Tracking Equipment Failures is Easy Producing equipment that can do this is challenging. Also, new technology in data logging creates an un-editable record of inside chamber conditions for every set time interval. If a malfunction occurs with this equipment, FDA auditors can easily track when the failure happened through the audit trails and alarms stored in the equipment’s data records. Cover ups also are difficult. SCADA data acquisition software can’t be edited and the software has features that reveal any deviation. Additionally, MKT (mean kinetic temperature) values are calculated and displayed on the software. When equipment fails, it can affect MKT, which is a critical data result from an analysis point of view and recorded. Making Every Component Count In our efforts to minimize chamber breakdowns and ensure trouble free service, we realized early on that component failures at certain times and under certain conditions are unavoidable. But repeated failure of any component was unacceptable. So we began analysing part failures and investigating root causes. To our surprise, we found that some parts failed because the process was too demanding. In other words, these parts failed because their quality or the brand couldn’t meet our stringent needs. We then started identifying the brands that didn’t fail for each part. After many brainstorming sessions and doing our due diligence, we created a list of our stability chamber’s most critical components. We then decided that we would buy these parts only from the best manufacturers worldwide. Buying Directly from Manufacturers Pays Off We also realized that parts from top brands offer better quality at premium prices, as most engineers will tell you. The failure rate of these components, however, is much lower than the failure rates of parts from lesser known brands, which sell at lower prices. By dealing directly with these larger manufacturers, we can get premium parts at competitive prices. So we could buy high quality components, like HMIs, PLCs, sensors, gaskets, door handles, and hinges, and still keep the chamber’s price low and reasonable. So we started sourcing these parts directly from manufacturers in the USA, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. Then, big international brands like Beiger, Mitsubishi, and Siemens approached us with their HMIs, PLCs, and switchgears, raising our product standard and consistency of operation. Plus, we started buying temperature sensors directly from a highly respected Swiss manufacturer. That reduced the chances of getting second rate, cheap sensors. Finally, we began importing our door gaskets from a manufacturer in the UK. These gaskets made it convenient to fit and assemble the door, as it was of a push to fit design. These gaskets ensure that the doors provided on our stability chambers are leak proof operation and reduced energy loss. The Onus is now on Customers Thanks to the changes described above, we’ve now placed the onus for product failure squarely on the customer’s shoulders. Providing the right utilities—stabilized power, clean DM water (for steam generation), and ideal ambient conditions—are all it takes to generate trouble free service from an Osworld stability chamber. Plus, we’ve greatly reduced the nagging issue of filing a non-deviation report every time a chamber breaks down or sends an alarm. We can now claim with certainty that when provided with perfect, faultless utilities, Osworld stability chambers will never fail because of a manufacturing defect and will provide uninterrupted service 24/7/365.