Asset care: How services support reliability in pharmaceutical sealing systems (Part 2)
In this blog, we consider how the different elements within the framework can help with individual use cases.
Using real-time diagnostics and predictive insights to support an operational intervention in which operators detect problems, identify and eliminate their root causes before they disrupt processing solves one problem. It is a data-driven proposition in three parts.
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Implementing continuous monitoring using tools such as vibration, ultrasound and thermography to prevent recurrence pre-empts another.
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Condition-based maintenance protects product sterility by detecting early signs of wear or alignment issues, pre-empting costly seal failures.
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Using real-time data to schedule maintenance, this approach reduces unplanned downtime and extends the lifespan of critical sealing components.
This programme uses three key tools:
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Solve issues faster with visual tools like Motion Amplification®.
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Extend equipment life through condition-based maintenance.
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Track machinery health indicators with John Crane Sense® Monitor
Customers working within the John Crane Performance Plus™ service solutions can sign up to access engineering specialists through multiple services.
They include CMMS (Computerised Maintenance Management System) master data optimisation, asset criticality assessment, preventative maintenance programmes and maintenance plan creation with detailed work instructions.
These data-driven services help customers analyse equipment behaviour, providing practical insights and industry-specific services such as agitator seal optimisation, enabling pharmaceutical process technology to perform better for longer.
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Smarter decisions with clean, structured asset data.
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Focused effort by prioritising critical equipment.
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Fewer breakdowns through targeted preventive maintenance.
Training and upskilling
Improving equipment understanding for in-house maintenance teams improves operational resilience, accelerates recovery from unscheduled downtime and informs decision-making around repair and maintenance scheduling.
These sessions can be delivered locally at customer sites for convenience, or at any of John Crane’s 19 super service centres, which offer extensive manufacturing capabilities for quick turnaround times.
To function effectively during intensive pharmaceutical processes, the mixers, vessels and agitators involved must be supported by sealing systems that remain stable throughout the cleaning and sterilisation cycles.
And everything must perform on demand, despite the operational challenges of the pharmaceutical industry.
Meanwhile, our long-term reliability contracts help improve plant-wide reliability and production while reducing safety incidents, fugitive emissions and the total cost of ownership.
A core part of the John Crane Performance Plus™ service solutions, these dedicated sub-contracts cover specific requirements and include wet seals, dry gas seals and other sealing systems to ensure equipment remains compliant, predictable and contamination-free.
There are two contracts to support pharmaceutical customers:
Managed Reliability Programme: A fully-managed solution that combines proactive maintenance strategies with continuous field presence.
Reliability Support Programme: A service contract to provide targeted support, underpin wet seal reliability and provide assurance in pharmaceutical processes.
The value of reliability and pharmaceutical asset care
There is always more than one way to maintain operational uptime in pharmaceutical processing. Constantly upgrading and replacing sealing technology as needed is one approach, but it is not cost-effective given the implications of downtime and TCO.
Instead, extending mechanical seal life by deploying remote monitoring technology and leveraging the world’s largest engineering network offers a more sustainable option.
It enables the workforce to repair and maintain seals and support systems, supporting long-term operational resilience and delivering short-term, measurable performance improvements:
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Reduce TCO and contamination risk
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Improve critical equipment uptime and batch consistency
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Support sterile processes aligned with GMP requirements
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Enable predictable, data-driven maintenance
Every process-driven manufacturer faces unique operational challenges due to the materials, pressures and temperatures involved. In addition to these everyday issues, the pharmaceutical industry must address sterility, regulatory expectations and the demands of modern cleaning cycles.
With John Crane Performance Plus™ service solutions, seal reliability support, monitoring and training, sealing systems can work harder, last longer and operate with greater predictability. This enhances production reliability, protects product integrity, and supporting compliant, efficient operations.
Read more pharmaceutical content:
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Blogs: Catch up with the rest of the series
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Case studies: See our solutions at work in your industry
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Industry web page: Solutions for bioprocessing challenges