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her experience with operations management and process control theory
to analyze the results.
One of Chang's key fi ndings was that signifi cant variability in yield
was caused by variation in the density of the colonies grown on the
agar plate. This observation led to the development of a new process
for plating the E. coli on the agar using microfl uidic techniques, which
eliminated the inherent variation in the number of cells transferred to
the plates with each dispensed volume. As Chang noted in the conclu-
sion to her thesis, “While not widely available or referenced by those in
the organization, suffi cient paper records contained the data required
to build control charts of the picking process. The documented vari-
ability seemed typical of traditional industrial operations and suggested
that operational methodologies would have some traction.” 27 In other
words, Chang collected data that had not been considered relevant or
interesting to the Broad's technicians and mobilized them to formulate
new and more productive sequencing practices.
The following year, Vokoun, who had worked previously as a process
development engineer in the Optical Systems Division at 3M, attempted
to apply operations management techniques to the Molecular Biology
Production Group (MBPG). 28 As the “most upstream” part of the se-
quencing process, the MBPG was the least automated and most “craft”-
dependent part of the lab. The aim of Vokoun's work was to transform
the MBPG's “highly variable output” by implementing lean production,
production forecasting, Six Sigma, and RFID (radio-frequency identi-
fi cation). Beginning in July 2004, Vokoun managed a fi ve-month lean
production implementation project in MBPG with fi ve goals: (1) elimi-
nating all chances of mixing up DNA samples; (2) creating personal
workstations with full sets of equipment and materials; (3) minimizing
travel for samples and workers; (4) improving and standardizing mate-
rials fl ow; and (5) cleaning up and organizing the MBPG area, recover-
ing unused space. 29
These changes were based on several principles of lean produc-
tion, including 5S, pull production, and kanban . 5S, from the Japanese
words seiri , seiton , seiso , seiketsu , and shitsuke (translated as “sort,”
“straighten,” “shine,” “standardize,” and “sustain”), is a method for
organizing workplaces and keeping them clean. Pull production also
refers to a method of organizing workstations by simplifying material
fl ow through the workspace. Workstations constitute a “sophisticated
socio-technical system” in which there is “minimal wasted motion,
which refers to any unnecessary time and effort required to assemble
a product. Excessive twists or turns, uncomfortable reaches or pickups,
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