‘Customer satisfactionis not negotiable’ – When operational excellence becomes vital

For Roland Seckler, Vice President Global Supply Chain Operations at Ypsomed, the particular importance of Ypsomed‘s product range is his decisive motivation: “Our users are chronically ill patients, and we are improving their quality of life. For us, customer satisfaction is non-negotiable – it is rather our primary goal.” In a nutshell For the Ypsomed medical technology company, delivery reliability and eventually the well-being of patients is paramount. Thus, Ypsomed consistently relies on Operational Excellence, which also helps the company keeping costs in check despite production sites in Switzerland and Germany. Additionally, Ypsomed uses a Near Sharing strategy to shorten transportation, which also facilitates reaching its sustainability goals.

One of the world‘s leading developers and manufacturers of dispenser systems for medications, Ypsomed, is rooted in two high-wage countries, having production facilities in Germany and Switzerland. However, due to Operational Excellence, process efficiency and the level of automation could still be increased, to keep manufacturing costs low.

Among the most well-known Ypsomed products are insulin pumps, which prevent under- or oversupply using the my-Life-loop algorithm. This allows for a comfortable and carefree life for people having type 1 diabetes. The other solutions for self-medication significantly improve the quality of life for chronically ill patients as well.

The need for a steady or even continuous intake of medication poses particular requirements on the supply chain. Production, storage and the entire Supply Chain Network Management must be perfectly coordinated. Thus, Ypsomed is in continuous exchange with all its suppliers, both digitally and personally.

Close exchange with its partners also includes the manufacturers of the assembly facilities. For the production, a dedicated platform has been developed, similar to automotive modular construction concepts. The further development of these systems – new ones are added every six months or so – is ensured through regular feedback discussions and improvement initiatives, as is optimization over the course of their service life. Roland Seckler: “New insights continuously enter the next generation of the assembly facilities. This way, we ensure that improvements are passed on and integrated. We focus on only a few machine suppliers that can quickly supply us.”

For production itself, all important parameters are recorded – primarily, the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). Furthermore, production metrics provide e. g. insights in the use of capacity levels in manufacturing. As a strongly customer-focused manufacturer, OTIF (On Time, In Full) one of the most important KPIs to ensure that product delivery is fulfilled to suit the customers: “As we are very customer-focused, we take this KPI very seriously. We want to deliver each order in the desired quality and at the agreed “time,” Roland Seckler says.”

High Flexibility and Short Transport Routes

The process optimizations introduced within Operational Excellence have also proven successful for the sudden boom in demand with preparations for weight management, commonly known as “weight loss injections”. In the future, Ypsomed wants to ensure the higher production capacities for these autoinjectors with multi-track production facilities, which will allow the production of different autoinjectors simultaneously.

The quick adaptation of machines and supply chain is possible due to the close cooperation of everyone involved and a practiced company culture of continuous improvement. Ypsomed manager Seckler: “Apart from a strong digitalization, our strategy “Purchase 4.0” also includes Nearshoring. We prefer suppliers close to our production sites, which means in Germany, Switzerland and China.”

A positive side effect of this approach: Long transportation is avoided and the sustainability balance is improved. Ypsomed aims to create a climate-neutral Value Chain by 2030, and the company is set to be climate-neutral by 2040.