Category Winner for Operational Excellence
Merck & Co., Inc.
Vaccine and Biologics Sterile Facility (VBSF) in Carlow,
Ireland
Merck needed to make a strategic investment in its manufacturing
network to support its long range biologics and vaccine pipeline,
resulting in the VBSF project in Carlow, Ireland. This was Merck's
first green-field sterile processing facility built outside the US
and from the beginning, the project team was committed to employing
a Lean Six Sigma philosophy as the foundation for every part of the
project.
Lean Six Sigma was used by the team to manage the dynamics of
the decision process during the early project scoping, design, and
integration activities and the formation of a "One Team" culture.
In addition, many focused Lean projects were done independently and
seamlessly integrated back into the larger program, including
design of the syringe filler, eBeam reliability, and media/buffer
suite design. Lean Six Sigma was also employed during project
execution, where the methodology drove efficiency of decision
making and rapid implementation of remediation measures.
Lean Six Sigma was successfully applied in every facet of this
project, prompting judges to select the VBSF project as the winner
in the Operational Excellence category.