Reliable fire detection solutions ensure business continuity for the pharma industry in India
Cost-intensive halts in production were systematically remedied by the provision of highly reliable fire protection thanks to a comprehensive fire detection solution from Bosch and Scheitel Security Systems.
Lupin Limited is a multinational pharmaceutical company with its headquarters based in Mumbai. In terms of global revenue, it is one of the largest generic pharma companies in the world. Lupin Limited’s key business areas include research, development and production of treatments for conditions including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, tuberculosis, infections, respiratory conditions, such as asthma, as well as a focus on pediatrics and women’s healthcare.
Across India, the company has 11 manufacturing facilities which are all cGMP-compliant and undergo frequent inspections to ensure worker health and safety to national and international standards. One of their largest production plants is in Ankleshwar, Gujarat where there are storage and office spaces besides the large manufacturing areas.
EHS Head, Mr. Jha, is responsible for ensuring the entire premises is monitored for any outbreak of fire and the subsequent halts in business activity and evacuation of personnel. However, despite the installation of a fire detection system some years ago, the unavoidable generation of excess dust in the factory buildings tends to build up around these devices. This triggered frequent false alarms, as did a ground fault at the site. The plant’s operations were thus continually interrupted and this significantly impacted performance. A new, more reliable solution was needed to ensure business continuity and safety of the workforce – who had even begun to ignore some alerts, presuming they were yet more false alarms.
The EHS Head was faced with more challenges when considering replacing the insufficient fire safety coverage on the site. Machines used for production were continuously in operation day and night, 24/7. A complete installation of any new devices would therefore further hinder output and performance. Scheitel Security Systems, the local systems integrator, approached him with solutions. They called on their Bosch fire systems expert, who worked with both parties to first consider all specific challenges.
The Bosch expert visited the Ankleshwar plant, showed the EHS Head a proof of concept and conveyed success stories from other Bosch fire safety customers in the pharma industry. Jangam explained that replacing the current fire detection system would not compromise plant safety, or even business continuity, as the new devices could be installed systematically loop by loop, thus avoiding any plant shutdowns. The EHS Head already associated the Bosch name with high quality and was therefore convinced he’d found the right solution for the Lupin Limited site.
“This is a robust, durable fire detection system.”
For complete, reliable fire safety across the entire premises, 1,500 Bosch “all-rounder” AVENAR 4000 fire detectors were installed on the site, plus another 300 with additional thermal sensor besides the standard optical sensor. AVENAR 4000 are extremely robust against false alarms and do not accumulate dust due to their dust-repellent labyrinth and cap construction. For the factory areas at Lupin’s production sites in India, they are therefore the perfect solution – as dust (or similar physical contamination) can no longer trigger false alarms. Business continuity is maintained and productivity is increased. Additional specific detectors were installed where needed, including 100 heat detectors, long-range beam smoke detectors and multi-sensor detectors.
The advanced features of AVENAR 4000 include predictive maintenance: The system integrators and safety managers at the Lupin factory can now receive information whenever dust begins to gather around the devices, meaning they can be cleaned prior to any risk of unwanted alarms. Cleaning is easy, thanks to the chamber maid plug which is used to clear the optical chamber with compressed air.
Moreover, the exact detector and its precise location of any fault is identified by the dual-fault isolator feature which assists maintenance staff so they can respond to issues much faster as they know exactly which detector has a problem. AVENAR 4000 is thus superior to many competitor systems which only reveal a range in the loop.
“Our new fire detection system relieves our stress levels as we no longer experience excessive false alarms at work.”
The eSmog feature similarly saves valuable time with EMI/EMC values, in terms of average and present, shown on an operator’s fire panel user interface, allowing them to see when a threshold for electromagnetic disturbance values is likely to be exceeded. The alerts can thus be responded to prior to any risk of a false alarm being triggered. This enhances stability and detection significantly. The feature additionally informs installers of any environmental disturbances at the site of an installation so they can change the location of the source of any disturbance quickly and easily.
The AVENAR fire panel user interface displays language-neutral symbols which makes it extremely intuitive and user-friendly. LED colored lights are easy to understand – for example, with green for a stable environment and red for the need to evacuate.
The EHS Head was really happy with the service he received by Scheitel Security Systems and the newly installed Bosch fire detection solutions. His colleagues are also extremely satisfied. He tells us, “our team of end users love the language-neutral display unit of the Bosch AVENAR fire panels!” There have been no false alarms at the huge Ankleshwar plant since the installation of the new system and the monitoring of EMI/EMC and contamination allow maintenance workers to carry out preventive rather than responsive maintenance.
The entire plant now runs much more smoothly, safely and with decreased stress levels among staff who no longer worry about false alarms, unnecessary evacuations and business interruptions. What’s more, as Bosch fire detection solutions are flexible and scalable, the EHS Head at Lupin Limited, Mr. Jha, has peace of mind regarding any future expansion of the plant. He knows that when the time comes, he can just add further equally robust, reliable and compatible components.
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