racing – The OM Blog by Heizer, Render, & Munson

OM in the News: Formula One Teams Up With Drug Makers

Motor sport data analytics and precision engineering may be the skills needed to boost productivity at GSK

For the past three years, the UK drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline has been working with the McLaren Formula One racing team to find ways of making its drug development and manufacturing processes more efficient, writes The Financial Times (Dec.10, 2014). It might not be immediately obvious what GSK has to learn from a company best known for its supercars and motor-racing team. The speed of F1 could hardly be more different from the 10-15-year development cycles typical of the pharmaceuticals industry. But McLaren says that its strengths in precision engineering and data analytics are just the kind of skills needed by GSK as it aims to become more productive.

Perhaps the clearest dividend of the partnership so far has come not in drug development but in GSK’s consumer healthcare business. McLaren was asked to scrutinize a toothpaste manufacturing facility and work out how to boost efficiency. “We noticed that they were making lots of small batches of different products with a lot of down time in between,” says a McLaren exec. “They said: ‘If you can change four tires on a racing car in 2 seconds why does it take us 2 hours to do a changeover?’” Within a year, lost time had been cut by 60%, using principles similar to those that govern the pit-stops for a racing car. “It’s about everyone knowing their job and doing it well. Afterwards, we analyze every detail — what went well, what didn’t and how we can improve.”

But the biggest ambitions for the partnership come in R&D. Much of the cost and time it takes to develop a drug is consumed in the clinical trial process needed to prove safety and efficacy. McLaren is working with GSK on technology to allow real-time monitoring of patients rather than the sporadic check-ups that can sometimes lead to unreliable trial results. Creating flexible, responsive strategies in this way is increasingly possible in business as flows of data improve.

Classroom discussion questions:

1. What do racing and drug manufacturing have in common?

2. Why is real-time monitoring of drug patients so valuable?

OM in the News (and Video Tip): Formula 1 Pit Stops and the Gilbreths

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, the pioneers of time and motion studies, would smile with approval as they watch this 2-minute video comparing F1 racing pit stops in 1950 and today. If you follow F1 racing, it comes as no surprise that pit stops have been reduced to an amazing 2 seconds!

The role of the pit has changed dramatically over the years, writes OR/MS Today (Oct., 2014). For much of racing history, cars would only stop in the event of problems. Scheduled tire changes or fuel stops were not part of the equation. But in 1982, an analytically-minded UK race team focused on 2 important facts. First, softer tires stuck to the track better than harder ones, though they wore out more quickly. Second, less gas in the tank translated into a lighter, faster car. Calculations showed that time spent changing tires and refueling was more than offset by performance on the track.

The idea quickly caught on, making pit stops–and their efficient execution–an integral part of racing. But in 2010, when F1 racing instituted a no refueling policy (out of safety concerns), the stage was set for lightening-fast tire changes. Achieving a 2-second tire change required optimizing the entire process. Analysts looked at everything from the design of wheels nuts (1 per wheel on F1 cars), to special self-positioning pneumatic guns that remove and tighten each nut. They then turned their attention to the pit crews. Teams of 3 work on each wheel, one to remove the old tire, one to position the new one, and one to operate the gun. Their moves are choreographed down to the position of their hands and feet from start to finish. With 2 jack operators and other workers, as many as 20 people crowd around a car during a pit stop–for 2 seconds of work.

What a great example of methods analysis (see Figures 10.5- 10.7) for Chapter 10.

Classroom discussion questions:

1. Try to create an activity chart for the pit stop from the video, using Figure 10.6 and Solved Problem 10.1 as models.

2. How does this differ from the NASCAR pit stop described in the Global Company Profile that opens Chapter 10 on pages 396-7?

OM in the News: Behind The Tour de France

This is a sample master schedule which shows every event, staff member, team vehicle

The large behind-the-scenes operations which support a football World Cup or Formula One racing team are well-known, but a Tour de France team also needs major support, reports BBC News (July 6, 2014). “A Tour de France team is like a large traveling circus,” says the coach of the Belkin team. “The public only sees the riders but they could not function without the unseen support staff.” The base to the team’s cycling pyramid includes everything from osteopaths to mechanics, from logistics staff to PR people. Their task is to ensure that riders are in peak physical, nutritional and psychological condition. This can mean deciding which snack bars to give the cyclists before, during and after race stages, while ensuring there are scientifically-based cooling regimes in place for the riders. The team’s huge truck, coach, 3 vans and 5 cars resemble the sort of traveling convoy more associated with an international music act. Here are just some of the supplies the project management team for Belkin handles:

11 mattresses
36 aero suits, 45 bib shorts, 54 race jerseys, 250 podium caps
63 bikes
140 wheels, 220 tires
250 feeding bags, 3,000 water bottles
2,190 nutrition gels, 3,800 nutrition bars
10 jars of peanut butter, 10 boxes of chocolate sprinkles, 20 bags of wine gums, 20 jars of jam
80 kg of nuts, raisins, apricots and figs, plus 50 kg of cereals

The OM behind a world-tour team is complex: These top teams often compete in 2-3 races simultaneously, in different countries and sometimes on different continents. Each team has 25-35 riders (9 compete in any single race), coming from different parts of the world, going to different races at different times, each with his own physique and strengths. They have customized bikes, uniforms, and food preferences. The support staff can include another 30 people.

Classroom discussion questions:
1. Why is project management important to a racing team?

2. Why does each team have 9 riders in one race?