Siemens Healthineers Diagnostics, Sudbury

Sudbury is a cutting edge facility which builds instruments and consumables for Urinalysis, Diabetes and Blood Gas analytics. 

Our Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) team had an extremely important role of making sure the site was safe, for all staff members during this pandemic, they worked to align the sites to create safe working environments whilst keeping open existing and new opportunities for the business. Along this journey the EHS team accomplished many achievements and did an amazing job of doing so. The precautions they successfully achieved were creating a single entrance and exit, this way it prevented a crossover of people, in addition they placed a sanitiser at every entrance door for staff to use upon entrance of the building. The EHS team put-up office and production screening between workstations this was to help social distance in small areas. Touchpoint cleaning was also introduced, this was put in place, so door handles were being cleaned around the building regularly to prevent spread of germs.

A further achievement was the implementation of bio-fogging, this was a disinfectant that would be sprayed in an area where an individual with COVID-19 had been present and kills all bacteria on surfaces within one minute. Moreover, the EHS team set up wellbeing calls with our site nurse Sharon, so she could have regular check-ups with employees working from home or isolating to make sure they are all okay.

On top of this, antibody testing was introduced onsite, which allowed employees to be tested to detect whether they had previously had COVID-19. Contractor protocol, COVID-19 signage, and risk reporting for cleaning requirements were implemented. Signage was placed around the site building, reminding people to wash their hands, wear a mask and social distance. We administered a track and trace QR code for our employees to scan and check in to. The EHS team supported through distribution of face coverings for our employees to wear and stay safe, these were worn when walking around the building and in areas outside of individual departments. Our pool car was fitted with a separation curtain for the driver and employee in the event of transporting an employee should they become unwell. Additionally, we hired a minibus to transport employees to and from their place of work due to shift time changes and not being able to use public transport.

A comment from Bob Cox, Head of EHS:

"We only had one COVID-19 case in the time frame between our first lockdown and Christmas, this showed that the measures we implemented and put in place were working and keeping everyone safe.”

Our Engineering team identified and implemented changes necessary since the start if COVID-19. They achieved several accomplishments including the implementation of the Agile Methodology for design transfer projects, this enabled the team to track tasks and projects and is a more systemised way. This benefited R&R (Reward and Recognition) to visually see the projects and the quality of them. In addition, the Engineering team also implemented AQC Leak and flow, which involved the first robot onsite. A Luer mount press was installed in RL1200.

The Engineering team created a MindSphere dashboard, this was for the water plant to check and maintain the water quality. The annual shutdown was successful during COVID-19, which is one of the biggest events of the year, this is where the machines are stripped down, to check everything is running correctly and nothing is wrong with the machinery. Screens were put up in the engineering department, this was to help shield employees at workstations.

Another great innovative achievement from the Engineering team, in which they invested in personally going above and beyond, was an answer to a request on social media from a local hospital. The hospital were after a simple IV bottle holder which could be 3D printed. The Siemens Healthineers team, using a 3D model, set about manufacturing the bottle holders quickly and responded to the request. The product is now being used in local hospitals and was recognised by Make UK a manufacturing standard for great achievements.

A comment from Dave McMahon, Head of Engineering:

“We have had engineers working from home as well as in additional areas around the site to meet COVID-19 measures of social distancing and so we feel safer in our areas of work, it has been challenging. I have a bi-weekly call with each engineer, and this gives our team more structure, we have worked well as a team and have most certainly risen to the challenge.”

During the COVID-19 crisis our IT team have accomplished many achievements, Sudbury have been able to utilise Microsoft HoloLens and the RA software to support production lines by always accessing the experts who are self-isolating. This has enables us to continuously direct, coach and educate team members who are on-site, ensuring the safety of all employees at the production facilities and those shielding at home. A new queue creation for Sudbury has dedicated support, the queue within our SHARP services now includes a wider scope of work requests from procurement, password and permissions, hardware, or software faults or to request some assistance with any close calls or project works. Every IT site support function in one location.

Another key achievement from our IT team was Win Server and SQL Server EOL Migration, the goal of this project was to accomplish a server refresh of end-of-life savers ensuring that the infrastructure and its security maintains reliable operations. At Sudbury, we are gradually adopting the Microsoft landscape of applications available to support and enhance virtual collaboration and facilitation across the sites departments, including our daily and strategic reviews of metrics, countermeasures, and escalations. 

Siemens Healthineers pledged its assistance to the Ventilator Challenge UK consortium, by working alongside businesses from the automotive, aerospace and technology sectors to produce protective equipment urgently needed by the NHS. The Sudbury team provided medical device manufacturing advice to other companies in the coalition to ensure that the ventilators complied with the Government’s strict safety regulations and that time was not lost during the highly accelerated production process “The company is motivated to help the Ventilator Challenge, stating that every ventilator made could save a life.”

Our Materials team did a great job in securing continuity of supply, despite countries closing their borders, they were able to pull in inventory in the UK, ahead of the borders being closed. During the pandemic there was quadruple the demand on our instruments, and they were able to achieve the output and ship instruments when they were required. When we were faced with split shifts, the Materials team managed to achieve a record output, delivering a regular year’s demand in three months, which is outstanding. The warehouse, as well as being on split shifts, consistently delivered against their target of 95% and greater on delivery performance.

A comment from Gary Mason, Head of Materials:

"I am really proud of the way my team reacted and pulled together when entering lockdown on a split shift and having the highest demand place on us ever. Utilising new technologies and entering the world of virtual meetings while working remote, the team have been able to over deliver on promises, keeping the business running and smashing delivery records each month. One of the positives that has come out of the whole experience is the collaboration between the teams has never been so good and I am glad that it has continued.”

Our Operations team accomplished some staggering milestones achievements in their efforts to maintain demand. The 2 millionth measurement cartridge, the 1.5 millionth AQC cartridge, 20,000th RapidPoint series blood analyser and 750,000th DCA were all manufactured during the pandemic. There was a ramp up in RP500 production and our team worked hard to step up to the challenge of coping with the demands, which they successfully achieved. A new shift pattern was implemented to create additional capacity, already being utilised in MCarts and Wash Waste with the night shift implemented earlier than expected.

A comment from Linda Cummings, Head of Operations:

“Preparation has enabled us to meet spike demands due to the current COVID-19 situation worldwide.” Split shifts were also implemented to protect business from risk of COVID-19, this meant employees had to make a change to not only their work life but their personal life, despite this everyone has worked together as a team and overcome the challenges that we faced.

The Finance team faced a tough challenge throughout this pandemic, the whole team was working from home, this enabled the team to stay safe from COVID-19. However, despite this they still managed to overcome the challenges they faced. The Finance team handled the first peak, March until June 2020 without a Finance Director. The team also worked together efficiently and remotely and made a great 3i (internal improvement programme) saving of £100,000. They were the highest achieving department, showcasing that they were still contributing despite not being onsite. The Finance team then took on a Finance Director and a Finance Graduate, who was set to take over the finance role of an employee leaving for retirement, the transmission of this role went smoothly despite all being managed remotely. They worked through the challenges which enabled ‘Point of Care’ to prep for life after COVID-19.

A personnel achievement was that the team were able to keep each other going throughout this pandemic.

A comment from Joaquin Perez Alarcon, Finance Director:

“A key challenge for us was working remotely, but the team were able to keep people moving forward due to being isolated from working at home, and everyone looked after one another, not just through work but through personal circumstances too, they worked as a team, and they worked efficiently.”

Our Quality team accomplished many achievements throughout the pandemic. Four Quality team members were trained to administer the Rapid Flow antigen testing. An additional phlebotomist was trained to support shifts and keep QC running and a management process for phlebotomists/donors were established to ensure continuity of supply. The quality team were split across the shifts to ensure continuity of support in; IQA, to provide incoming inspection across the shifts to support the manufacturing lines.

Quality Operations, providing cover across the shift pattern to address any quality issues are identified so that there is minimal impact on production output. QC Testing, working closely with planning and production to ensure that appropriate testing resources are available to test product against the manufacturing plan requirements. Product release, syncing into the manufacturing process so that product can be released to meet the shipping plan. Supplier Quality, working with supplier who themselves are under COVID-19 restrictions to ensure that quality issues are resolved, and deliveries continue. Quality Systems continue to maintain and develop the QMS to support the site and meet the regulatory requirements.

A comment from Pete Lloyd, Head of Quality:

“In addition, a successful MDSAP surveillance audit was managed by the quality team which resulted in the continued certification of the site with no non-conformances identified. Effective communication between the shifts was essential to ensure that the appropriate resource was in place to support the continued manufacturing and shipping of product to meet our customer needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Healthineers Performance System (HPS) team dedicated their time during the pandemic to accomplish achievements with the 3i unlimited engagement during financial year (FY) FY20 and the fact that despite the lockdown, working from home and employees self-isolating we still managed to see a significant number of ideas implemented and savings generated. Sudbury’s FY20 performance consisted of 74% participation, 394 implemented ideas and a saving of £748,440.00. Using 3i unlimited, 24/26 CIP teams engaged in continuous improvement activity and 279 improvement measures Implemented (included in the above 394). Our team also held a successful Kaizen event throughout the pandemic in production “Amazing teamwork from the AQC team.” The kaizen took place to introduce 3 bags at AQC instead of 5, to rebalance the line and for a target of 90p/hr. to meet peak FY21 demands. The outcome of the kaizen as listed; Reduced WIP from 100 to 23pcs, reduced variation by 50% at final build, reduced space by 77 sqft, balanced overall line capacity from 11 to 8 to meet target, combined work content at bag clamp assembly from 2 people to 1-person, reduced material delivery route time, 3i unlimited system used to capture savings identified by the team.

A comment from Stuart Lillie, Consumables Manufacturing Manager:

“The whole AQC team got involved and joined in. They all really enjoyed it and every single person was engaged in decision making.”

Despite going through a pandemic and life not being quite as normal, we were still able to welcome 5 new apprentices to Siemens, Lucy McLaughlin in the Admin team, Keira Goodchild in the Operations team, Rose Denny in the Quality Control team, Harry Cook in the Supply Chain team, and Morgan Hopkins in the Operations team. As well hiring new apprentices, we also hired approximately 70 temporary employees between March and July 2020 to help meet our demands. Each person completed their 23 mandatory training courses, totalling approximately 1,610 additional training courses completed. Further to this, during the first three quarters of 2021, we have employed 30 temporary staff, totalling 690 further additional training completed.