PROJECT ON

Understanding of

SELF MANAGED TEAMS

At

Dr. Reddy’s Labs – FTO VI (Baddi)

Submitted By: Under Guidance Of

Sadhana Centre for Management & Leadership

Development (SCMLD), PUNE

1

Anagha Yeri

Roll No. 2007 B-30Mr. Surinder Pal Singh Head HRDr. Reddy’s Labs

Mr. R.K. VivekaanandaCentre for excellence in organization

Acknowledgement

I take this opportunity to extend my gratitude to all those people

who have helped me reach a platform in my life where I could put to

use all that I have learnt till date & also give me a chance to learn

more that will help me equip myself with better tools to enhance my

performance in the future.

At the outset I express my gratitude to Prof. M.S. Pillai, whose

valuable teachings throughout the two years have sown the seeds of

continuous learning in me which helped me in performing in my

project.

I would like to thank our Business Head, S. Karthikeyan at CEO

who thoughtfully gave us a project which presented us with a platform

to learn a totally new concept & thus build our knowledge. I am also

thankful to our project guide Mr. R.K. Vivekaananda & Mr. Umanath

from CEO who were always helpful to guide us during our difficulties.

I am immensely grateful to our project guide Mr. Surinder Pal

Singh Head HR, Dr. Reddy’s Labs, FTO VI who left no effort in helping

us in every aspect of our project & without whose help our project

would have remained incomplete. His timely guidance has resulted in

the growth of our knowledge about the HR functions to a great extent.

I specially thank the Self Managed Team Members as well as the

Hand Holding Team Members at Dr. Reddy’s Labs, FTO VI, who were a

great help to us in understanding the finer aspects of the SMT concept.

I am the most indebted to my parents who have been the pillars

of support & confidence for me & who have always stood behind me in

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whatever I did. They trusted me with my abilities in doing my project

outside my home city. I seek God’s blessings to strengthen me with

the ability to live up to everyone’s expectations.

CONTENTS:

1) About Center for Excellence in Organization…………………………

04

2) Abstract…………………………………………………………………..

07

3) History of SMT…………………………………………………………..

08

4) Terminologies of SMT…………………………………………………..

09

5) Difference between traditional organization & HPWS………………..

10

6) Key disciplines of SMT…………………………………………………..

11

7) Advantages of HPWS…………………………………………………….

13

8) Challenges of HPWS……………………………………………………..

14

9) HPWS Implementation approach……………………………………….

15

10) SMT systems &

outcomes………………………………………………. 18

11) About Dr. Reddy’s

Labs………………………………………………….. 19

12) Executive

Summary………………………………………………………. 21

3

13) Introduction……………………………………………………………

……. 23

14) Scope of Study,

Sample…………………………………………………… 26

15) Need for the study, Significance, Objective, Method,

literature review... 27

16) Actual

Study………………………………………………………………….. 28

Centre for Excellence in Organization Pvt. Ltd.

Often an organization, after ages of its existence, despite an

established culture that has weathered the ravages of time, the

organization discovers that the world around it has transformed

without a word. Now, plans that have proved to be profitable are in

need for a revamp.

Adding to this the developing trends in harnessing and utilization of

human potential and the evolving environments of human relations

propounded by a hundred new gurus and theoreticians - Great

4

solutions that just don’t look so practical when they near the

implementation phase…

Centre for Excellence in Organization realized that in these times of

hard survival what is needed are not conceptual ideas and solutions

but practical remedies that might deviate from the perceived norms

but GENERATE RESULTS!

CEO prides itself in having brought out radical changes in the business

culture and performance of many goliaths. By emphasizing the power

of human resources and handholding the client in every aspect of the

business processes, it has carved for itself an indisputably unique

niche in the consulting firmament.

Expanding its horizons relentlessly during its existence for nearly a

decade, CEO has been the catalyst for path breaking innovations in

some of the most reputed organizations in the Indian soil as well as in

Global Business.

Over the years CEO believed that no pre-packaged methods exist than

are universally applicable but rather believes in handholding to

construct the best possible solutions to the organization’s unique

culture and position.

CEO Vision

“To be the most preferred partner for holistic growth of every

constituent of Business”

5

CEO Mission

“Value Exploration through People & Process Integration”

Provides Expert Services in

Creating High performance work systems

Culture building

Competency mapping and development

Performance Management System

Balance Score Card

Operational Excellence & Resource Optimization ( TQM/ TPM/

Kaizen/Process Mapping)

HR Process Re-engineering & Outsourcing

Organization Surveys

Green field turn-key recruitment

Family business

Among others

CEO Spread

As on today CEO operates across 3 countries (India, Malaysia and

Dubai) and has clients across India, Middle East, South East Asia and

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West Africa. CEO has branches in Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and

Haridwar in India, Penang in Malaysia and Dubai.

This project is being hand holded by CEO in Dr. Reddy’s Labs, FTO VI

Baddi

Abstract:

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In the challenging climate & environment, to survive in the market

place, it is increasingly apparent that one of the key to successful

organizational performance is the people within the organization, & the

management system that harness their talents & capabilities

Organizations & the way they are managed have evolved over a period

of time. Right from the beginning of the nineteenth century till today,

long living companies have adapted themselves to the changing

requirements of the market place. Earlier the culture in most of the

organizations was of hierarchy & a boss & subordinate relation existed

amongst the employees where the boss or the manager was the

decision maker & the subordinate was just an executer.

Over a period of time organizations have realized that empowering

their employees & enabling them to take the right decision will be

beneficial to the overall success of the organization in the long run.

Simply put a Self Managed Team is a group of people working

together in their own ways toward a common goal which is

defined outside the team.

The basic aim of high performance work systems or a Self Managed

Team (SMT) is to enable employees to exercise decision making,

leading to flexibility, innovation, improvement and skill sharing. By

facilitating the development of Self Managed Teams we help

organizations make continuous improvement a way of life.

As organizations move from a paradigm valuing individual work to

focusing on team efforts, the leader no longer simply manages tasks.

The role instead requires facilitating processes to create fertile team

environments. This demands a different orientation to leadership and

different skills and actions. Leadership, rather than residing in one

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person, is now "accomplished as a team function, with and through

teams.

SMT History:

In London a study was conducted by the Tavistock institute & a system

called the socio technical design was developed. The system arose

from work done in the coal mining industry. Under this study

conducted in the coal mines of London, it was observed that the

miners worked without any supervisors or any sort of technology.

Therefore in order to increase productivity supervisors as well as

technology like wireless etc. were introduced. It was however found

that the productivity decreased instead.

This was because earlier the miners worked without any supervision &

they had an emotional connect between them. With the introduction of

the technology as well as the supervisors their emotional connect was

lost.

Later, miners were formed into multi skilled work groups to support a

redesign of the way in which work was carried out underground. Teams

were made responsible for their own decisions & for the flow of their

work. The system achieved greater productivity & better morale within

the workforce.

In the USA P&G based an entire new facility on the concept of SMT’s.

the success was so spectacular that P&G treated it with the greatest

confidentiality, classifying information about their team organization &

treating it as a trade secret. Later Volvo, with the commissioning of it’s

now famous Kalmar plant, broke new ground. Teams built complete

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components of cars as manufacturing cells rather than as operators

supporting zones of a linear production line. This produced a dramatic

increase in productivity & demonstrated the power of teaming.

TERMINOLOGY:

The concept and principles remaining same, different companies have

given different terms to SMTs:

Self Managed Teams are also known as:

Socio-Technical Systems

High Commitment Systems

Technician Systems

High Involvement Systems

Participative Management

High Performance Work Systems

Self-Directed Work Teams

Empowered Work Teams

Autonomous Work Teams

Performance Development Systems, etc.

A BREAK THROUGH APPROACH TO DESIGNING WORK

HPWS represent a new approach to the way work is organized and performed.

Instead of organizing work based on the traditional Taylor model-reducing a

process to individual simple steps, work is restructured around the whole

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processes. The new system integrates the needs of the people with the work to

be done and those closest to the job help design the job. It redistributes power,

authority and responsibility so that people closest to the customer and the

end product or result have decision-making facility.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL ORGANISATIONS AND HPWS

HPWS differs from a traditional organization in structure, design,

process, communication flow, leadership roles, and reward and

recognition systems. It is a shift from individual based design to team

based design.

The following are the differences between Traditional Organization and

HPWS

Ele

ment

Traditional

Organizatio

n

Self Managed

Teams

Organizationa

l Structure

Layered/

Hierarchical

Flat/Team-based

Job Design Narrow/

Single-task

Whole Process/Multi-task

Manager’s

Role

Direct/

Controls

Coach, Facilitator

Leadership Top-down Shared with team

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Rewards Individual

Performance

Team based

Information

Flow

Controlled

and limited

Open and Shared

Job Process Managers

Plan, Control

and Improve

Teams Plan, Control and

Improve

KEY DISCIPLINES OF A SELF MANAGED TEAM:

Self-management for teams involves, a team, assuming a set of new

roles and responsibilities that have traditionally been the exclusive

preserve of managers and supervisors. As a result, when a

conventional group or team moves to become self-managed work

team, a whole host of new challenges emerge along with, exciting

opportunities. To successfully survive these challenges and achieve

self-management, the traditional team must learn certain key

disciplines of the self-managed team. These disciplines are a set of

skills, approaches, insights and practices that are to be mastered and

gradually to become self-directed. The six key disciplines are: -

1. Establish and communicate the boundaries of team

authority

Self-managed work teams should develop charters that define the

boundaries of their work and communicate to its members, to the

steering committee, to other teams and to entire organization. Every

Team member must have clarity of his roles and responsibilities and

the boundary within which the team operates.

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2. Develop Cross Functional Skills

A key factor that sets self-managed work teams apart from

conventional teams is that all members of the team are intimately

familiar with all of the tasks done within the team. All members of a

SMWT must not only understand the variety of jobs and tasks within

the team; they must also have the capability to perform each of these

tasks. Training all team members in each other’s tasks is an important

component of SMW skill set.

3. Develop Critical Thinking Skills

Self- Managed teams must critically evaluate its role in organization, its

charter, its goals, its evolving norms of behavior, its performance, its

successes, etc. A critically thinking SMWT does not settle for

yesterday's success. It is always examining its processes, its

environment, and its results.

4. Becoming Self-Directed Learners

Traditional work groups and teams depend upon the learning priorities

set by management. Self-Managed Teams must break this dependency

and define for themselves what they need to know. This must happen

not just to learn what they must do to get their job done today, but the

team has to take responsibility for identifying needed skills and

knowledge essential for their and the company's long-term success.

The team assumes full responsibility for exploring the methods and

approaches for learning to become self-directed, long-term learners.

5. Manage Team Performance

Conventional teams may be involved in goal setting and performance

evaluation, but management still plays a major role in molding these

goals and in evaluating the team's performance. A SMWT assumes full

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responsibilities for these tasks. The SMWT must therefore be trained in

the skills and knowledge of team’s performance management. This

includes the skill of goal setting, establishing benchmark standards,

evaluating performance and developing plans for performance

improvement with minimal assistance from management.

6. Manage Human Resources

In traditional work groups, management usually assumes the

responsibility for defining needed positions, recruiting the right

candidates, establishing criteria for evaluating the candidates and

orienting him/her to the job. However in self-managed teams, teams

assume full responsibility for managing its human resources. As a

result, team members must learn to master such HR skills i.e.

recruiting and selecting new incumbents, monitoring individual

performance and then taking action to correct performance plans.

ADVANTAGES OF HPWS

It has been observed that organizations practicing HPWS are on

average 30 to 50% more productive than their conventional counter

parts. The following are the advantages of HPWS:

1. Improved quality, productivity and service.

2. Greater participation, autonomy and flexibility.

3. Reduced operating costs.

4. Faster response to technological change.

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5. Fewer, Simpler job classifications.

6. Better response to workers values.

7. Increased employee commitment to the organization.

8. Ability to attract and retain the best people.

9. Improved employee quality of work life and job satisfaction.

10. Reduced absenteeism and employee turnover.

CHALLENGES OF HPWS

Most of the managers and supervisors are uncomfortable with losing

power and control over people and process. They viewed these

processes as geared at making them look weak and tend to confuse

them as roles becoming blurred. This creates a lot of resistance as

issues of accountability are challenged.

HPWS encourages substantial investment in people who become highly

skilled and thus opening a multitude of attractive opportunities that

other companies might have at levels that the parent company cannot

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afford. Those systems tend to promote predatory tendencies from

competitors who do not want to develop employees but prepared to

buy skills. Implementation of HPWS is a long-term process and requires

patience and enduring support of management and employees

through out the process. HPWS entails continuous learning and up

gradation of skills and many incur huge expenses in training the

employees. Developing HPWS requires a high degree of planning,

selecting the right team players, designing the work, training

continuously and carefully managing the shift of power and

responsibilities from supervisors to team members.

The major challenges organizations face in changing from a traditional

environment to a high involvement environment includes developing

the teams and fostering the culture of management support. Teams go

through several stages of increasing involvement on their way to self-

management. This journey can take between two and five years and is

never ending from a learning and renewal perspective.

An SMT coordinator is a facilitator. He realizes that like a seed, will be

productive only as long as they have the necessary resources.

Although, not all team members are productive, just like not all seeds

germinate, most produce results in favorable conditions. SMT

coordinator creates favorable conditions for higher crop yield.

HIGH PERFORMANCE WORK SYSTEMS – IMPLEMENTATION

APPROACH

The HPWS model would pass through various transition stages to reach

the ideal HPWS structure (with having only three layers and

supervision-less functioning). Better the maturity level of the teams

better the autonomy and empowerment.

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- The teams are configured based on VAPs (Value Added

Processes). The ideal team strength is around 8 to12 members.

- A team could be of members from across shifts or within shifts

also. Also, it could consist of members from cross functional /

section or within functional / section.

- Maintenance function generally gets disintegrated as

autonomous maintenance except for specialized maintenance

and projects. Quality team would extend support - acts as a

trainer and conscious keeper, and not as an inspector.

- Stores would remain as a centralized support team but will have

a defined resource person to support each team.

The project shall be executed in 4 stages with clear objective

and distinct approach for each stage.

Stage I Stage 2 Stage 3Step 7

Stage 4

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Step 1  Step 1   Step 1  Step 1

Studying Organization Expectations

Sourcing & Selection (Based on skill & personal qualities)

SMT Teams Configuration

Introducing Team Score card

Designing Skill Evaluation Tools

 Step 2  Step 2  Step 2  Step 8  Step 2

Mapping Biz Processes (To Determine Selection Criteria & Training Module)

Institutional Training (Extensive preparation for High Performance - Technical & Behavioral Focus)

Creating Empowerment Map

Initiating Sunrise Meeting

Initiating Human Value Action Team

 Step 3  Step 3  Step 3 Step 9   Step 3

Blue Print Creation (Selection, Training & Culture Building)

On The Job Training (During Commissioning)

Selecting SMT Leaders/ Facilitators

Initiating Team Meeting

Conducting Skill Assessment & Certification

 Step 4  Step 4  Step 4  Step 10  Step 4

Leadership Alignment & program Launch

Conducting SMT Awareness Programs

Designing Team Score Card

Commensing Detailed skill Mapping

Initiating Open House Forum

 Step 5  Step 5  Step 5  Step 11  Step 5

Forming Steering Committee

HPWS Readiness Programs

Launching of SMTs

Initiating Face to Face Review

Conducting Reviews & Audits

 Step 6  Step 6  Step 12Initiating Learn Teach Learn Session

Designing Team Charter

Initiating Star Model roles

Stage 1: The pink cells represent the processes that are aimed at

diagnosing the requirement properly and aligning all the stakeholders

on the challenges and outcome.

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Stage 2: The blue cells refer to processes that are foundation for

creating the HPWS culture, which are to be carried out before the roll

out of teams.

Stage 3: The yellow cells refer to processes that are core processes of

a SMT. To start with, these can be implemented in pilot area and on

seeing results (say within 4-5 months) it can be replicated to others

areas.

Stage 4: The green cells are the advanced processes which can be

initiated only after establishing the core processes of SMT.

SMT Systems Outcomes

1) Team Formation 1. Emphasizing on team work and

team deliverables

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2. Sharing of accountability and

ownership with the grassroots

3. Facilitating performance

through coaching and guidance

(not thru

supervision)

2) Team Charter 1. Agreeing on common goals and

building synergy & team bonding

3) Team Leader Role 1. Enabling grassroots to take-up

and perform leadership role within

the

defined boundary

2. Managing through peer

management than hierarchical

powers

4) STAR Roles 1. Sharing the ownership of

delivering critical success factors

(CSF)

among the team members

2. Gaining clarity and focus on the

CSF

5) Team Score Card 1. Converting the feel good factors

into measurable business

performance parameters

2. Continuous monitoring and

updating of the team performance

and

creating healthy competition

among the teams through

benchmarking

3. Establishing objective reward

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and recognition mechanism

6) Communication

Continuum

1. SAM - Facilitating timely

exchange of information (shift

handing over

and taking over)

2. Team Meetings - Thoroughly

analyzing the improvement areas

and

preparing the SMART action plan

3. Face to Face - Reviewing the

monthly performance of the teams

4. Open House – Creating space

for transparent exchange of

information about company’s

business plan, customers, future

goals,

challenges, opportunities etc

7) SBPS (Skill Based

Progression System)

1. Enabling individuals to progress

in the career ladder through

proper

skill acquisition (Identifying value

added processes, defining skill

blocks & inventory, evaluation,

training and certification)

2. Transparent understanding of

the skill levels and its related

reward /

Recognitions

8) HVAT (Human Value

Action Team)

1. Facilitating celebrations,

perception surveys, handling

disciplinary

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issues, thinking from macro level

for higher level of team

empowerment

9) Training &

Development

1. Enabling all participants across

levels to acquire the skill sets /

qualities required to perform their

role in SMT context

ABOUT THE COMPANY:

Dr. Reddy’s Labs is an Integrated Global Pharmaceutical Company.

With a purpose of providing affordable & innovative medicines for

healthier lives, their vision is “To be a Top 20 global pharmaceutical

Company by 2020”.

Dr. Reddy’s aim is to help people lead healthier lives through two

parallel objectives:

1) making medicines affordable & accessible in all parts of the

world so that as many people as possible benefit from them;

2) Discovering, developing & commercializing innovative treatment

options that satisfy unmet medical needs.

Headquartered in India, it has a presence in more than 100 countries.

It has wholly-owned subsidiaries in the US, UK, Russia, Germany &

Brazil; joint ventures in China, SA & Australia; representative offices in

16 countries; & third-party distribution set ups in 21 countries. Dr.

Reddy’s is the first pharmaceutical company in Asia outside of Japan to

be listed on the NYSE.

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Its strong portfolio of businesses, geographic & products gives it an

edge in an increasingly competitive global market & allows it to

provide affordable medication to people across the world, regardless of

geographic & socio-economic barriers. Dr. Reddy’s is a global,

vertically integrated pharmaceutical company with a presence across

the value chain, producing & delivering safe, innovative, & high quality

finished dosage forms, APIs & biological products. Its products are

marketed across the globe, with an emphasis on North America,

Europe, India, Russia & other emerging markets.

It conducts NCE drug discovery research in the areas of metabolic

disorders & cardiovascular indications at research facilities in Atlanta

(USA) & Hyderabad (India). Through its custom Pharmaceutical

Services business unit, it provides drug substance & drug product

development & manufacturing services on a proprietary basis.

Their near medium term value creation business encompasses:

Preparation of Active pharmaceutical ingredients & Custom

pharmaceutical ingredients & Global generics.

Long Term Value Creation (Proprietary Products): Drug discovery,

specialty pharmaceuticals, Biologics.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

More often than not a seasoned organization looks back over its

shoulders only to realize that its performance over the years though

good (or even excellent) is just not maximal. A reigned in business,

when harnessed & trained to maximum efficiency would undoubtedly

take the venture far beyond lines that are now perceived as intrinsic

limitations.

Getting yourself to do these need a change in the business process

redesign of your systems.

Self Managed Teams is an organizational architecture that brings

together work, people, technology and information in a manner

that optimizes the congruence or fit among them. A specific

combination of HR practices, work structures, and processes that

maximizes employee knowledge, skill, commitment, flexibility and

contribution.

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The basic aim of Self Managed Teams is to enable employees to

exercise decision making, leading to flexibility, innovation,

improvement and skill sharing. By facilitating the development of high

performance work systems we help organizations make continuous

improvement a way of life.

The Self Managed teams not only to do their routine work but also,

take on Management functions formerly performed by Supervisors,

Engineers and Managers.

This allows Supervisors, Engineers and Managers to focus on

teaching, coaching, developing and facilitating rather than

controlling.

Just like any other organization, Dr. Reddy’s laboratories is an

organization which would like to improve it’s performance &

productivity in the long run.

In the year 2000, with the help of CEO consultants Pvt. Ltd., Dr.

Reddy’s became the first pharmaceutical company in India to

implement Self Managed Teams in it’s organization.

An innovative scientific selection process & an intensive training

curriculum were devised for the spanking new plant at Yannam, a town

in the Union Territory of Pondicherry on the eastern coast. It was

decided to recruit young people who had completed 12th standard

(with science background) & filtered out the best candidates through a

series of tests – written, psycho diagnostic & neuromuscular - & a

group discussion & personal interview.

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In the bargain these young people were getting an opportunity

to pursue their B.Sc. in Pharmacy totally funded by the organization, &

a free hostel accommodation.

. Later on, after a technical & a behavioral training of 45 days,

these employees were ready to be inducted in the organization.

At the plant, these employees were divided & were formed into

self managed teams, who then went on to manage their daily work in a

systematic way. A team from the middle level management, known as

the Hand Holding Team facilitated the formation of the Self Managed

Team.

Later on the experiment was repeated at Baddi, in Himachal

Pradesh in December 2005, where the current study was undertaken.

INTRODUCTION:

As discussed a Self Managed Team is a group of people working

together in their own ways towards a common goal. It is a team of

people with individual strengths & weaknesses which compliment

each other in managing their daily work management activities

& improve their performance & to achieve their goals.

These team members take their own decisions w.r.t. planning,

executing & evaluating their daily work activities.

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Traditional organizational systems, suffer from a tall hierarchal design.

Under such a system there are a lot of layers between the top

Management & the lower level management.

The organization’s situation here becomes like a dinosaur, if something

hits the tail, it will take a long time to reach the head. I.e., if something

is wrong at the lower level management it will take a long time to

reach the top management, by which time the situation would have

worsened.

Moreover, most employees would not be able to reach their maximum

potential under constant supervision.

An SMT is an empowered, multiskilled team with operational decision –

making authority. The team largely handles plant operations on it’s

own, with minimal supervision.

Therefore the basic objective of a Self Managed Team is:

1) to break the hierarchy

2) to improve production

The Self Managed teams not only to do their routine work but also,

take on Management functions formerly performed by Supervisors,

Engineers and Managers.

This allows Supervisors, Engineers and Managers to focus on teaching,

coaching, developing and facilitating rather than controlling.

Under this concept the hierarchical structure of the organization takes

the following form:

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I. Plant Head

II. HHTs (Hand Holding Team members)

III. SMT members

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In fact, one of the major differences between SMTs & traditional

teams is the complete lack of layers of seniority & hierarchies. This

concept empowers the first level people. Generally there are 4-5 layers

in an organization, with the result that people often don’t feel

ownership; they feel disconnected.

Under this model, people are responsible, accountable & feel a

sense of ownership.

There is also a financial benefit in this model. At the Yannam

plant, the initial manpower requirement came up to 120 people, but

when the SMT concept was put on the table, they realized they could

manage the same operations with 40 people & the work done was

more effective.

Similarly, the Baddi plant which gives an output of 130 million

tablets & capsules, 2.5 lac vials of injectables, 6 – 7 lac tubes of

ointments & pastes & a revenue of 30 – 35 crores every month is

managed by just 120 SMTs, who take care of the entire chain of value

addition right from management of warehouse to the dispatch of

goods.

The number of SMT as well as HHT team members at the plant is as

follows:

Department HHTs SMTs Total

Production (Tablet & Capsules Mfg.) 6 26 30

Production (Packaging) 4 28 34

Production (Injectables) 5 11 16

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Production (Ointments) 3 7 10Ware House 1 6 7Engineering 9 9 19

Quality Assurance 13 1 14Quality Control 13 17 30

Supply Chain Management 1 0 1

Safety health & Environment 1 0 1Finance 1 0 1Human Resource 1 1 2

SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

The study is conducted at Dr. Reddy’s Labs, FTO VI, Baddi.

Geographical Scope: The geographical scope of the study is limited to

the SMT & HHT team members at Dr. Reddy’s Labs, FTO VI, Baddi.

Functional Scope: The functional scope of the study covers the

understanding of the SMT concept & it’s various tools with a focus on

one of the Tools i.e. SPBS (Skill Based Progression System) all the

areas where the SMTs are deployed & are working, i.e. the shop floor,

the Quality Assurance department, the Quality Control department, as

well as the HR department.

SAMPLE SIZE:

The plant runs in 3 regular shifts i.e. the A shift (7 a.m. to 3 p.m.),

General Shift (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) & B shift (3 p.m. to 11 p.m.) If however,

there is a demand for higher production, then the plant also runs in an

extra shift (11 p.m. to 7 a.m.).

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For the purpose of understanding the concept of SMT, the interaction

was done with around 35 SMT team members as well as 8 – 10 HHT

team members from A shift & General shift.

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

The concept of SMT was earlier implemented at Dr. Reddy’s plant, FTO

IV, Yannam, with a great success. The experiment was replicated at

the Baddi plant.

The study is being conducted to understand the concept of SMT at FTO

VI, Baddi & to understand how one of the tools i.e. Skill Based

Progression System (SBPS) can be implemented by understanding the

various processes.

SIGNIFICANCE: This study would be significant in understanding the

challenges as well as advantages of a SMT concept.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the challenges & advantages of

implementing SMT in an organization.

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METHODOLOGY: For the purpose of the study, primary data was

gathered by visiting the plant & interacting with the SMTs. The SMTs

were interacted through a random sampling method.

LITERATURE REVIEW: For the purpose of the study, various articles

from websites have been read, books like “The Toyota Talent” have

been read.

ACTUAL STUDY

In an SMT concept the Team Members are inducted within an

organization through a proper selection process.

1) Scientific Selection Process: In an SMT model the team

members are selected through a well developed Scientific

Selection Process. First of all, the business processes of an

organization are mapped & the requirements of an organization

are determined in order to know the selection criteria.

The team members are selected through a series of tests - written,

psycho diagnostic & neuromuscular - & a group discussion &

personal interview.

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The following shows the process flow of a Scientific Selection

Process.

= PASS

Aptitude TestPsycho

Diagnostic Test

Neuro Muscular Test

Structured Interview

Yes

No

Thank You

Yes

No

Medical Checkup & Antecedent Verification

Yes

No

Pass

OfferYes

No

Pass

Pass

Pass

Initial Screening

Induction

Requirement Profiling

Group Discussion / Task

Exercise

NoYes

Multi Mode Integrated Talent Multi Mode Integrated Talent SelectionSelection

33

P

For the purpose of Dr. Reddy’s Labs, the selection criteria

was identified as 12th pass students from science Background

(Non medical + Medical). Candidates from almost every district

of Himachal Pradesh underwent the selection tests. These

candidates under went an Aptitude Test, Psycho diagnostic

Test, a Neuro muscular Test, Group Discussion & then a

personal interview. Later on the selected candidates were

called for a medical test the next day.

At the time of selection most of the candidate did not

know about the SMT concept and they were new to it. Initially

the young team of selected candidates was trained at Punjab

University for two months.

According to one of the SMT members, “initially it seemed

to be very difficult that whether we would be able to

coordinate properly with each other or not, but at the time of

training in P.U. we came closer to each other and started

understanding each other in a better way. After training we

had to join the new plant at Baddi. Hostel was provided to us

for the initial two years. During the hostel period our

relations grew so strongly that we were residing like family

members.”

Moreover, this initial orientation marked an important

phase for the SMT members as this training period laid a

foundation for all of them to strengthen their relationship &

develop a feeling of being in a family & not just as employees

34

of the organization, which is hardly found in other

organizations.

SMT Tools: The implementation of a proper SMT concept involves the

execution of certain tools. Most of these tools are yet to be

implemented at unit FTO VI & will be put into action after the VAP

(Value Adding Processes) model comes into existence. Though not fully

implemented, we can see the impact of these tools at various places in

the organization. These tools are as follows:

1) SMT team formation:

In order for the Self Managed Team members to perform to their

fullest, proper team formation has to be done.

Three major aspects have to be kept in mind before the formation

of a team.

I. Skill: As mentioned earlier, the traits or skills of a team

member should compliment each other in order to achieve

expected results. Their strengths & weaknesses will help them

perform all their work from end to end, right from planning to

dispatch. If this happens, then they will become more

independent & productive.

II. Process: The processes followed will differ from organization

to organization & from industry to industry. In such cases, the

35

teams will have to be formed keeping in mind the processes

that an organization follows.

For eg: In some organizations teams are formed to perform a

particular process, where as in some organizations, teams are

formed to perform the end to end process.

III. Layout: The layout also differs from organization to

organization & the formation of a team to a great extent is

determined by the layout.

For e.g. the team formation in an organization with a process layout

will be different from product layout.

Before forming a team, we should keep in mind that the Size of

the team is in terms of numbers should be appropriate.

We should work towards building proper compatibility &

cohesiveness amongst the team members. This will help to build

proper synergy amongst the team members.

The aim of the team formation is that the team should be able to

sustain & manage itself as well as to achieve it’s goals.

At Dr. Reddy’s although formal Teams for various

departments have yet to be rolled out, an informal team

formation can be seen within the various departments. There

are SMT members who look after the production of tablets &

capsules, there are others who take care of Ointment, of

Injectables etc., who together act as a team fulfilling their

responsibilities & achieving their goals.

This shows that the concept of SMT itself creates the

feeling of a team & the attitude of team work amongst

individuals, making it beneficial both for the organization to

36

achieve it’s goals & create a right atmosphere for the

individual to work.

This is also the result of the seeds of an emotional

bonding laid down during their training period which has

developed further in the form of informal teams within the

departments.

2) Star Caps: According to the structure of the SMT model, after

the formation of the SMT team, one of the steps is the formation

of the Star Caps.

Star Caps are the captions or leaders to take care of particular

contingent situations, which arise within a team. For any team

generally, there is a Production Star Cap, Safety Star Cap, HR Star

Cap, Quality Star Cap, etc. These members take up their role

depending upon any situation that arises in front of a team

otherwise they are as good as the other members of the team.

For e.g. If the productivity is not met according to the planned

schedule, & there is any problem to be solved, then the production star

cap will take the lead to analyze the situation, & solve the problem,

while the other members will follow his advise.

37

The guiding philosophy of STAR model is to propagate ‘situational

leadership’, where the role & accountability are clearly defined.

The model can be better understood in comparison to the SEAL

model of the US commando force. SEAL is a team of 4 commandos

where one is an expert in Sea, one on Earth, one in Air & the last one

is an expert of Landmines. Based on the situation one of them

becomes the leader of the team & the rest follow his instructions. For

example, when the team should accomplish a task of defusing

landmines in the sea, the Sea expert takes over the leadership of the

team till they reach the landmines. Once they reach the spot, the

landmines, the Landmine expert takes over the leadership & others

follow him.

This philosophy is important for an organization when there is more

than one critical factor for success that a Self Managed Team needs to

address. A STAR Cap is assigned for each of these critical factors, who

will be accountable for the delivery of a critical successes factor & will

guide the rest of his/her team members in ensuring the delivery of the

results.

For a Star Cap:

Situation (Job context)

To understand the current situation, opportunities and constraints that

existence at the work place

Task (Job Content)

To know what are the tasks that are relevant to achieve team goals

Action

To understand what are the actions that are necessary to

improve the current situations / achieve the team goals

Result & Review

38

To understand the results that are achievable on taking the correct

actions.

The Star Caps are formed within a team on rotation basis. Even the

selection of Star Caps is preceded by some evaluation & Selection

criteria. The following knowledge, skills & attitudes are important.

1. Attitude

• Regular Attendance

• Involvement in improvements ( Suggestions & other

improvement activities )

2. Skill

• Interpersonal Skill

• Planning Skill

• Communication Skill

• Data Management & Record Maintenance Skill

• Problem Solving Skill

3. Knowledge

• Knowledge on cGMP (Current Good Manufacturing

Practises).

• Knowledge on Equipment & Accessories

• Process Knowledge

• Product Knowledge

• SAP & Computer Knowledge

Benefits of STAR model

1. Structured process for empowering employees

2. Teams operate under a situational leadership model.

3. Ensures the focus on all the critical success factors of an

organization

4. Develops future leaders from within the organization

39

5. Focuses on continuous improvement

Steps for implementing STAR model

 

Step 1: Defining the STAR points

Step 2: Evolving the roles of the STAR Caps

Step 3: Defining the critical skills required for a STAR Caps

Step 4: Identifying STAR Caps

Step 5: Training the STAR Caps

Step 6: Implementing the STAR Caps

Step 7: Handholding the STAR Caps

3) Skill Based Progression System:

Traditionally the work structure for any organization was based upon

the concept of “Division of Labor” i.e. the work is divided & broken into

various parts & each individual is expected to perform only one task &

excel in that area. As a person would do the same work again & again,

it was believed that such a method of working would reduce the time

taken to do the work & thus would improve the efficiency of the

employee.

It was soon found that such a method of work structure makes

the work monotonous for the employee; lack of any other task to be

done decreases the level & application of creativity; it ultimately

decreases the efficiency of the employee. The employee would then

look for other job opportunities in search of challenging jobs. This

40

would ultimately increase the attrition within an organization.

Moreover along with the employee, the skill & the talent of the

organization also move away. It is therefore important for

organizations not to depend on individuals but a multiskilled team.

Organizations today are looking for highly efficient people who can

deliver superior performance in their work, people who are adroit at

multi skilling.

Multi skilling: The Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) defines

multi skilling as the “Acquisition of additional skills, supplementing

those already achieved in a craft”.

It can be defined as a way of working where the traditional divisions

between areas & the separate disciplines are removed & individuals

are given a range of responsibility for a range of different types of task.

Fundamentally multi skilling can be considered as:

Increasing people’s skills & competencies &,

Enabling & allowing them to carry out tasks previously or

traditionally carried out by another function.

SBPS helps organizations to overcome their dependence on individuals

& help them to achieve results through a multiskilled team of

employees.

Skilled Based Performance System: SPBS is one of the tools of

the SMT concept which classifies the skills required to perform a

particular task & also the various levels of that particular skill. There

are four levels on which any skill can be classified:

41

S.No. Level Definition1 Learn Individual is at the learning stage by shadowing

others.2 Execute Can perform task with the assistance of others.3 Excel Can handle tasks independently4 Propagate Can teach others & is a resource for the

organization

Skill Based Progression Systems recognizes the actual & the desired

skill level amongst individuals & tries to bridge the gap through

focused training. It promotes vertical & horizontal multi skilling within

individuals.

SPBS can be designed from two perspectives:

Horizontal or breadth of skills: This aspect talks about acquisition

of skills across various departments of an organization. Here cross

training is emphasized. (E.g. a multi-skilled trade worker possesses

electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and carpentry skills.)

Vertical or depth of skills: This aspect talks about acquisition of

various different skills within the same department or across different

functions within the same department. Here specialization and

expertise is valued (e.g. an electronic technician possesses the entire

range of electrical and electronic skills).

42

Steps to implement SPBS:

Step1: Analyze the business process and identify the Value Adding

Process (VAP) –

Here the various processes done for each function is mapped &

skills required to perform these processes are identified.

Step2: Identify Skill Blocks in each VAP – The accumulated skills

required to perform a particular function or within an area

together are known as a Skill Block. Thus the next step would be

to study the various functions & identify Skill Blocks for these

functions.

Step3: Prepare Skill Blocks - Identify the Knowledge and Skill

requirements for each task at various skill levels (Operate,

Maintain, Improve, and Resource). The various skills for different

functions at the four levels are identified.

Step4: Design progression system – Then a road map is developed

according to the requirement of the function or the area & the

team is trained on the skills. The team members would then be

rotated later depending upon the level they are at to skill blocks

in order to develop other skills.

Step5: Design & develop training manuals & training methodologies –

After identifying & developing the skill blocks, it is important to

train the employees, so that they develop on the various levels.

Therefore the next step would be to design proper training

modules & methodologies for the same.

Step6: Develop assessment criteria for progression – The objective of

developing the assessment criterion is to identify at what level

43

the employee is & what training should be imparted to him in

order to develop his skills further. It is a sort of identifying the

“As Is” & “To Be” stage & to further bridge the gap.

Step7: Implement the system – The final stage is the implementation

stage, wherein the employees are evaluated on their current skill level,

& a skill matrix is developed for the organization.

1. Skill Based Progression System recognizes employees for the

depth, breadth, and types of skills they obtain and apply in their

work.

2. The foundation of Skill Based Progression System improves the

performance & productivity of employees as they demonstrate

that they are obtaining and using more and more skills that are

valuable to the organization.

Benefits of SPBS:

Organizational flexibility: As employees become efficient in

performing more than one task/job, they can easily take over the

job performed by the other employees in case of their absence or

unavailability. This also reduces the functional demarcation within

the departments & the work of the organization does not come to a

still in case of non availability of man power. Thus makes the

organization flexible.

Reduced Labor Costs: Traditionally organizations employed one

or more than one employee each for the various tasks to be done.

However through multi skilling, one employee becomes efficient

enough to deliver the work of more than one employee. It thus

reduces the number of people to be employed, ultimately reducing

the labor cost for the organization.

44

Reduced Downtime: If employees start performing more than

one employees’ task, it will reduce the time taken to form the

finished product. For E.g. If the production employee also knows the

task of inspection or fault detection then he will inspect the work

done during the process itself. It will reduce the time taken for a

separate inspection process to be done later.

Human Resource Issues: Multi skilling in organizations is also

beneficial from employees’ point of view. It develops & enhances

their skills, making them more efficient & increasing their job

security in today’s world where organizations are chucking out more

& more inefficient people.

Based on the above & with the help of the book, “The

Toyota Talent” a study was done focusing on this particular

tool at the plant as follows:

Guidelines for Multiskilling

Objective: To develop guidelines for identification of critical

knowledge/skills & transferring the same to the employees, thus

enhancing the people capabilities.

Scope: All SMT members of SMT members of FTO VI

Procedure:

The foremost important step is to map the process & define

the critical requirements of work.

From the perspective of skill development, work can be divided

into two further categories i.e.

o Task Variety

45

o Task Analyzability

Task Variety: It is the different types of skills required to do the job.

i.e. How many different types of tasks does the job require? Does the

employee spend most of the time doing the same type of activities or

he is equally likely to move between different types of tasks?

Task Analyzability: To what extent the job can be broken down into a

set of clearly specifiable tasks that can be easily taught? i.e. Can we

specify what the content of each task is & the sequence of each task in

such a way that we can standardize the task?

Based upon the above classifications the Organizational Design can be

classified into the following quadrants.

46

LO

W

People development requirements for different types of jobsType of work Example Jobs What can be standardized Accumulated know

how requirementsRoutine (Low variety, high analyzability)

Assembly line work, fast food server, bank teller, data entry clerk

Work elements, sequence, timing, fundamental skills, product specifications, workplace layout – tools

Recognition of problems, problem response, problem solving

Technician (High variety, high analyzability)

Inspection, material handling, lab data analyst, computer technical support work, equipment maintenance

Generic procedures, core processes, fundamental skills, product specifications, workplace layout –tools

Trouble shooting ability, intuitive problem solving, mental map of problem situations

Mostly organic structure

1. Moderate standardization2. Moderate formal structure3. Deep work experience &

formal apprenticeship.Craft work

organic structure

1. Low standardization2. Little formal structure3. Professional training plus

extensive experience under mentor.Non routine work

Mechanistic structure

1. High standardization2. High formal structure3. Structured job specific

training.Routine work

Mostly Mechanistic structure

1. Moderate to high standardization

2. Moderate to high formal structure

3. Job specific training & mentoring.Technical work

47

Task

Analyzability

HIG

H

LOW HIGHTask VarietyHIGH

Craft (Low variety, low analyzability)

Group leader, nurse, buyer, some engineering jobs

Generic procedures, fundamental skills, product guidelines, workplace layout – tools

Intuitive problem solving, reading situations

Non routine (High variety, low variety)

Program manager, R&D scientist, development engineer, surgeon

Generic procedures, fundamental skills, product criteria, workplace layout – tools

Creative – innovative ability, intuitive problem solving, reading situations

Identification of Skill Blocks: Different types of tasks & skills for a

particular activity together form a skill block. The different types

of skills/ tasks can be captured under the following sub heading;

o Fundamental: Fundamental skills are those that are

applicable to all technical situations. They are

equivalent to learning to use common hand tools for

assembly operation. The fundamental skills may be

learned in a classroom setting & would most likely be

learned off line i.e. not on the machine practically.

Fundamental skills are practiced prior to the actual task.

They are completed as a part of the primary job, but

they must be combined with other skills & accumulated

know how in order to do the complete task. They may

be routine & repetitive or non routine & repeated in a

random sequence. The fundamental skills are first

learned off-line if possible, & then after basic

competency is achieved, they are transferred to the

actual workplace. This also depends upon the

importance of the task & risk associated with working in

the actual condition.

o Ancillary Task: Ancillary tasks are secondary &

supportive in nature. At some point it will be necessary

to learn to do these tasks, but it is entirely possible to

perform the core task without ever doing the ancillary

48

tasks. It would not make sense to attempt to teach the

ancillary tasks in the same session as the core tasks.

The trainer should teach each ancillary task separately.

These items may be covered in classroom training, but

this must generally be supplemented by on the job

mentoring (i.e. Offline + Online)

o Core Task: After the fundamental skills & sound

judgment regarding the operations have been achieved,

it is put it together on the actual job. This is the core

task. The learning process moves from “Offline” to

“Online”. The person learns to apply the fundamental

skills in context of the actual work & must deal with real

work conditions such as operating a different machine

with similar functions etc.

o Accumulated know how: The person, under the

watchful eye of the trainer, begins to acquire knowledge

on the job that will enable them to know instinctively

what to do. This is known as “Accumulated Know how”.

This is the ability to compile a mass of experience &

turn that into correct actions. There is no substitute for

experience. The experience may be gained by first

studying the policy knowledge. These skills must be

repeated numerous times before the mentor can be

assured the student is capable of handling the novel

situations he will face on his own.

All the above skills/ tasks to be based upon VAP

Study:

For the purpose of study, one of the processes of tabled manufacturing

i.e. Granulation was selected.

The basic activities for the process of granulation are as following

49

1) Dispensing

2) Segregation

3) Sifting/Milling

4) Binder Preparing

5) Granulation

6) Drying

7) Sifting/Milling

8) Blending

These activities were mapped & the various skills required to perform the

activities were identified

It was found that in case of shop floor SMT structure, as the SMT work

is “Low on task variety & high on task analyzability, the following

intervention to be followed:

1. Structured job specific training

2. High standardization of jobs/ tasks.

Based upon the study conducted in the granulation area the activities

were broken & studied in detail & the following skills & knowledge

were identified:

    Granulation    

S.No. Activities Fundamental Core Tasks Ancillary TaskAccumulated knowhow

50

1 Dispensing

What is meant by dispensing

Documentation of dispensing    

BMR reading

Cross verification of dispensed material with label & BMR    

Different ingredients used in the products    

What are the measures to be taken while dispensing      

2  Segregation

The different types of API's, excepients, Binder materials & lubrication Material. Material Identification    

3 Sifting

What is Sifting & why is it necessary

Operation of Sifting machine

Able to identify any abnormality in machine operation

Trouble shooting in sifting machine

Identification of sieves & screens

Setting of various parts of sifting machine    

Utilities used in the process of sifting

Selection of different meshes sizes for sifting    

Knowledge of Process flow

Process flow, including input & output weight calculation    

4Binder

Preparation

What is Binder Preparation of binderEffect of improper binder on product

Identification of any defect in binder preparation

Importance of BinderVarious types of Binder for different products    

Knowledge of BAP Vessel

Time taken to prepare a Binder    

Utilities used in the process of Binder preparation      

5 Granulation

Importance of Granulation/ Why is granulation done

PLC, MMI Control & Operations

Improper granulation

Inprocess testing of the material

Understanding of the RMG machine Blade Settings    

Utilities in the process of granulation

Granulation end point detection    

Usage of Chopper & Impella      

6 DryingUtilities used in the process (Compressed air, electricity, steam)

Operation of FBD machine

Defects of Over/ Less drying

Trouble Shooting, Defects Detection

Monitoring of the FBD machine

   

51

What is LOD

52

Importance of LODCalculation of LOD, Moisture Content    

Understanding of the safety measures while operating the FBD machine

Temperature control (Inlet, Bed, Outlet Temperature)    

Documentation at every stage    

7 Milling

Why is milling done/ Importance of Milling Operation of a Clit mill  

Should know the safety measures related to Milling

Usage of Clit mill Setting of Blades    Utilities used for milling      

8 BlendingUsage & importance of Octagonal blender

Time & RPM of blender, it's operation  

Safety measures related to Blending

9Hygiene & cleanliness

Importance of Hygiene & cleanliness in the work area

Handling of types of cleaning

Process of cleaning & maintenance of equipments

Measures to be taken in order to maintain hygiene at the work area

Understanding of various types of cleaning

The various disinfectants used in cleaning & in what time duration they are changed

Safety measures to be taken while cleaning

Utilities used in cleaning Utilities used in cleaning    Importance of gowning Frequency of cleaning    

Method of gowningCare to be taken while change over    

10 MaintenanceWhy is maintenance required in machines

Actual maintenance of different machines

Frequency of maintenance

   

Use of various components like Oil, grease etc in maintenance      

The Next Step……

53

Now we know the skill blocks as well the quadrant that the SMT’s are in. The next step would be to prepare training module for standardizing the work & methods.

For the purpose of preparing a training module, the knowledge & skills & the processes were divided & the following framework was made.

Skill/ Processes Fundamental Core Miscellaneous Machine OperationMaintenanceQuality relatedPrecaution & Safety related

After the training framework has been prepared, the training hours for each process or skill block has to be decided.

As a general guideline;

1) Each session should last approximately 30 minutes or less, & later some time should be given in order to absorb & practice the technique before moving to another training event.

2) For repetitive manual tasks, a work that takes about 15 seconds to perform will take approximately 30 minutes to present & teach.

Therefore each training session should be planned taking the above things in mind.

If it takes 2 minutes on an average to perform an activity, & there are 30 such individual tasks in one process. Hence the number of training hours can be calculated in the following way.

Task duration Teaching time15 seconds 30 minutes2 minutes 240 minutes

One session of 30 minutes, therefore 8 such sessions for teaching one process. The total training time in such a case would be calculated as follows:

[(30 tasks * 8 sessions)] * 30 minutes for each session = 7200 minutes or 120 hours

For our purpose, we first have to do the process mapping in the area of granulation, calculated the total number of tasks in one process & calculate the average time taken to perform each task.

54

Later using the same method we can calculate the total hours required for training. The further work will be done after approval from the Head HR of the organization.

At Dr. Reddy’s also multi skilling can be seen in all the

departments. A formal Skill Based Progression System is under

implementation in the organization. However, team members

working in the organization for more than 6 months to 1 year,

are capable of looking after the whole process of their

particular department, the various critical activities etc. Even

if one of the team members is not able to attend to his duty

due to any reason, another team member is ready to take up

his work because of his ability to perform both activities with

equal ease.

The SMTs are aware of this need to develop & improve

themselves & therefore are responsible enough to learn

newer skills pertaining to other departments in order to

enhance their knowledge. Whenever the SMTs find that they

can take time out from their work, they go to other

departments to learn work of the other department.

4) Team Charter:

It is very important for any team to have a common goal &

mission in performing any task. It is this common goal or objective

which unites all of them together & helps them succeed.

Moreover having a common logo or a symbol brings together the

people members of the group as they find united to one identity,

making them work like a family & in harmony. It gives them a sense

of ownership & belongingness to that particular group & makes

them feel responsible for the success of that group.

55

Thus one of the SMT Tools, i.e Team Charter creates that feeling of

being in a harmonious group.

The designing of a team charter comes at a later stage after the

proper teams have been formed & rolled out. At this stage the team

members form a charter with their name, logo, photo etc. on the same.

An example of a team charter –

56

• SMT Name• SMT Logo• SMT Photo• SMT Leader• SMT STARS• SMT Members• SMT Score Card• SMT Imp. Projects• SMT Meeting

The importance of a formal Team Charter is

1. To show the commitment of Leaders towards their SMT

2. To increases the energy level & enthusiasm among SMT

3. To declare SMT goals and targets

4. To determine SMT boundaries

5. To communicate the purpose behind SMT design

The objectives of creating charter are as follows:

Creating team synergy and bonding for producing extra-

ordinary performance

Evolving Team identity: Team Name & emblem

Evolving Team Vision and Mission and Goals

5) Team Score Card: As mentioned earlier, a Self Managed Team

is a group of people who manage their daily work management

activities. However it is also important to measure their

performance in order to improvise on them, because anything

that cannot be measured cannot be improved.

SMT Scorecard reflects the performance of the teams on a

daily basis. The scorecard captures the important attributes that

are required for the success of the organization (the end

delivery) which includes the technical attributes like Quality,

Cost, Delivery and softer attributes like Team (which includes

parameters like Synergy, Innovation, Punctuality). These

attributes are common across the organization.

Parameters under each of the attributes are identified

team-wise, which could be different from team to team. Then,

targets are set for these parameters & scores are given based on

57

target Vs actual delivery. This scoring system helps the team to

understand & appreciate their performance better like that of

sports teams. They also compete with each other based on the

scores, thus enhancing the organization delivery, efficiency &

performance levels.

Steps for Designing SMT Score Card

The following steps are followed while implementing a scorecard

Step 1: Identify the Critical Attributes for Organization’s Success

Step 2: Identify the Parameters for each of the Attributes Team-

wise

Step 3: Identify the Units of measurement, frequency of

measurement & targets

Step 4: Design the Score Card

Step 5: Develop Reward & Recognition systems

Step 6: Create Awareness & Understanding

Step 7: Rollout

6) Communication Continuum: When we talk about a team, it is

important to have a transparent communication channel

amongst the team members. Because right kind of

communication is one of the important keys for a strong team &

trusted team members.

The concept of SMT lays down provision for a strong

communication Continuum.

The main aim of this tool is to:

• Create forums and devise channels of communication to

communicate all business related information to every

58

one involved in the business in a timely manner, to

enable decision making at action point.

• Foster a transparent culture for better teamwork.

There are various kinds of channels in order to foster communication

within an organization:

1. Open Board Communication System (OBCS): It is a platform

to explore people’s ideas, to suggest ideas by members & to ask

questions to clear any doubts or difficulties within the

organization. It is a board to wish & appreciate team members

for their contribution. This type of communication system plays a

vital role in empowering the team members.

2. Daily SMT Meeting (DSM): These are conducted in order to

convey about :

The important happenings like cGMP incidents (current

Good Manufacturing Practices), Update on the Schedule of

the running batch of products, Update on the facilities/

Resources available

Any business information

The performance, productivity etc. in the previous shift to

the members of the next shift.

The plan of the next shift to the incoming shift members.

The people who partake these meetings are the Outgoing

SMT leader, Star Caps, Members, Incoming SMT leader, Star

Caps, Members as well as the departmental HHT members.

- It is a standing meeting for a maximum time of 10

minutes.

- The DSM format should be duly filled & the members

should come pre - prepared with the relevant data.

59

- It is important to stick to the time & agenda of the

meeting.

- The communication should be crisp loud & clear.

- Here only issues relating to the shifts can be raised &

solutions be found later.

- Moreover it should be noted that it is not a grievance

sharing forum.

3. Weekly SMT Meeting (WSM): This meeting is conducted in

order

to analyze & review the performance of the SMT in the past

week

To develop action plans for improvements & review that of

the previous week

All the SMT members as well as the department HHT members

partake this meeting.

- The SMT leader should convene the team meetings every week

for duration of 60 minutes.

- The SMT should come prepared to the meeting.

- The SMT leader should convene the meeting & ensure

participation of all the SMT members and could allocate activities

to the members.

- The SMT should adhere to timing & agenda of the meeting.

- The discussion should be data oriented to the extent possible.

- The meeting should be duly documented.

- The SMT leader should use this forum to appreciate & recognize

the performance of the SMT members whenever applicable.

- Any SMT issues should be raised & sorted out during the

meeting.

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- The SMT leader should use this forum to build trust & motivation

of the SMT members.

The Agenda should comprise of:

1. cGMP Standards Adherence

Sharing of any violation in cGMP standards

2. Present the previous week’s performance

3. Discuss Customer Complaints & Concerns

4. Discuss the SMT Score Card Score

5. Analyze the Data

6. Identify areas for improvement & develop action plans along with

target dates & measure

7. Freeze the performance targets for the next week

4. Monthly SMT Meeting (MSM): This meeting is conducted in

order to:

review the performance of the plant and SMTs for the

pervious month and to set goals for the next month

To recognize best-performed SMTs and create positive

competition between the SMTs to strive for excellence

To clarify the queries of the SMT if any in the open forum to

foster transparency and openness

 Participants

• All the members of the SMT

• HHT

• HR Head &

• Plant Head

- The performance of the SMTs should be reviewed monthly

where each SMT has about 15 minutes time to present

their performance

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- The meeting would be spread over different weeks of the

month to cover all the SMTs effectively

- The convener of the meeting would be the HHT

- The SMTs have to come prepared for the meeting

- The forum should be used to motivate the members,

Reward & Recognize the performance of the SMTs & any

specific SMT members

- The forum should be used to address the grievances of the

SMT, and any inter SMT conflicts also can be addressed at

this forum

- The forum should focus on improvement than finding faults

or analyzing the past

5. Quarterly SMT Meeting (QSM): The basic objective of a

Quarterly meeting is to

- To clarify the concerns/ queries of the SMT members if any in

the open forum to foster transparency and openness

- To collect ideas from the SMT members for organizations

growth or development

Participants

All SMT members,

HHT

Head – HR

Plant Head &

Business Head

- The meeting should be conducted once in every quarter to

start off & then move on to a half yearly basis once the issues

start coming down.

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- The objective of the meeting is to allow issues to come to the

open forum so that they can be addressed, hence the

facilitators of the forum should encourage as much

participation as possible.

- The SMT members should not use the forum to complain or

criticize an individual but only to raise a genuine concern or

grievance with facts wherever possible.

- No abusive language is entertained.

- The forum is also to pool any ideas of the SMT members have

that would help in organizational development or growth.

At Dr. Reddy’s the above model will be implemented later in

the year. However we can still see informal communication

channels in some or the other form which foster

communication amongst members.

- Josh: Josh is a monthly meeting of the SMT members

which takes place at the plant. This meeting is for 1 ½ to 2

hours. All the SMT members, HHT members etc partake the

meeting. During this meeting the plant head addresses all

the members & discusses about the month’s production,

productivity, desired v/s actual targets etc & the team

members discuss about issues raised during the month.

This meeting is also a platform for the members to

showcase their talents in the form of any dance or singing

which is appreciated by the HHT members. The SMT

members can present on any topic they have gained

knowledge on & can share the same during these meetings.

The birthdays of the team members is celebrated & all the

employees generally have fun.

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- Saral: Saral is again a form of communication channel

which encourages ideas & new suggestions from the team

members. In this, the team members are encouraged to

come up with any new suggestions to improve production,

productivity, method of production, any solution to any

problem etc. At the end of the month, during the

celebration of Josh, the best suggestion of the month is

chosen, appreciated & awarded. According to an HHT

member, there have been several improvements on the

machine maintenance & operation front too, thanks to

suggestions by SMT team members. In fact, they are able to

come up with improved suggestions is because they are all

fast learners & are curious & not afraid to ask questions.

This is also useful, because at the end of the day, it is the

SMT members who actually work on the machines, & it is them

who can understand the problems related to machines &

productivity & come up with suggestions & ideas to improve

them.

7) Learn Teach Learn: Talking about a team, a successful team is

formed when within a team there are people with different levels

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of knowledge, skills & attitudes & all of them work compliment

each others strengths & weaknesses.

A Self Managed Team goes on step further in strengthening

this team. This particular tool helps to improve the skills & the

knowledge level of the team members. This is a platform for the

team members to share their knowledge with others. Here the

team members teach others what they know & in turn learn from

others.

Thus the main objective of this tool is to:

- Enhance the communication & presentation skills of the

employees, which build confidence into the individuals.

- Enhance the bonding among the members to build trust &

respect.

8) Rewards & Recognition System: Motivation is a drive which

encourages individuals to perform better in whatever they do.

Similarly, in any system, rewards & recognition are a way to

motivate individuals.

Rewards & Recognition are to:

- To acknowledge positive contributions and achievement of

SMTs in way that:

i. Encourages desired attitudes & actions

ii. Enhances self esteem of the employees

iii. Motivates employees to strive for business

excellence

- To recognize people who make the difference as well as

encourage

people to make a difference.

Type Means For what PurposeIn What Frequency

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Quick Recognition

On-the spot or day during the daily meeting by the HHT or anyone appropriate as per the procedure

Extraordinary shift performance •Extraordinary performance in any of the critical performance / score card parameter Collectively achieved the stretch target set for the first time. •Idea generation or execution of idea which brought significant change

On the spot or during the shift (Within the day)

Public Recognition

Display of the achievement in notice board. •Highlighting the achievement in the DRL’s in-house magazine

•Any achievement which is a first time achievement / a milestone / a new positive trend achieved by the team (this needs to be validated by HHT before actioning)

•As and when it happens (Within the next day) •Magazine periodicity

Reward in Kind

•In any common gathering of small or large groups

•This requires deliberation at the SMT Champion and HR level as it involves finance. Also there has to be a uniform approach to extending this reward.

As and when it happens or on a defined periodicity

As mentioned earlier, even at Dr. Reddy’s, there is an

informal rewards & recognition system existing in the

organization. Monthly gatherings like Josh recognize & reward

ideas & suggestions given by members to improve any existing

processes, any achievement by the team members during the

month etc.

Apart from that, the unit has display boards at various

places within the plant which displays daily achievements by

team members of various departments.

For E.g. – the achievement of the Injectables department

to pack a whole batch within a short period of time by just 2

SMT members was displayed on the display board. These

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small forms of motivation go a long way in increasing the

morale of the SMT members.

9) Empowerment Roadmap: Empowerment unlike authority does

not come altogether & suddenly. It is a step by step process &

has to be given with a little handholding till the team is capable

of taking all the responsibilities.

8 Principles for Empowering Employees:

- Tell Employees what their responsibilities are.

- Give then authority equal to the responsibilities assigned

to them.

- Set standards of excellence.

- Provide them with training that will enable them to meet

the standards.

- Give them knowledge and information.

- Provide them with feedback on their performance.

- Recognize them for their achievements.

- Trust them.

10) Human Value Action Teams (HVAT): One of the unique

features of the SMT concept is self governance, embodied in the

HVAT team. Since, under this concept, the team does not

operate within the traditional hierarchies, there was essentially

no clear way to address the problems, enforce discipline &

recognize merit. Hence HVAT is a tool which governs discipline &

fosters a culture that is conducive to business. It is basically a

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team representing employees from various functions of

Organization. This team comprises of SMTs, as well as HHTs. The

purpose of creating this team is to address any misconduct by

done by anybody in the organization.

The formation of this team takes place when individuals

from various departments are chosen to be a part of this team.

The membership is voluntary & members are selected those who

are free from biases, those who have a good conduct within the

organization etc. This team is not perpetual in nature & keeps on

rotating regularly.

A charter is prepared by the organization, which decides

upon 3 basic categories of misconducts in the organization viz.

Mild, Severe & the ones, which if done, the presence of the

member becomes detrimental to the organization, & also the

punishments to be given in case of the above mentioned

misconducts.

At Dr. Reddy’s an HVAT team exists which takes care of

the misconducts done by any of the members. Their

responsibility is to deal properly with the misconducts & see

that they don’t get repeated in future. In case of any

reportings, this team does the review & decides what is to be

done. It counsels the person who has done the misconduct, the

other members of the team in order to find evidence. The

HVAT team has to validate the evidence & argue with the

evidence.

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For e.g. few of the incidents, which the HVAT team has

dealt with, are as follows:

a. In one of the cases, few of the team members,

during the time period of morning 7 to 9 & evening 7 to 10

were found using the Orkut website during office hours.

The HVAT team found that 5-6 people were involved in it.

Inquiry was made, & their parents were called up &

informed about this act of theirs. The embarrassment

caused in front of the parents itself was a punishment

enough for them. Apart from that, 2 days salary was cut &

their names were put on the notice board.

b. In another case, there was some delay in the

company vehicle leaving from the company. Some of

the members raised an issue which eventually

involved outside people. The HVAT team identified

the people & they were punished to work without

salary for 15 days.

c. In yet another type of punishment when, earlier the

SMT members were residing in hostels, they were

asked to implement 5S in not only their rooms, but

in whole hostel. Such type of punishment also is

constructive on one hand & on the other punishes

the people.

Moreover, the rules or punishments come out from the

suggestions from the SMT as well HHT members & therefore

are acceptable to them.

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Before starting the actual study on any concept it is very important to

know & understand the business of the organization. It is the business

& the industry which determines the course of further action for any

process.

Even for the sake of our study it was very important to

understand the processes that take place in a pharmaceutical

drug manufacturing plant.

Dr. Reddy’s Labs being an organization which it into

manufacturing of Active pharmaceutical ingredients & finished dosage,

it is important to understand what the processes that are followed at

the organization are. At the plant all the processes right from

acquisition of raw material to dispatch of materials were studied.

VIABLE VISION: One of the things practiced within the company is to

Simplify things & make them easy. It is for this purpose that the

company uses Viable Vision. It is one of the concepts adopted by Dr.

Reddy’s Labs in order to simplify their inventory management. It is a

theory from Goldratt’s “Theory of Constraints”.

This concept was first introduced at the Baddi plant in March

2008 because the company felt that this concept can be readily

implemented at a plant where a team of young & energetic individuals

is working. Later on this was implemented at the other units as well.

The company uses color coding for easy identification of the

stock of material. According to this concept, the level of both the Raw

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Material inventory as well as the Finished Material inventory are

divided into four colors i.e. Black, Red, Yellow, Green according to the

availability of the stock. The motto of the company while using Viable

Vision is”EVERY COLOR SAYS SOMETHING! FOLLOW COLOR

PRIORITIES”

This stock is maintained in the online inventory management

system called “Symphony”. The material is procured or produced

when the stock available is less according to the Viable Vision.

Level of stock

> 10%

38% - 10%

  64% - 38%

  100% - 64%

Under this system, stock of goods & Raw material in black color

are given the highest priority, Red the next, followed by yellow & then

finally green for production & procurement respectively. This system is

connected with the vendor of material who sends the RM, PM

according to the requirement. This ensures that the level of inventory

managed at the plant is maintained accordingly & there is no excess

inventory.

It is the responsibility of production SMT members to

ensure that no product under symphony comes under Black

color, & even if it comes, they have to rapidly bring that to

Yellow & Green level.

Raw Material & Packing Material: There is a certain buffer level of

RM & PM inventory which is maintained at the plant. As & when the

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inventory goes beyond the minimum maintained level, a Purchase

Order is automatically generated by the system & it is sent to the

concerned vendor, who in turn sends the required material to the

plant.

Finished Goods: The Final products manufactured at the plant are

sent to Ghaziabad, which is the Hub for the Baddi plant. Here also a

minimum buffer of Finished Goods inventory which is maintained here.

As & when the inventory level goes beyond the minimum level

maintained at this hub, the Symphony system shows inventory of

Finished Goods in that particular color. Based on the color of the

product, further planning of production cycle of that product takes

place. The whole planning & production department at the plant runs

depending on this system.

This system is helpful because it helps in the lean inventory

management of both the Raw Material as well as Finished Goods, thus

reducing the holding cost for the company. It also helps in timely

production of those products which are in demand in the market.

Supply Chain Management: The process of supply chain

management at the company is based on the concept of viable vision

as mentioned above. The process of SCM is as given below.

SCM of Revenue Items

SCM of Raw Material & Pack. Material

SCM of Capital Items

Request is raised by "SYMPHONY" & a PR is generated by the system

Request is raised by Authorized Personnel

Request is raised by Authorized Personnel

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The PR goes through a chain of approvals

The PR goes through a chain of approvals

A PO is raised in the system & is sent to the vendor as well

Materials are received at the plant

They are cross checked with the PO

Basically, three kinds of items are procured at Dr. Reddy’s Labs, Baddi.

d. Revenue items

e. Raw Material & Packing Material

f. Capital Items

For the procurement of Revenue items (spare parts of machinery,

stationery etc.) & Capital items, (based on the value, E.g. the whole

Machinery itself), the request is raised by the authorized personnel,

either the SMT members or the HHT members. This request goes

through a chain of approvals like the FTO head, the Accounts Head &

when it is approved, a PR (Purchase Requisition) is raised in the

system.

For the procurement of Raw Materials & Packing Materials, the

request is raised automatically in the system with the help of Viable

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Vision. When the stock of Raw Material or Packing Material goes below

the buffer stock, the SYMPHONY raises the PR.

There is one person who centrally looks after the PR of many FTOs. He

checks the PRs generated in the system & raises a Purchase Order or a

Stock Transfer Order with the particular vendor of the material.

A copy of the PO remains in the system. After the receipt of the PO, the

vendor sends the material to the plant. This material is then received

by the warehouse, after cross checking with the copy of PO that is with

them.

Warehouse: The warehouse is one of the important functions at the

plant. It is the place which stores the Active as well as the Inactive

ingredients. It is the responsibility of the team to manage the activities

of the warehouse properly. The process of a warehouse is as follows:

Physical Verification of goods

GRN is Prepared

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Pool SampleAttaching UNDER TEST labels on them

Container wise sample

Reserve sample

Samples for QC testing for both Active as well as Inactive ingredient

ApprovedNot Approved

Ready for dispensing

Sent back to the vendor

Destroyed within the plant

When the material sent by the vendor the warehouse team

members receive it at the warehouse. First of all they do the physical

verification of the goods, to check for any damages, any kind of

spillage, weight (Net weight, Gross weight, Tare weight etc.).

After the receipt of the material, they prepare a Goods Receipt

Not, which includes information like GRN no., date of receipt,

Manufacturing No., Expiry date, Batch No. etc.

For any product, it is very important that the raw material that

goes in the manufacturing is of a very good quality so as to get a good

quality of output. Mores over if it is a plant manufacturing medicinal

dosage forms as it’s final product, it is very important that the raw

material that goes in the manufacturing of these products are of the

highest quality & without any defects as it will be affecting the person

who will intake the drug. Therefore Quality Assurance plays a very

important role in all the steps of the process.

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When the materials are received, immediately, Under Test labels

are attached on the containers. At this level also color coding is used

by the company for easy verification. The under test labels are yellow

in color so that they are easily identified & don’t get mixed with other

material.

After the GRN preparation, the samples of the materials are sent for

Quality verification with the Quality Control department.

The samples are taken out in three ways:

1) Pool Sample

2) Container wise Sample

3) Reserve Sample

Pool Sample: This is the sample taken from all the containers put

together. For E.g. if there are 10 containers of Raw Material, & we have

to take a sample of 100 gms, then a total of 100 gms. From all the

containers put together will be taken for verification.

Container wise Sample: This is the sample taken individually from

each container to verify the material.

Reserve Sample: At Dr. Reddy’s, the sample of the raw

material is stored till the expiry of the drug that is manufactured from

that particular material so that even after the material is consumed &

any complaint is received, they can go back to the input material &

check for defects. For this purpose only a reserve sample is

maintained.

After the testing, the material is either rejected or accepted by

the QC department. If the material is accepted, then it is stored in the

shelves with a green label attached to it for dispensing. If it is rejected,

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then it is either sent back to the vendor, or if it is not feasible to send it

back, then it is destroyed within the plant. The plant also has an

Effluent Treatment Plant for the purpose.

It is the responsibility of the Warehouse team members

to

g. Receive the material sent by the vendor & maintain

the proper GRN of the same

h. Segregate & store the various raw materials as well

as the packing materials according to the different

color coding.

i. Maintain & continiously monitor the temperature as

well as the Relative Humidity of the warehouse after

every 4 hours.

j. Maintain the daily calibration log.

k. To maintain proper stock record of all the material.

l. Maintain proper documentation as per the

requirement of the SOPs.

m.Maintain the cleanliness of the dispensing area, as

per the QA & SOPs.

n. To dispense the correct material as & when

required.

The whole of warehouse which stores raw material as

well as packing material worth 25 to 30 crores & it’s activities

for thousands of dosage forms is managed by just 5-6 Team

members, & one Hand Holding Team member.

Dispensing: According to the Viable Vision, whenever the stock

of Finished goods is seen in the priority color list in SYMPHONY, the

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same is planned to be produced by the Planning & production

department.

Dispensing is done through the following process.

As mentioned earlier, the QA department plays a very important

role in all the processes of the plant, & therefore the approval of the

QA department is very important before the starting of any processes.

Requirement of Finished products seen in SYMPOHNY

BMR & BPR is raised to QA department

QA Approves & sends the same

Manufacturing Work order is sent to the W/H requesting them to send the required Raw Material & the Packing Material.

The Warehouse receives a line clearance from the QA before dispensing the material

The material is dispensed under highly controlled environment.

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The planning department raises a “Batch manufacturing Record”

as well as a “Batch Packing Record” to the QA department. The same

is approved & sent by the QA. The planning department sends the

Manufacturing Work Order, which is a part of the Batch Manufacturing

Record, to the warehouse requesting them to send the required raw

material as well as the packing material for the production.

BMR & BPR instruct manufacture of a product in accordance with

prescribed specification & provide a means for ensuring that the

product is manufactured under controlled & orderly conditions & for

documentation of all operating & Q.C. related data required for final

acceptance or rejection of the product.

Batch record shall contain a formulation work order for product

to be manufactured, packing & appropriate forms for recording of

production & quality control data for final disposal of product.

Before dispensing the material, the warehouse takes the

approval or the line clearance from the QA department. This approval

is necessary because the QA department checks whether the area is

clean & in accordance with the SOP mentioned for the purpose.

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Before the dispensing of any raw material, high degree of

control is required to be maintained by the Self managed Team

Members who manage the warehouse.

It is their responsibility to:

1) Read the shelf life/ Expiry date & see that the

material being dispensed is approved & not yet

expired.

2) Read the Batch manufacturing Record in order to

send the right material in the right quantity & check

the material before dispensing.

3) Analyze the report number of the accepted material

from the system.

4) Calculation of Essay. (Many products lose some of

their weight during processing, they have to

calculate this loss & send the extra material which

will cover the loss. This calculation is known as

Essay calculation).

5) Continuously monitor the temperature in the

warehouse.

6) To see that the dispensing booth is totally clean &

free from any cross contamination from any

previous product.

7) To check proper calibration of weighing machine.

8) Maintain proper cleanliness & hygiene in the

dispensing area.

The warehouse dispenses the material according to the requirement

mentioned in the BMP & BPR.

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After the dispensing of the material is done, the Team Member from

the respective department receives the material at the dispensing

booth. The production team member accepts the material after proper

physical testing & cross verification with the copy of BMR which is with

him, for proper materials & weights.

The production area at the plant is basically dividend into:

1) Production: production of Tablets & Capsules.

2) Injectables: Production of Omez Injectable.

3) Ointments: Production of Pastes & creams.

The process of manufacturing a capsule is as follows:

Pellets are micro crystalline cellulose sugar particles. These small

particles are coated with layers of Active ingredient or the drug in a

wruster coater machine. These pellets are then tested for Assay

calculation & water content. After testing these are further processed

Pellet Formation

Testing

Further Processing

Filling in Shells

Testing

Packing & Dispatch

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for Seal coating & Enteric coating & finally filled in the empty capsule

shells. After this the capsules are tested & sent for packing & dispatch.

At times an individual SMT member is capable of looking

after 2-3 areas of pellet formation.

The process of manufacturing a tablet is as follows:

Sifting/ Milling

Binding

Granulation

GRANULATIONDrying

Testing (LOD)

Sifting/ Milling

Blending

Compression

Testing

Coating

Packing

Blister Strip Packing

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packing

The formation of tablets is basically divided into 4 areas:

1) Granulation

2) Compression

3) Coating

4) Packing

Under this, the process of granulation is the biggest part, which is

again sub divided into: Sifting/Milling, Binding, Granulation, Drying,

Milling & Blending.

The process of Granulation starts with Sifting & Milling. The raw

material (the Active ingredient & Excipients) for tablet is in the form of

powder. This powder has to be first sifted & so that no big particles

remain in the mixture, which is known as Sifting. Next the big particles

that are remaining have to be broken down into uniform particles or in

the form of powder, which is known a Milling.

The powder form used in the production is not capable of getting

formed in a tablet. Therefore the next step is binding which will bind all

the material properly.

For the smooth formation of tablets, proper granules of the

materials have to be formed. For the formation of granules, the next

step is granulation.

The material from granulation is still wet & not capable of getting

formed into a tablet. Therefore proper drying has to be done to get the

proper moisture content in the material. This process is known as

drying.

After drying again the process of sifting & milling is to be

followed, so that no lumps remain in the material, & it attains a smooth

flow.

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The final step of the process of granulation is Blending. In this

process, the material is mixed with the blender & the lubricant so that

the material flows smoothly while compression & tablets are formed

easily.

The smooth & the right formation of the blend is the

responsibility of the production team member.

After the material is properly blended, it is taken in the

compression area. Here the material is put through a hopper & tablets

are formed through punches of various capacities, shapes & forms.

Here the team member has to continiously monitor the thickness of

the tablet, the hardness of the tablet, the Analysis of Balance, the

various types of testing of the tablet, the frequency of testing etc.

Thus a tablet is formed. These tablets are later sent for the QC

testing before they are packed.

Some of the tablets are sensitive in nature, & therefore they are

required to be coated with some chemicals before they can be packed.

Therefore the next step after compression would be coating. In case

the tablets are to be coated then they are sent for testing directly after

coating & not after compression. After testing if the lot is approved by

the QC department, the batch goes for packing.

The tablets & capsules undergo two types of packing.

o Primary packing: It involves the packing of tablets & capsules

in their first cover. The primary packing area as well as the

material has to be maintained & handled with care because here

the drug comes in direct contact with the packing material.

The primary packing material comes in two forms:

i. Strip packing: It is for those kinds of tablets/

Capsules which are sensitive to light & heat. This

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type of packing is costlier as compared to Blister

packing as both the sides of the packet are of

aluminum material.

ii. Blister packing: It is for other regular tablets which

are not very sensitive to light & heat. This type of

packing has on one side the cover of aluminum foil

where as the second side is made of

Polyvinylchloride (PVC).

o Secondary packing: Here the strips & blisters are further

packed in cartons & shippers & sent for dispatch.

During one Shift, one team member takes care of

granulation, one of compression, one of coating, one does the

inspection, & 2 team members do the packing. i.e, the outcome

of a whole batch of millions of tablets is the result of a team

work of mere 5 – 6 team members.

These members work individually taking care of their own

areas, but the end result is that of a team.

This is possible because, within a given boundary, they have

been given the empowerment to plan, execute & analyze their

work amongst themselves, solve the problems, without any

supervision. Even if one team member is not able to finish his

work, the other member is ready to come to his help. At the

end of the day, what the management wants is productivity,

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which the SMT members deliver. This outcome is the result of

not a team, but a Self Managed Team

The next type of product produced at the plant is Ointments.

Gum Soaking

Adding Ingredients

Water based

Mixing in Manufacturing Vessel

Oil Based

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Sampling

Filling

Testing

Packing & Dispatch

Any type of Ointment or Cream requires some kind of base for

it’s formation, a base in which the Active ingredient & the Excipients

can be mixed to form the product. The base for Ointment

manufacturing is Gum. This Gum is first soaked in certain solutions.

After soaking, the Active ingredient of the particular product is added

in the Gum. After adding this ingredient, the mixture is properly mixed

in the mixing vessels.

The Ointments can be of two types: water based & Oil based.

At the plant, two different vessels have been maintained for the

purpose.

After the mixing of the ingredients has been done, the sample of

the same is taken by the QC department for testing & verification. If

the test results are approved, then the batch goes for filling in the

tubes. Next, the tubes are also tested for any defects for in case of the

body of the tube or printing of the tube etc. After this the tubes are

packed & dispatched,

Again here, a team of 7 SMT members deliver the result

of around 6 lacs of ointment tubes per month.

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During the month of March, the ointment department

reported a production of 7.3 lacs of tubes, which was the

highest, since the inception of the department in April ’08. The

department managed to cross it’s average productivity within

1 year. This is the strength of a SMT.

The next type of product manufactured at the plant is Injectables:

Decartonating, Transportation & washing of Vials

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Dry HeatUnit Preparation & Sterilization

AutoclaveMoist HeatRadiation

Filtration

Filling

Lyophilization

Sealing

FG storage

Inspection

Loading

Packing & Dispatch

Extreme care has to be maintained in the manufacturing of

injectables because it is that product, which, when injected gets in

direct contact with the blood of the individual. If there is any sort of

defect or negligence during manufacturing then it will directly affect

the patient who has been injected.

The first step is to decartonate (removal from cartons as supplied

by vendor), visually inspect the vials for any manufacturing defects like

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cracks in glass, deformed shape etc. & transport the vials to the vial

washing area.

Vials are the small bottles in which the injectables are filled.

After this, the next step is vial washing. It is very important to

hygienically wash the vials taking utmost care because they will be the

carrier of the drug. The vials are washed with in the following cycle:

Recycled Water

Compressed Air

Purified Water

Compressed Air

Water For Injectables (WFI)

Compressed Air

After vial washing, unit preparation is done. It is the sterilization of all

the components used in the manufacturing of injectables.

In the first sterilization, all components are passed through Dry heat or

Thermal heat.

In the next, i.e. Autoclave, Rubber bungs, Aluminum seals,

Garments, Gloves, Filling and Sealing Machine Change parts,

Autoclavable shoes and other items or equipments used in the Aseptic

and Drug manufacturing area are sterilized at 180° for 15 minutes.

The next step is sterilization through moist heat, & the last type

of sterilization is Radiation.

Radiation helps to kill the micro organisms in the solution

through UV rays. In the solution of the injectables, even though the

micro organisms are killed through UV rays, their remains are still

there. Therefore in order to remove those remains which are approx. of

3 microns, the solution is filtered with 2 micron filters.

After filtration, the solution is filled in the vials. After the filling

activity, the liyophilization of the injectables takes place. It is the

process of converting the liquid injectable into a dry cake form by

freezing primary drying & secondary drying. Lyophilized Injectables are

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made with the Products which are not stable in liquid form as well as

they are not stable at higher temperature.

The next step after liyophilization is the sealing of the vials. Here

full stoppered vials are sealed with 4 head sealing machines. After

sealing, the vials are manually inspected against black & white board

to inspect different defects in liyophilized a vial.

The sealed vials are kept in FG storage for 7 days before packing

& dispatch. After these 7 days they check whether there is any defect

in liyophilization, whether there has been any melt back of the cake

form etc.

If everything is inspected & is fine, then the vials are loaded on

the machine & are packed & dispatched.

Cleaning & Hygiene: The teams responsible for any type of

production will also be responsible for the hygiene & cleanliness of his

area.

Basically there are two types of cleaning –

Type A: It is the cleaning done when there is a batch to batch

change over. i.e. when there is production of the same type of product

but of a different batch. When there is production of the same type of

product, the raw material used is the same. Therefore, the cleanliness

to be done would mainly consist of dusting, & dry cleaning. It takes

around 1 hour to complete this type of cleaning. Type A cleaning is

done whenever the batch changes or after 24 hours whichever is

earlier.

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Type B: It is the cleaning done when there is a product to

product change over, i.e when the production changes from one

product to different product. Here the raw materials used in one

product are different from the raw material used in the other product.

Hence there are a lot of chances of cross contamination of the raw

material used in one product to another product, the mixing of the

previous product into the next product etc. In order to avoid this, the

whole manufacturing area, the vessels, the machines etc are totally

washed & dried before starting a different product. This type of

cleaning takes 6-7 hours to get complete. In case there is no product to

product change, it is done after 7 days or 5 batches whichever is

earlier.

Before any type of production, either of these is followed. It is the

responsibility of the team members to follow the cleaning criteria &

clean the area as mentioned in the SOPs.

At Dr. Reddy’s FTO VI, so much care is taken that area for each

process is maintained separately to prevent cross contamination from

one drug to another, unlike other units or other pharma companies

where the process for one product is not separate. Even the SMT

members are aware of this & they themselves take extra care to follow

the processes. They know the importance of manufacturing a medicine

& also that it is going to be consumed by a patient , therefore feel

responsible for it.

Gowning: Gowning is an integrated part of any pharmaceutical

drug manufacturing plant. Anyone entering the shop floor has to be

completely covered with the dresses meant to be worn while entering

the shop floor. In the area where the drug comes in direct contact with

the individuals, like production area, primary packing area etc.

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secondary gowning has to be done over the primary gowning. It

comprises of a fully covered gown from shoulder to toe, a headgear,

long shoes covering the feet, gloves to cover the hands, & a mask to

cover the mouth. This is to prevent cross contamination from outer

environment.

QA & QC: As mentioned earlier both QA & QC play a very

important role in the pharmaceutical industry. Each & every process

has to be validated & tested by QC & approved by the QA department.

In the pharmaceutical industry, there is the concept of doer &

checker, i.e. the doer of an activity is a different body & the checker is

different, because incase the persons are same, then there is an

element of biasness in the processes. To remove this, the QA

department acts as a checker for the processes of all the departments.

Any process or activity has to be approved by the QA department.

Before starting any process, it is mandatory to take line clearance from

the QA department. The QA team member will come & verify whether

the area is fit for the continuation of the process or whether there are

any chances of cross contamination from the previous product or any

harm from the external environment.

There is in process testing done by the QC department for every

product right from material handling to packing. The samples as well

as the results are passed through the QA department. After the

packing, a Finished Goods Transfer Note (FGTN) is prepared by the

packing department to take approval from the QA to dispatch the

material from the shop floor to the warehouse. Later a Final Release

Request (FRR) is prepared by the production to get approval from QA

to dispatch the FG to the final depo.

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Apart from that, whenever there is any deviation in the

manufacturing of any process or if any batch has failed, the QA

department has to be intimated giving them the incident, as well as

the reason for the incident & what was done.

Any changes in the system, facilities, documentation etc will be it

has to be rooted through various stakeholders they give their

suggestions & the QA department does the review of the suggestions.

All the above are the requirements of regulatory authority in

order to avoid any biasness in the system.

All the above processes are more or less a part & parcel of the

pharmaceutical industry. However the concept of SMT has made these

processes work in a better way. Few of the examples of the

performances of the SMTs in the organization are as follows:

- Last year, the Baddi plant reported a zero accident year, a hit

miss ratio of more than 95% & a drop in cost of unit by 10%.

- During the month of March’09, the company reported “No Black”

in the symphony system, i.e. no product was in the black color.

- During the month of July last year, the pellet formation team of 5

members gave a production of 5.5 ton as against an average of 4

ton in a month. During this month the production was run in only

2 shifts. The efficiency increased by 45%, productivity by 50%, &

a cost saving of 3.32 lacs in terms of utilities & cost of casuals

etc. A detailed planning of 2 months & convincing the HHT

members with facts & data for 3 months resulted in such

achievement.

- Apart from that, in the month of December last year, the

production department gave a production of 154 million tablets

& capsules as against an average of 130 million.

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These are just few of the examples of the success stories

of the plant.

Team spirit is probably the single most important ingredient for

the success of this experiment. The environment in which the SMT

members work in is hardly that of conventional work place, on the

contrary they work in friendly setting sharing jovial & cordial relations

both with all the team members, whether SMT or HHT.

The level to which the SMTs take their values to heart is what is to be

appreciated most amongst them. They have lived & worked together &

built a value system that is their own - it operates on a personal level.

Last but not the least, In the words of the Company HR Head,

”The organization has definitely benefited by implementing this

innovative concept.

The SMT model certainly makes financial sense, by keeping

manufacturing & manpower costs lower than in traditional plants, it is

also beneficial with respect to quality, on time delivery & overall

productivity”

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