> What can happen when you don’t proactively plan for the obsolescence of vision system components?
In April, we published a compelling white paper by Pharmaworks’ subject matter expert in the area of online vision inspection technology, Peter Buczynsky. This paper discussed proactively planning for vision system obsolescence. The paper also talked about risk analysis and practical approaches and steps that users can take to maintain a risk level that is as low as reasonably practicable.
Now, we offer this follow-up to Peter’s paper, illustrating why the risk analysis that Peter discusses is so important.
Of course, at Pharmaworks, we are passionate about helping our customers stay up, running, and operating efficiently. So – in the spirit of continuous improvement, learning, awareness, and problem avoidance – we relay this recent occurrence as an improvement opportunity…
We recently advised a customer that unfortunately had not conducted proactive vision system obsolescence planning.
“This customer called stating that their vision system (and production line) was down,” said Buczynsky. “We were able to overnight our last remaining compatible CPU board to the customer, however, upon installation, it also failed due to a problem with the customer’s base unit.”
Three weeks later, the system was finally up and running again, having needed to get a replacement system from Germany and undergo emergency qualification.
This is a very real cautionary example… Had there been a backup unit on the shelf, this customer would have been down for a few hours, rather than a few weeks. Not only would the backup system have been compatible with their formats, but also the necessary validation documentation would have been prepared.
“At Pharmaworks, we’ve always prided ourselves in doing everything possible to keep our customers up and running. Help us to help you by planning ahead!” added Buczynsky.
Please contact us if you are interested in pursuing a vision system obsolescence plan, and we’ll come up with a proposal that is the most cost-effective and practical solution for the systems you have.