Efficiency as a Single KPI — No
When focusing solely on efficiency and cost, a lab may initially gain productivity. However, in the long term, we often see deterioration in areas such as service level, cycle time, and right-first-time performance.
When efficiency becomes the primary driver, the lab may delay the start of a campaign to accumulate more samples for a “more efficient” run. While this may improve campaign efficiency, it extends the overall turnaround time (cycle time), especially for the first few samples.
Another KPI negatively affected is on-time delivery, which is directly impacted by increased cycle time.
Right-first-time performance may also deteriorate if the push for speed and output leads to errors during the testing / release process.
While we previously mentioned cycle time as a single KPI to assess overall supply chain health, efficiency must be accompanied by additional KPIs to balance the three key pillars of operational excellence.
Efficiency can be a dominant KPI, but service level and right-first-time performance must be monitored just as closely to ensure sustainable improvement, not short-term gains.