Equipment upgradation is a process of adding new features, removing current constraints & hazards, and improving equipment productivity through structured planning and dedicated tools. Its main aim is to help the owner in achieving quality products and market requirements more than as compared to the existing. It also focuses on increased regulatory regulations compliance.
An organization's maintenance department is typically responsible for upgrading existing equipment through internal or external resources. If a minor upgrade is required, it is normally carried out in-house with internal resources.
On the other hand, if upgradation is significant and requires considerable alteration, the equipment is sent to an external contractor. The maintenance department is responsible for executing the upgrade including the follow-up upgrade activities and final assessment before shifting equipment back to the pharma manufacturer's premises.
After upgradation, equipment is installed in the desired production area under the supervision of the maintenance department. After a trial run, the quality department performs its validation and allows the production department to start production if it passes the validation.
Why equipment upgradation
Given the heavy production load and strict marketing schedules, upgrading equipment in a competitive industry like Pharmaceutical is difficult. However, to compete with market challenges, the decision-makers have to do this.
Some reasons that compel pharma manufacturers to upgrade their equipment include the following:
Incorporating new technology
Like every industry, pharma equipment manufacturers invest in upgrading their equipment and systems to compete with other equipment manufacturers, improve their equipment's efficiency, and increase productivity.
Pharma manufacturers can't frequently purchase new machines to incorporate new technology. Instead, they go for upgrading their existing machine with external contractors.
An example is replacing manual inspection with a machine vision system on blister machines or adding a stepper motor to filling machines to increase filling accuracy.
Incorporating new technology could be a result of many feedback, consistent problem in a process or increased sales requirements.
The existing system is continuously malfunctioning.
In some instances, the system deployed by the machine manufacturer continuously malfunctions and does not produce the desired results. It can be due to many reasons, such as incompatibility with the product. For example, if a manufacturer-made vision system faces problems while detecting tablets in blister packing.
In this scenario, upgrading an entire problematic machine or a portion of the system is beneficial. It will help mitigate the problem and provide the optimum performance for the machine purchased.
Increased Productivity
Increasing productivity is one of many reasons for upgrading pharma equipment. When a pharma manufacturer opts to expand its product portfolio, arranging process equipment is necessary. The same applies when the pharma manufacturer increases its product batch size in response to increased market demands.
Upgrading equipment automates the existing process that previously involved humans, thereby increasing the processing speed. Upgrading also replaces the slow and legacy system that takes less time to perform a task. Technological upgrades also enhance the impact of existing automation, making the process error-free and reliable.
The factors mentioned above, and much more alike, increase total productivity, enabling pharma manufacturers to produce less in more time.
Unavailability of Spare Parts
Spare parts play a vital role in recovering equipment during breakdown and provide machine users with a way to enhance their life and performance.
In some cases, spare parts can only be supplied by the machine's manufacture...
(All Rights Reserved)