In line with Novo Nordisk's production strategy, Novo Nordisk Health Care Product Supply's brand new factory brings together all the stages of the production process.

At its new facility in Hillerød, Denmark Novo Nodisk produces a new version of its popular NovoLet® prefilled syringe.

Novo Nordisk's new NovoLet® factory in Hillerød goes against a number of the company's conventions for dealing with complex production involving different disciplines and several unit operations. Until now, production has been divided up mainly by function. But the new factory is home to a process-oriented form of production where all the processes and unit operations relating to the product have been united under one roof. The company has also taken the opportunity to examine the way in which work at the factory is organised, helping to break down the barriers between different disciplines and resulting in a far more efficient and flexible way of organising work.

Strategy as a starting point
The starting point for setting up the project - NovoLet® Complet - is Novo Nordisk's production strategy. This strategy, adopted in 1994, is based on uniting all the processes relating to a particular product in a single factory in order to improve production by simplifying the logistics and reaping the rewards of extensive automation.
As well as the individual production processes (formulation, filling, inspection, assembly and packing), the factory also houses the associated support functions such as the Quality Control (QC) laboratory, Quality Assurance (QA) and goods inwards and outwards.
The main idea behind the changes was to increase the cost-effectiveness of production by making better use of the production equipment. The changes were also intended to reduce throughput times and improve product quality (fewer non-conformances and a lower rejection rate). Moreover, it became clear that organising the workforce into independent teams led to an increased understanding of the individual team member's responsibility for the quality of the finished product, a responsibility which was often less than clear in the old function-oriented organisation.
January 1998 saw the first phase of the NovoLet® Complet factory coming on stream, less than two years after construction began. While the final elements are being set up and run in, a number of benchmarking projects are also being carried out. The purpose of these projects is to show the degree to which the objectives set for the factory are actually being met.

Greater satisfaction
Focusing on the needs of the customer was a priority throughout the development process. This has led to a high degree of awareness of what the factory produces and how it is produced, rather than who is producing it. The individual employee has more responsibility for the whole and hence greater influence. This is ensured through a flatter organisational structure with independent interdisciplinary teams. The idea is that the team as a whole will be able to accomplish all the tasks involved. This also means that the barriers between different disciplines have been broken down, and this in turn is reflected in the agreement which regulates the employees' terms of employment. This states that the agreement covers production employees with different training employed to carry out the work functions associated with producing NovoLet®. As well as production, the employees are also responsible for work such as maintaining production equipment, calibration, optimisation and documentation.
The advantages are clear: larger volumes can be produced by fewer employees since, for example, the number of employees needed in case of mechanical breakdown has been considerably reduced. This leads to reduced production costs, which have also been improved by the high level of automation.
The NovoLet® Complet factory currently has around 80 employees. Once it becomes fully operational in early 2000, this figure is expected to increase to around 150, accounting for a considerable proportion of Novo Nordisk's production of the NovoLet® 3 ml disposable pen.

Top