Tina (Chavada) Kovach
BS ISE 2004
Tyco Healthcare
Cincinnati, Ohio
Email Tina

Tyco Healthcare is a manufacturer of medical devices ranging from pharmaceuticals to surgical instruments. The Cincinnati Facility produces urological operating suites, respiratory products and power injectors for contrast media delivery, which are used in procedures such as angiographs, MRIs and CT scans.

I have responsibility as a production supervisor and my responsibilities can be separated into two areas: my daily tasks and my project work.

In terms of my daily tasks, I have responsibility for the safety, quality and production output for three manufacturing cells and 25 hourly personnel. I am accountable for every aspect of the work that is performed by the personnel assigned to my areas and their adherence to the regulations outlined by the FDA and the company’s ISO-certified quality policies.

In my daily tasks I have the opportunity to put much of my industrial engineering education and experience to use. For example, when demand changes I have to determine the number of personnel assigned to the specific manufacturing cell, ensure that materials are made available in the correct quantities using the correct manufacturing methods and all manufactured units being delivered on time in order to service the customer.

Any and all changes in manufacturing are initiated by me and the manufacturing engineers assigned to my areas. I have had the opportunity to be a part of the release of new products and I have had to perform time studies to determine the correct number of personnel assigned while keeping the process balanced and meeting production demands.

With regard to project work, I have led two Six Sigma projects, performing statistical analysis on the outputs of a process in order to reduce variation within the process. My first project identified the attributes of a MRI power injector to determine those that were critical to quality (CTQ). Once the CTQ’s were identified, I made improvements to the manufacturing process to increase the quality of the unit and reduce cost.

My second Six Sigma project looked at the ongoing quality of the syringes used when testing the power injectors over multiple usages and time. As a result of my analysis, the testing protocols changed to reduce the number of injector calibration tests performed per syringe to give a more accurate depiction of the pressures measured in testing.

Lean manufacturing is espoused by my company. Kanbans, JIT inventory management and production forecasting and scheduling are used daily as is 5S as a method of workplace organization.

The knowledge received through OU is only the beginning of your educational process. The tools learned in the classroom are the fundamentals of further specialized training you will receive from your employer based upon their core competencies.