Reference no: EM133637760

Case Study #1: Using Material Pull to Improve a Pharmacy Process

The Background: Medications and IV Fluids were being replenished using visual inspections, daily inventory counts and verbal warnings of outages. The area was disorganized, cluttered and was not arranged in an efficient manner. Inventory levels were too high on some medications and too low on others. As a result the department experienced stock outs, expiration and obsolescence of medications, IV fluids and supplies.

The Process: A 12 member team was formed consisting of 5 pharmacists, 3 pharmacy techs, and 4 Process Improvement Specialists. Medications, IV's and supplies were removed from the IV room and taken to an adjacent conference room where item numbers, quantity on hand, historic usage, and other critical information was reviewed by the pharmacists. This information was entered into an excel spreadsheet which wasset-up to calculate the kanban quantity. Once the quantity was calculated, the lead pharmacist reviewed the quantity and made adjustments as deemed necessary. Knowledge of the supplier, minimum order quantity, usage trends, etc. were all taken into consideration when making any adjustments to the Kanban quantity.

Simultaneously another group was reorganizing the IV room to improve efficiency by reducing waste from excessive walking and searching for medications and supplies.

Two Bin Kanban Formula

Quantity per Container = Average Daily Usage x Lead Time (days)+ Safety Stock (days)

After approval from the lead pharmacists, an appropriately sizedbin was selected, the medication, IV or supply was placed in the bins and a label identifying the item and reorder quantity was printed and attached. When processing was complete the medication, IV or supply was returned to the IV room and placed in its new location.