Maintenance Technology July 2014 - (Page 21)

COVER STORY specific needs doesn't happen overnight. It can be especially taxing when dealing with old equipment, which the Lansing team has done for some time. "We're talking about 30-year-old equipment," says Mark Bartlett, Production Support Supervisor, Facilities Services. "Bioreactors [which generate the biologically active vaccine], holding tanks, the pipe racks themselves, pumps, HVAC systems that cool the jackets, it's all integrated," he says, and all subject to review and requalification when changes are made. But the team has long understood that maintenance of EBS' critical equipment is preferred over outright replacement, the approval and recertification process for which is measured in years. Bartlett faced the aging-equipment issue recently when he received a call from a vendor that supports the company's fermentors (where essential microorganisms are grown). He was told the units were too old to receive further support. "So we had a 'Save the Fermentors' project where we identified all the parts we needed to buy and keep in stock." Ehnis says parts issues like this and others are "where some of our continuous-improvement initiatives come in. If Mark's team identifies something going bad that we can't find, and we've had these issues, then we get innovative in our solution. We'll pull in the crossfunctional team and say, 'Here's what we had, here's what we think we need.' You get buy-in and approval, go out and find what you need, bring that in, then go through a commissioning qualification and ultimate implementation and stock that for the future." It's not always that easy, recalls Bartlett, but the approach has worked. A necessary aspect of old-equipment upkeep is having ample spares on hand, and EBS' multi-million-dollar spareparts inventory is no exception. "The NAME auditors questioned it," says Bartlett, so he reminded them not only of the need for the parts, but of their cost. "They're phenomenally expensive," he says, "because many are specialty parts JULY 2014 made of 316 Grade stainless or silicone or another costly material that's required because it involves product contact. Basically everything we buy is five times more expensive than what you would pay for any other piece of equipment in normal manufacturing." The next milestone stay at this level?" Vitello recalls. "We are working to keep that high level of performance by continuing to do what we've identified as factors for success and constantly finding ways to further improve." Ehnis and others see Lansing emerging as one of the top industry manufacturing facilities, especially when the new manufacturing capacity goes on line and allows the facility to take on new product lines. "I think we already are" at the top, says Ehnis, but acknowledges the value of sharing what the company has learned from the NAME win with other company sectors. "We're very aware of our role as the sole provider to the U.S. government of the only FDA-licensed anthrax vaccine. But the way you make yourself be the truly indispensible site is to be better than everybody else." NAME point person Barry Quinn likely speaks for the entire Lansing team when he says his post-award plan is "to do everything I can to make sure we keep this site productive." He also admits to having a selfish reason. "This is a great place to work," he says, "and I want to continue working right here. I hope someday my son will, too." MT The new EBS Lansing manufacturing building currently undergoing scale-up procedures will potentially triple the company's Biothrax output. It will also relieve some of the pressure to maintain the site's aging equipment. Still, the facilities and maintenance team members recognize that their ability to not only successfully maintain this site's older equipment, but allow it to boost output has sharpened their skills-another demonstrable fact that impressed NAME auditors. "The NAME auditors didn't believe some of the things we told them," says Vitello. "They asked if we really scheduled so tightly and if we had shutdowns going to 15-minute intervals on certain tasks, and they challenged this." But when the auditors saw it for themselves, they were swayed. They were also impressed by the site's embrace of a Barry Quinn and 5S program Bartlett Mike Vitello with introduced at EBS the coveted when he arrived in NAME Award. 2011. A recognized 5S subject-matter expert, Bartlett "created the system and a core team that monitors it and keeps feedback," he says. Begun in maintenance, it has spread through production, the laboratories and now into the offices. Bartlett says he looks forward to when it will be totally absorbed by the EBS culture because "it's the only system that is made to become obsolete." Asked what might come next for a NAME winner, the Lansing team is unanimous in its belief that the award is only one of many milestones they can achieve. "The first thing I thought after we got the award was, how do we MAINTENANCETECHNOLOGY.COM | 21 http://www.MAINTENANCETECHNOLOGY.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maintenance Technology July 2014

Maintenance Technology July 2014