About Cipla Cipla is a market-leading medicine maker in India. The company has roughly 5,500 pharmaceutical products.

Some are sold domestically, while the rest reach international markets in some 170 countries. It offers prescription drugs for all kinds of ailments -- arthritis, cancer, depression -- as well as over-thecounter drugs for colds, oral hygiene, and skin care. Cipla leads the domestic retail pharmaceutical market. The firm also makes bulk drugs, agrochemicals, and animal products. It has eight manufacturing plants located throughout the country. Cipla was founded as The Chemical, Industrial, & Pharmaceutical Laboratories by Khwaja Abdul Hamied in 1935; the founder's sons now head the company.

Need for the study

The current good manufacturing practices are followed in the pharmaceutical sector to ensure that products are consistently produced and controlled to the appropriate quality standards as required. The purpose of this paper is to share improvement experiences due to implementation of lean principles in a pharmaceutical company.

Objective of the study Our objective is to study current manufacturing practices carried out in Ciplas inhaler manufacturing unit and come out with suggestion for implementation of lean tools to improve the current process to a next level. Methodology To conduct the study, we had made a visit to Ciplas inhaler manufacturing unit based in Verna, Goa. We went through the entire process of manufacturing and the quality control currently used at its plant. Data collection & Analysis Cipla manufactures Metered dose inhalers at one of its unit based in Goa. Metered Dose Inhaler is composed of four essential components: the base formulation, the container, the metering valve and the actuator (or mouth piece). The drug is delivered through a valve in a metered volume from a volatile propellant, pressurized container.
The main components of all MDIs are. 1. The active ingredient. 2. Propellants: Halogenated derivative of hydrocarbons Low molecular weight hydrocarbons: butane, pentane Compressed gas 3. Aluminum containers: They are light, strong, break resistant, and compact, light proof and significantly inert. 4. Metering Valves: To regulate the flow of the therapeutic agent and propellant from the container. 5. Actuators (Adapter): Discharge orifice (spray nozzle) and a socket to engage and form a seal with metering valve stem. Some of the quality control tests carried out at CIPLA It Include the testing of:

 1. Propellants 2. Valves, Actuator, Dip Tubes 3. Containers 4. Weight Checking 5. Leak Testing 6. Spray Testing

Lean in Cipla
One major concern for many pharmaceutical companies like Cipla who are looking to implement a lean methodology is how to integrate it into its current good manufacturing practice (cGMP), where the main aim is to deliver a safe and effective medicinal product and the need to control the manufacturing environment. In fact contrary to this concern, Lean and cGMP go hand in hand, as quality is sustained at a higher level with lower costs due to the Lean principles that are applied.
Some of the key tools and lean practices which can be implemented in Cipla are: Single Piece Flow: refers to the concept of moving one work piece at a time between operations within a work cell; this idea has many benefits. It keeps WIP at the lowest possible level. It encourages work balance, better quality and a host of other internal improvements. OEE (Overall Equipment Efficiency): Overall Equipment Effectiveness is a great example for Cipla to demonstrate that, there are areas that should leverage OEE as an equipment performance metric, and where OEE does not add value. OEE has been used for many years as a leading metric in hi-tech industries where equipment is used 24/7, and it is one of the most dominant cost components in the manufacturing environment. Out of the Box / Change Over Elimination: One improvement we should always attempt to put in place is to not only reduce the changeover duration, but also reduce the frequency of change over by enhancing planning and scheduling processes, and employ better campaigning strategies 5S: Use 5S to improve the overall organization of the workplace and the execution of the changeover, remove waste, and enhance visibility. Cipla has already used this approach of 5S to improve it working environment.. There are major opportunities for organizing our workplace better and this is true throughout the operation, starting from the warehouse, manufacturing, and on to the Labs. Others tools that are broadly used in Lean implementation and relevant to our industry are: KANBAN can be used effectively to support a visualized factory and streamline the overall planning and scheduling processes Quality Control at Cipla Quality Control Laboratories dashboard presents the weekly goals of samples and the samples released against this goal as well as the expected number of tests corresponding to these samples. The efficiency of the various teams in the lab, the lab cycle time for the current week, and the on-time delivery

performance for the samples released during the current week are also shared. The effect is substantial and can drive the team toward their goals. Benefit to Cipla Lean strategy is used to eliminate wastes and to search for continuous improvement in processes. The proposed lean tools have good scope for improvement in production efficiency and effectiveness of manufacturing operations. Summary Lean provides a great set of tools to facilitate some of the key drivers that are imperative in todays economy and industry conditions. Although Lean originated in a different industry, there are ample examples for successful deployment of Lean tools in various pharmaceutical companies. However, at the same time we need to carefully assess the selection of the Lean tools that are a best fit to the business goals knowing the characteristic of Ciplas requirement.