Detecting improvement opportunities with Planet Lean
Words: Catherine Chabiron, lean coach and member of Institut Lean France.
Photo by: Quentin Reytinas
This is a world of high technology, where the work content can take up to 45 minutes for a given operator to complete before she/he can move on to the next product. The work requires extremely small gestures, a sophisticated understanding of what could go wrong if the operating standard is not adhered to, and a lot of training. Welcome to Trixell, a company that designs, develops and produces X-ray flat panel digital detectors designed for a wide range of medical applications in radiology. Its customers include Thales, Siemens Healthineers, and Philips Healthcare, which are the three shareholders of the Trixell joint-venture.
Much like flat TV screens, this technology is fairly new, which is why these three corporations decided to form a joint venture as three main actors in the healthcare field. They want to mitigate the impact of the initial investment. Only 15 years ago, hospitals had to work with heavy detectors weighing on average 25 kilograms, which used a tube technology and could only be installed in a fixed spot – with patients being moved in and out. Portable flat panel detectors today are much thinner (15 millimeters) and lighter (2.8 kilograms) and they can easily be carried around the hospital. Trixell produced 3,000 detectors in 2007 – in just three variants – whereas their 2018 annual output was above 13,000 detectors, with 50 different products.
I am meeting Jean-Loïc Mourrain, Industrial Director at Trixell, whose function covers both production and process engineering. Product design takes place at the same site, although managed by a different department. “Does this bother you?” I ask Jean-Loïc. I am thinking of the many R&D departments I have come across that are physically located far away from production (and its daily problems) and wonder whether Trixell suffers from the same issue. “Well,” he says, “Not any more. You’ll see why as we progress on the gemba. It’s important to say that innovation is not only product related; it can also stem from the process. At Trixell, we have a very sophisticated process on the scintillator (a key element of our detector) and both production and process engineering are on my team. This makes collaboration easier.”
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