Articles by Ben Locwin

1. SOPs, The Modern Worker & How Pharma Companies Must Evolve The “Read & Understand” Model 6/1/2022

   Pharma companies have used “read and understand” approaches with standard operating procedures (SOPs) as a core component for staff training for many years. However, what is the percentage of people who are completing their read and understand assignments without truly understanding them? We need to evolve our model of SOPs.

2. FDA’s Drug Shortages Root Cause Report: Does It Miss The Mark? 2/7/2020

   At the behest of Congress, an inter-agency Drug Shortage Task Force, led by the FDA, published the "Drug Shortages: Root Causes and Potential Solutions" report. The very first root causes listed in the report are “economic forces,” but there's a lot more to the story.

3. 7 Tools For Breakthrough Quality And Performance In 30 Days 6/7/2019

   In this sixth installment on the selection and use of quality improvement tools in your organization, Ben Locwin wraps up the series with a treatise on the 7 Tools of Quality.

4. “Work Harder” — And Other Ways To Completely Miss The Mark On Quality 5/24/2019

   Why does “Quality” seem like such a slippery, elusive term? The answer is easy: It’s because the people who claim to know it really don’t. And everyone seems to go along with the rhetoric.

5. Solving Problems More Effectively Than Sherlock Holmes: The Contradiction Matrix 2/22/2019

   This is the fourth article in a five-part series on better investigation and problem-solving methods and principles in the life sciences. In writing this one, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about Sherlock Holmes. Not only his exquisite methods, but also flaws in the metacognition and metaphilosophy about how the fictitious detective underwent his work.

6. Fault Tree Analysis: Uncover The Root Causes Of More Complex Problems 11/16/2018

   A refreshed approach to fault tree analysis can be an incredibly helpful addition to your problem-solving armamentarium. Having the confidence to begin using it — or begin using it more often — is the first step toward getting more comfortable with it and mastering its effects and nuances.

7. When To Use A Fishbone Diagram And Why You Should Do It More Often 10/15/2018

   This article provides an in-depth and comprehensive explation one of the most broadly applicable and durable root cause analysis tools to investigate the quality of your manufacturing processes: the fishbone diagram.

8. How To (Better) Identify And Analyze Trends In Your Bioprocessing Operations 8/15/2018

   This is the first in a five-part article series, Identifying And Resolving Errors, Defects, And Problems Within Your Organization. This article will enhance your understanding and prime you for visual detection of real trends in your organization by looking at a couple of examples.

9. Big Data Vs. Small Data: What’s The Proper Prescription For You? 11/13/2017

   What can playoff beards, infographics, and emojis teach us about Big Data's role in the biopharmaceutical industry? This article shares some amusing examples to explain what Big Data and small data are, build your fluency with the benefits and risks of each, and provide recommendations to improve our data-rich future.

10. “Human Error” Deviations: How You Can Stop Creating (Most Of) Them 10/9/2017

    In the time it takes you to read this article, the industry will generate (conservatively) about 115 new process deviations, and about 65 of them will be misclassified as having something related to “human error” as either the principal causal factor or one of the proximal causal factors.