Lean management at Galenica
How can processes be made more efficient? How can quality be improved? And what is the best way to utilise time for the benefit of customers? One potential answer is lean management. With the first Galenica Lean Day and a continuing education programme, the “5S” philosophy for which lean management is known will be introduced and practised throughout the network.
Lean management focuses on the questions: What really adds value for our customers and what is superfluous? And how can we simplify processes? Originally developed in the Japanese automotive industry, lean management makes processes more efficient, eliminates unnecessary work steps, and sustainably improves service quality for customers. Two principles make lean management particularly effective. Firstly: even the smallest optimisations are worth implementing. Secondly: the best ideas for improvement come from the employees, who deal with certain processes on a daily basis.
This was the basis on which the first Galenica Lean Day took place in early May 2025. On this occasion, all teams in the Group were called upon to implement the method in their work environment together. The “5S” stand for five Japanese terms and their definitions:
- Seiri (sort): Only strictly necessary things should be available in the workplace.
- Seiton (systematise): Everything has its place and can always be found there.
- Seiso (shine): The workplace should be cleaned regularly.
- Seiketsu (standardise): The first three S’s are being converted into standards so that all employees can maintain the same standard of tidiness and cleanliness.
- Shitsuke (self-discipline): The idea is for compliance with the standards to become a habit through training, personal responsibility and regular reviews.
Following the Galenica Lean Day, participants were invited to share their results internally. Numerous inspiring examples from different areas – from logistics to offices, and pharmacies to sales force – were reported back.
Galenica is attaching rapidly growing importance to lean management: the internal “Move” training and development programme now also includes a course on lean management. This gives all interested employees the opportunity to learn more about the principles and tools of the management approach on a practical level and apply them in their working environment.
Lean management in Galenica pharmacies
If you look behind the scenes in a Galenica pharmacy early in the morning, you may see the following situation: all the employees standing in a group, engaging in a brief, focused dialogue. This is known as a “huddle meeting”. It is a tried-and-tested lean management tool and is used in around 80% of Galenica pharmacies. The aim is to strengthen day-to-day collaboration, share information efficiently, set priorities and, last but not least, promote team spirit. Everyone gets their say, everyone stays on the same level, everyone is ready to tackle the day. And ultimately, customers benefit from the well-organised teams.
