have lived & worked together &
built a value system that is their own - it operates on a personal level.
Last but not the least, In the words of the Company HR Head,
”The organization has definitely benefited by implementing this
innovative concept.
The SMT model certainly makes financial sense, by keeping
manufacturing & manpower costs lower than in traditional plants, it is
also beneficial with respect to quality, on time delivery & overall
productivity”
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