There is an increasing demand for high-quality products and solutions in the medtech industry. Therefore, we are constantly striving towards systematically developing and improving our ways of working. To facilitate this work, “Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvements”, is one of our focus areas at Elos Medtech. In this blog article, I will introduce you to how we are working with Operational Excellence and how it benefits our customers.

The journey to optimize internal processes in the medtech industry

“Operational Excellence” is a well-established and widely used term today, but there are differences in the interpretation of its meaning. Generally, it is described as the journey to optimize an organization’s internal processes so it can create more value to the customers, using less resources. Operational Excellence is not a fixed goal, rather it is something that is regularly achieved and, therefore, it requires ongoing improvements and investments.

Continuous improvements to achieve Operational Excellence

As a global development and production partner in the medtech industry, our main priority is to serve our customers with high-quality medical device products. To achieve that goal, it is important to constantly and systematically develop and improve our own production processes. By applying Operational Excellence to our business we create a more efficient production with high traceability and accuracy. That enables us to offer high-quality medical device products with short lead times, and meet our customers’ demands of capacity and innovation in the medtech industry. In both a short and long term perspective.  

At Elos Medtech, we have been working with continuous improvements for years and it has increasingly become a natural part of our daily work. The entire organization is involved in identifying opportunities for streamlining tasks and reducing waste of time and resources. To further facilitate this, we have made it to one of our strategic focus areas for the upcoming years to ensure a strong platform for sustainable growth.

Improve efficiency, capacity and value using Lean Manufacturing principles

The process of shaping and building more efficient production systems is often achieved with Lean as a systematic method. The principles of Lean Manufacturing are focused on identifying and eliminating the parts of a production process that are not adding value to the customer. Continuous improvement is a Lean improvement technique that helps to streamline workflows. Efficient workflows save time and money, allowing us to reduce wasted time and effort and thereby achieve higher capacity and efficiency.

Analysis of current performance and implementation of improvements

Elos Medtech is now running a project called “Elos Medtech Operational Excellence” (EMOPEX) that will cover various actions towards operational excellence. An initial part of EMOPEX has been to conduct an overall value-stream analysis based on how we work today and to identify potentials for improvement. Also, a number of key areas that are important for us to achieve Operational Excellence were defined. Increasing our level of automation and creating a demand-driven production are examples of these areas. Strategic competence development is another.     

The next step is to use the results of the value-stream mapping as a basis for a pilot program for several improvement initiatives of the production system at Elos Medtech in Timmersdala. Measures are also taken for the identified potentials for improvements as well as key areas. The improvements will be continuously discussed and shared within Elos Medtech. This way, the entire organization gets involved in the journey towards Operational Excellence and benefits our customers globally. The findings and results will enable Elos Medtech to shape a manufacturing platform for the future demands of growth.

In an upcoming blog article, we will give you an in-depth look at the project at Elos Medtech Timmersdala. Stay tuned!

Would you like to know more about EMOPEX? Feel free to contact me with questions or visit our website or knowledge blog for more information and news. Also, don’t forget to visit us on social media!