A leading global pharmaceutical manufacturing company, ranked among the top 20 worldwide, sought to optimize operational efficiencies by decreasing costly downtime that was impacting its entire supply chain. Unexpected failures of machinery supplying air to Class Grade A & B clean rooms caused significant disruptions to their manufacturing processes. This situation led to skyrocketing maintenance costs, declining productivity, and operations falling behind targets.
Initially, the customer team believed that adjusting current maintenance practices could resolve the downtime issues, but they soon discovered that the challenges at the site had broader implications. Faced with complex data and isolated insights, they struggled to promptly and accurately diagnose machine health. The customer team realized that transforming a process requires more than merely placing sensors on equipment. A Digital Machine Health solution, like the technology behind Grundfos Machine Health, can provide significant value and drive decision-making in manufacturing organizations.
The Foundation of a Digital Transformation
The pharmaceutical company and its partner implemented a strategy centered around key pillars of Digital Machine Health and Performance:
- Deployment of technology that delivers proven value
- Actionable machine health diagnostics that avoid overwhelming users
- Change management to drive adoption and integration
To ensure the success of the digital transformation journey, the implementation team developed a comprehensive project scope, detailing the site survey and installation plan, training cadence, and program management. Once the continuous and portable diagnostics solution was deployed, the Grundfos Customer Success Team provided training on the platform’s interface and user flow. With a full-stack solution and turnkey deployment, the program began delivering value within days of installation.
Tangible Results
Machine learning algorithms detected bearing wear in two critical air handling units servicing clean rooms. The facility has only two scheduled shutdown periods per year for performing repairs. Failures occurring outside these periods can lead to significant delays, team demands, and major production disruptions. Thanks to precise diagnosis and timely alerts, the customer team pre-ordered necessary parts and utilized breaks during manufacturing cycles to repair the air handling units, avoiding production disruptions. Had these faults gone undetected, an unexpected shutdown lasting several days could have ensued, potentially resulting in over $300,000 in repair and product losses.
By prioritizing machine health—the foundational level of any manufacturing process—and transitioning from reactive maintenance to Digital Machine Performance, the manufacturer realized improvements in productivity, operations, and supply chain efficiency.
What is Grundfos Machine Health?
Grundfos Machine Health is a cutting-edge predictive maintenance solution specifically designed to enhance the reliability and efficiency of rotating equipment in critical industries such as pharmaceuticals. By utilizing advanced wireless sensors and an intuitive cloud-based platform, it provides real-time, actionable insights into machine health allowing for timely interventions and informed decision-making.
Powered by AI: The true value of AI lies in understanding not only what is happening but why. This leads to reduced machine downtime, enhanced productivity, and optimized asset performance.
Actionable Data: Grundfos Machine Health combines mechanical and operational data, offering a comprehensive view of a machine’s health through connection, collection, and analysis of relevant data.
Enabling New Possibilities: Beyond addressing maintenance issues, it tackles operational and business challenges, allowing a facility to see real change.
In the pharmaceutical industry, where operational continuity and stringent quality standards are paramount, Grundfos Machine Health offers substantial benefits. It minimizes unexpected downtime through early anomaly detection, ensures uninterrupted production in sensitive environments like clean rooms, and optimizes asset performance. The solution integrates mechanical and operational data, offering a comprehensive view of equipment health, which aids in maintaining the stringent regulatory compliance required in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Furthermore, its AI-driven insights help identify root causes of potential failures and recommend corrective actions, thereby enabling more efficient maintenance strategies.
By fostering a shift from reactive to proactive maintenance, Grundfos Machine Health supports pharmaceutical companies in enhancing productivity, reducing maintenance costs, and ultimately ensuring the consistent delivery of high-quality products.
Grundfos experts understand the demanding environment of the pharmaceutical industry. Managing a plant involves optimizing processes, maximizing uptime, and ensuring worker safety and product reliability. With Grundfos solutions, facilities gain more than just a pump supplier; they gain a partner committed to solving the industry’s ever-evolving challenges.
To learn more about Grundfos Machine Health and how Grundfos can help transform your facility, visit our website: grundfos.to/GMH-Pharma
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