News

Posted On: 06/08/2005

Include Suppliers in Lean and Green Initiatives

PharmaManufacturing.com

While pharmaceutical manufacturers pursue Lean and Green initiatives to pare down and clean up operations, their suppliers are seldom included in these efforts. And those suppliers looking to get leaner and greener often do not have the resources to do so.

Enter the Green Suppliers Network, a program that brings technical consultants in Lean and Green manufacturing onto suppliers' plant floors to provide first-hand guidance and instruction. The network is a joint undertaking by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Dept. of Commerce's, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Manufacturing Extension Program (MEP), and manufacturers from five industries, including the healthcare/pharmaceutical industry.

The MEP is a nonprofit group of manufacturing consultants experienced in process improvement and waste reduction. For $4,500 ($7,000 minus a $2,500 credit from the EPA), they provide suppliers with a week-long review of operations, help to administer relevant training and expertise, and provide a full report detailing areas in need of improvement and suggested changes to be implemented. Experts from EPA state pollution prevention technical programs also lend their support.

Baxter Healthcare (Deerfield, Ill.) spearheaded the pharmaceutical industry's participation, after one of its interns learned of the program and the automotive industry's involvement, says Jenni Cawein, manager of environment, health and safety engineering. Baxter had already been inviting suppliers to its headquarters for workshops in corporate best practices and lean principles, and so the GSN was a "natural fit" for the company, says Cawein. Since then, most major U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturers have signed on.

Baxter's first supplier to participate was Medegen Medical Manufacturing Services (Ontario, Calif.), a maker of injection-molded parts for the production of IV equipment. Following its weeklong review, Medegen instituted "Green and Lean" changes which resulted in new energy-efficient molding presses, significant reductions in packaging waste, and a paper-saving electronic quality system.

EPA hopes to eventually reach 80% of U.S. suppliers on some level, Cawein says. To learn more about the Green Suppliers Network, visit www.epa.gov/greensuppliers.