Increasing Labor Productivity by 30% Through Line Balancing

The challenge

A medical products manufacturer known for its infusion therapy and pain management solutions was facing unresolved labor and assembly line challenges. Leadership observed declining labor productivity for low-frequency medical products manufactured in a clean room environment. At the same time, product families that should have been grouped together into shared work cells were being produced independently, creating imbalanced processes and multiple bottlenecks.

These inefficiencies limited throughput and made it difficult to scale production while maintaining quality and compliance. Adonis Partners was engaged to improve labor productivity through line balancing and to establish a control plan that would sustain performance improvements.

The line balancing approach

Adonis Partners’ expert consultants began by identifying key product families, conducting detailed time studies, and mapping each task along the production line. Working side by side with operators, the team led a non-value-added (NVA) waste identification and elimination effort to streamline workflows and remove unnecessary steps.

Based on these findings, a standardized, line-balanced workflow was designed to better align labor with demand. Employees were trained on the refined process, ensuring consistent execution across shifts. To support long-term performance, a monitoring and sustainment plan was implemented to track results and reinforce continuous improvement.

The impact

Within four months, the client achieved a 30 percent increase in labor productivity and analyzed more than 180 SKUs for improvement. The streamlined, balanced production lines reduced bottlenecks and improved overall efficiency across the clean room operation.

Adonis Partners’ work established a new performance benchmark and positioned the production department to support long-term growth while maintaining high standards of quality and compliance.