The Tech Group Receives Frost & Sullivan 2015 Manufacturing Leadership Award 


Medical technology contract manufacturer Tech Group North America Inc. has received a 2015 Manufacturing Leadership Award in the Engineering and Production Technology Leadership category from Frost & Sullivan’s Manufacturing Leadership Council.

The Tech Group is a division of West Pharmaceutical Services Inc.

Frost & Sullivan is a global consulting firm that provides market research and analysis, growth strategy consulting, and corporate training services across multiple industries.

The award recognizes The Tech Group’s innovative process monitoring strategy, an initiative known as E2: Every Machine, Every Part. This enterprise-wide initiative is designed to review and improve control processes by integrating a state-of-the-art process monitoring system across 300 molding machines at all seven of The Tech Group manufacturing facilities throughout North America.

“We’re extremely honored to receive Frost & Sullivan’s award recognizing our significant investment and commitment to quality and process manufacturing excellence,” said Mike Treadaway, Tech Group president, PDS Contract Manufacturing, West Pharmaceutical Services. “As a key supplier of life-saving medical devices and critical components, we are constantly looking for ways to improve product quality. The Manufacturing Leadership Award is validation of the hard work and effort by the entire organization. The E2 initiative ensures our customers and their end users benefit from unmatched technical expertise and quality-driven manufacturing processes.”

The E2 initiative was launched as a pilot program in 2011 at The Tech Group’s Michigan plant. Its Process Excellence department tested manufacturing process discrepancies, including identifying sources of product variation and detecting product defects in real time. The Tech Group, heavily engaged in Six Sigma training since 2001, was able to leverage its experience in statistics and data collection, which was a critical step in the process. These findings led to new training programs, quality-focused infrastructure improvements and project management initiatives across West’s contract manufacturing facilities.

According to company officials, under the standardized process monitoring approach, the program enhanced business processes by reducing manufacturing scrap, correcting up-time for post-injection molding assembly activities, and improving outgoing quality and on-time delivery to satisfy customers’ needs.

The Manufacturing Leadership Awards, now in their 11th year, recognize manufacturing companies and individual leaders that are shaping the future of global manufacturing. Winning individuals and projects have demonstrated achievement in one of a wide range of categories. They are chosen by a panel of expert judges for results that enabled the manufacturers to set themselves apart from their competitors and that have delivered clear and compelling value, return on investment, and other tangible outcomes.

Frost & Sullivan will present the award during its 11th Annual Manufacturing Leadership Awards event on June 4 at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

The Tech Group has facilities in Arizona, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Puerto Rico and Ireland. Capabilities include concept design, engineering development, prototyping, production scale-up, validation and full-scale manufacturing. The company