Walk less. Run better

Jamie Perry Business Development Manger, VMI Solutions

Keeping production running reliably demands that maintenance and repairs are carried out quickly and efficiently. Which was never going to happen for a major pharmaceutical company, when their technicians were spending up to an hour walking to Stores and back to retrieve spare parts. That’s why they asked ERIKS to step in and help them find a more efficient way to provide technicians with parts – short of providing them with bicycles.

It wasn’t only the distance from the production line to Stores that made retrieving parts so time-consuming. It was also the fact that the line operated in a sterile environment. So every time a technician left the production area, they had to change out of sterile clothing, and change back into it again on their return. Agency and temporary workers created even more issues. Supplied with disposable sterile clothing, they required a new outfit every time they returned to the production line – generating cost, wastage and environmental impacts.

Traceability, accountability and certification

ERIKS had successfully solved similar problems at another of the customer’s sites, by installing a Rotopoint and drawer storage system next to the line. However, that was for products not required to meet the same levels of traceability, accountability and certification as those used in this sterile production area. The more stringent requirements for the new parts storage unit meant more challenges in store for the Vending Solutions team from ERIKS Storeroom Services.

Taking the biscuit

The first stage in providing more efficient and faster access to parts was a thorough review of the situation.

A Time and Motion Study had already revealed that a walk from the production line to Stores took a technician 20 minutes, and the same amount of time to walk back. Add in the time taken to change out of and into the necessary clothing for a sterile area, and every single part took almost three-quarters of an hour to acquire. With the Stores located right next-door to the canteen, another 15 minutes or so was often added to each round trip: just time for a cheeky cup of tea and something to eat. Based on the time taken, the average hourly wage, and the number of trips made, it was calculated that the spares ‘walk and wait’ was costing the customer over £300,000 per annum. And that excluded the cost of any downtime if production was halted while a part was acquired. Devising and installing a new time-saving storage solution was clearly something that – unlike the technicians – couldn’t wait.

More efficient and faster access to parts

Cracking the code

Good practice regulations and guidelines in the pharmaceutical sector (known as GxP) require maintenance and repair parts to be tracked and monitored from the point of origin of order, all the way to dispatch and

use. So as a minimum, the parts vending solution devised for the customer by ERIKS had to make provision for these requirements. ERIKS, however, went further.

Improved the customer’s level of control

GxP parts are issued with batch codes and corresponding certificates. Batches of parts should be used in strict rotation, and any which have passed their expiry date should not be used at all. To remove the risk of human error, ERIKS configured the unit not just to automatically monitor the batch codes, but also to dispense the parts in the correct order, to detect expired items, and to physically prevent any out-of-date items from being dispensed. This hasn’t only improved the customer’s level of control. It’s also given them a lower level of wastage, as parts with the shortest expiry date are automatically dispensed first. What’s in store?

With two ERIKS parts storage and vending solutions now operating successfully – saving the customer time and money – two more installations are planned. The second of these – for engineering tools – will offer even more benefits. Firstly, it will save time and therefore money. But secondly, it will help to optimise tool utilisation. Tools will be logged in and out and – thanks to battery chargers integrated into the unit – batterypowered tools will automatically be fully recharged when stored, then kept on trickle charge until needed. With such convenient, efficient and intelligent storage and vending solutions from ERIKS, the customer is finding that running their operations more reliably is a walk in the park.