Trim that Turnaround
Posted Mar 27, 2018 in Management
"A decade ago, everyone was at a 10-day turnaround time, but in today’s market you have to do better. In 2013, we conducted a time study for every product we offer to determine how long each step should take. We then tested the numbers to be sure everyone was comfortable with them and entered the times into each production step in our lab management software.
"For every step, the technician logs in and out. There are a total of 480 minutes in an eight-hour day and I expect my staff to handle 400 minutes of production per day; this is an 80% efficiency rate which still gives us room to grow.
"As a result of measuring and tracking our production time, we became more efficient and were able to reduce our overall turnaround time from about 10 days to five or six. Today, we’ve improved our time further: we’re at a four- to five-day turnaround time and our fast service is helping...
