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Vol 28 - No 01 - February 2002 Visit to Varian Medical Systems Twenty eight Members of the Institute in the London and Southern Branch areas attended a visit to Varian Medical Systems in Crawley, Sussex on the 21st November 2001. Varian Medical Systems is world leader in the design and manufacture integrated cancer therapy systems with over 50% world market share. The presentation was opened by John Peel, Varian's Managing Director, who provided an introduction to the history of the business and its underlying values. This opening presentation was followed by a tour of the factory before returning for further presentations undertaken by Derek Flanagan (Manufacturing Manager) and Simon Pett.(Supply Chain Manager) Derek and Simon provided an overview of the process Varian have followed in their drive for world class performance since 1985. This journey has seen them implementing team working, 5S and Visual Management, TQM, JIT and Kanban. These activities have led to an almost four-fold improvement in sales per employee as well as a host of business awards. Coupled with the internal improvements they have been implementing, Varian have also been working hard to improve their supply chain performance through a range of supply chain management processes including rationalisation, benchmarking and the formation of partnerships called Value Managed Relationships (VMR) (that fits within Varian's slogan l ‘Partners For Life'.) The VMR philosophy consists of both an education process for the supplier and a range of guarantees that Varian makes to them regarding commitments on payment terms (Varian will pay on time every time without fail), contract duration, information sharing processes and access to benchmarking data. In return the supplier is expected to participate in improvement programmes to reduce defects and cost. In addition to the regular updates provided to suppliers about the state of play of Varian's markets, there is an annual vendor day and evening which encompass a workshop session followed by a banquet which culminates in a vendor awards ceremony which this year was attended by over 150 people. Varian actively invites comments and feedback from their suppliers and recently held a networking event with some of their partners to discuss improvements to their e-Business system (Netban). Varian is also providing consultancy support to enable their suppliers to benefit from the implementation of Lean Manufacturing. Page number: 9 Word count: 350 Related Topics: Quality management
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