Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Excellence: Capacity Utilization Boosts Profit Margins

Top pharmaceutical manufacturing plants strive to achieve efficient operations that result in increased profitability as well as superior product quality and satisfied customers. A new study by pharmaceutical research firm Best Practices, LLC contains performance metrics that enable companies to perform gap analyses to assess manufacturing performance and identify improvement opportunities.

"Pharmaceutical Manufacturing: Cost, Staffing & Utilization Metrics" is available at: http://www3.best-in-class.com/rr397.htm .

This study contains operational metrics from several top-performing North American pharmaceutical manufacturing plants. Some of the findings include:

-- Capacity utilization is a key driver in cost management and production efficiency. Those facilities getting the most out of their equipment tend to perform better in most categories measured in this study.

-- Too much variety in product types can lead to under-utilized equipment and diluted management, maintenance, and quality focus. For most companies, focusing on one type of manufacturing process, or a limited line of products, yields significant efficiencies, economies of scale, and a fine-tuned operational excellence.

The leading practices, managerial insights and benchmark metrics in this study are drawn from interviews and surveys with 11 plants at nine pharmaceutical companies. In addition to capacity utilization and product type metrics, the report includes:

-- Conversion cost factors

-- Staffing levels by function and management responsibilities

-- Quality control efficiency information

-- Levels of automation

"A solid understanding of manufacturing costs among world-class companies is the first step in evaluating a company's own current practices," said Chris James, vice president at Best Practices, LLC. "This report is the only tool of its kind that can help executives at manufacturing plants identify critical performance gaps and create a specific path for marked process improvement."

Download a summary of "Pharmaceutical Manufacturing: Cost, Staffing & Utilization Metrics" at: http://www3.best-in-class.com/rr397.htm .