Chris Johnson, managing director at pharmaceutical bearing supplier, SMB Bearings, explains the importance of considered design choices and obsolescence management in pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Key insights:
- The first step in an effective obsolescence management plan should be to perform a complete system audit, consulting the life expectancy data provided and determining the life stage of individual components and machines.
- When manufacturing a pharmaceutical device, it’s important to consider the lifespan of all the components individually — even the smallest of components like bearings.
- Prioritising critical machine components such as motors and fans allows replacements to be sourced quickly, and production to recommence with minimum downtime.
- During unpredictable situations, it's important for manufacturers to have strong supplier relationships that transcend geographical borders and help minimise disruption.
While the origin of the first bearing is unknown, Ancient Egyptian drawings depict tree trunks under sleds with liquid-lubricated runners used to move massive stone blocks. While not as old as Ancient Egyptian bearings, some bearings in use today may have been produced decades ago. So, what happens when manufacturers stop producing a certain type?