On-Site Troubleshooting and Technical Support in India

On-site troubleshooting in absence of process and equipment expertise in respective sectors invariably results in misdiagnosis of the cause of malfunctioning in manufacturing processes by merely changing the visibly faulty part rather than diagnosing the cause of the malfunction. For instance, in case of a tablet press in a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant where there are failures of tablet weight measurements, the apparent problem could be wear and tear of punches used in the machinery, but the real problem might be moisture content variation in the granulation mixture leading to inconsistent powder flow and hence continuous punch wear and resulting tablet weight variations even after repeated replacement of the punches. Similarly, in case of a chemical reactor where there are frequent trips due to motor overload, the apparent problem might be a failing motor bearing, while the real problem could be increased process fluid viscosity due to raw materials of inferior quality, thereby increasing torque required for agitation.

The technical intervention carried out at a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, food processing plant, or medical device manufacturing facility must be done in accordance with the regulatory compliance guidelines for that specific manufacturing facility since any unplanned technical intervention that impacts the equipment under GMP guidelines, changes a process parameter that is validated under GMP guidelines, or results in contamination is going to create a situation where there are regulatory compliance ramifications that go beyond the immediate technical issue that needs to be addressed. For example, when a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility allows a technical expert from outside the company to fix a malfunctioning tablet press without recording a GMP change control document or resets the HVAC parameters to their original value without creating an exception, the regulatory implications will far outweigh the initial cost of equipment malfunction. IMARC Engineering performs all its technical interventions under GMP guidelines in terms of change control and deviations.

The common cause for repetitive and continuous breakdowns in most Indian manufacturing plants is not fixed even by their own maintenance team since their method of diagnostics through visual inspection, multimeter testing, and maintenance records are not enough to diagnose the underlying problem. A repetitive bearing problem that is detected as lack of lubrication through visual inspection and replaced every month may just be caused by misaligned shaft or vibration resonance that can only be identified using vibration spectrum analysis. A repetitive quality defect in the production process that is identified as caused by human error by observation may just be caused by instrument calibration problems that can only be seen through precision measurement. IMARC Engineering uses advanced instrumentation like vibration analyzers, thermal imaging cameras, ultrasonic fault detectors, power quality analyzers, and precision measurement instruments when doing diagnostics at any manufacturing plant in India.

The cost incurred due to manufacturing downtime in India is not only influenced by the technical complexity of the problem but also by the time it takes to have an experienced engineer, with proper diagnostic equipment and knowledge of the industry, reach the site of the problem. Downtime of eight hours in a pharmaceutical sterile manufacturing plant in Hyderabad, a filling line breakage in an FMCG plant in Pune during peak production season, or the breaking down of the agitator in a reactor in a chemical plant in Dahej would result in production value losses that keep building up per hour until the problem gets resolved. IMARC Engineering has the ability to send its engineering team to these Indian industrial clusters, which include Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Gujarat’s chemical zones, within hours after receiving a call for assistance instead of days later.

On-site troubleshooting that addresses only the current problem and does not include analysis to find the root cause, along with corrective actions, results in the repetitive occurrence of problems, and each of these problems needs its own on-site trouble shooting, adding up significantly more total downtime costs and costs of on-site service than the cost of conducting one root cause analysis. IMARC Engineering on-site trouble shootings lead to preparation of a detailed report on root causes employing a Five-Why or Fault Tree Analysis method which includes not only finding out what caused the failure but also determining the conditions under which this failure is possible and may happen again, such as deficiencies in maintenance procedures, variations from normal operating parameters, alterations in the quality of the material being processed or any design restrictions. These findings help us to rank corrective actions according to cost and likelihood of recurrence.

Manufacturing plants with PLI scheme performance obligations are impacted financially if their plant production time falls below the PLI scheme’s performance threshold due to any production downtime, with each day of the production disruption being a risk factor that could prevent the plant from meeting their first year or second year PLI scheme production commitment. Production downtime in a manufacturing plant under a PLI scheme involves an impact that goes beyond the value of products lost due to production disruption but also affects the PLI scheme entitlement in case the plant fails to meet the performance threshold due to the overall production downtime in the year. IMARC Engineering offers priority rapid-response on-site engineering assistance for manufacturing plants with PLI scheme performance obligations, with fast mobilisation, multi-discipline engineering support, and production recovery emphasis to minimise production loss impacts on PLI scheme commitment performance.