Reliable and Efficient Batching Quality Vaccine Components
A biopharma manufacturer upgraded its batching tanks with PowerMountTM weigh modules to improve process visibility and reliability. Additionally, replacing the old flow meter calibration method with RapidCalTM enhanced efficiency and significantly reduced downtime.
Situation
When this biopharma manufacturer was asked to supply components for a COVID-19 vaccine, they immediately wanted to improve reliability of their tank batching and reduce weighing stabilization time. Customer required visibility into the status of weighing system, a more efficient tank calibration, and simplified data integration.
Benefit
PowerMount weigh modules with IND570 indicators were installed with RapidCal capability providing the following:
- Improved efficiency with fast stabilization time from PowerMountTM.
- Assured load cell reliability from status alerts on IND570 indicators.
- Reduced cost and waste from more efficient RapidCalTM calibration method.
The Challenge
The existing analog weigh modules provided no process visibility, leaving production managers in the dark if load cells were missing or not functioning correctly. Confirmation that weigh modules were accurate and operating as intended only occurred once a year with flow meter calibration method that took over five days to complete and required extensive resources. Managing wastewater from the flow meter process was also expensive, and the process carried the risk of cross contamination if not all cleaning steps were performed thoroughly.
The Solution
Installation of anchor points on each tank enabled RapidCalTM tank scale calibration, which functions with a downward force from hydraulic equipment and eliminates the need for heavy test weights or purified liquids. All tanks were equipped with PowerMountTM weigh modules, which provide status updates on load cell condition via IND570 indicators and give production managers the necessary confirmation that the process is accurate and operating as intended. The indicators also facilitated seamless integration into the company’s automation network for secure data transfer and enhanced traceability.
The Result
Faster stabilization time of PowerMountTM weigh modules improved overall batching efficiency, and the diagnostic features delivered a new level of process visibility and reliability. The customer is very satisfied with how easy and simple RapidCalTM tank scale calibration is to perform while still providing the required quality assurance. Since RapidCalTM only takes a few hours to execute, the customer realized significant savings from increased production uptime, less waste of materials, and minimal time investment from workers
