Advance Pharmaceutical Technology
A Procedure for Pharmaceutical Plant
shutdown for its maintenance
Submitted to:
PROF Dr. SAJID BASHIR
Dr. HAMID SAEED
Submitted by:
Atiq Ur-Rahman
Ph.D. Pharmaceutics Scholar
Session: (2017-2020)
Faculty of Pharmacy
University of Sargodha
Pharmaceutical Facility Shutdown for Maintenance
Facility or “planned” shutdown maintenance is vital for any production facility. Access to these
plants and equipment is usually restricted during routine operations, so planned shutdowns
provide the opportunity for the engineering team to complete major maintenance to the plant as
well as equipment. However shutdowns can come in many shapes and sizes!
Types of shutdown
1. Planned Shutdown
2. The unplanned emergency shutdown.
Planned Shutdown
Planned shutdowns depend on the nature of the manufacturing process and how hard the plant is
working, the so-called plant utilization. The greater the plant utilization, the more (preventative)
maintenance is required.
The unplanned emergency shutdown.
A leaking pipe or a catastrophic equipment failure usually happens when you least expect it and
usually at the worst time. To fix it, the plant must be shut down quickly in controlled way
Full and partial shutdowns. Planned shutdowns usually involve closing the entire plant.
Emergency shutdowns sometimes require only partial closure, presenting some unique
challenges for startup and maintaining high quality product supply
No matter what type of shutdown (planned or emergency), the key to success is organization and
discipline:
Phases of Plant Shutdown
No matter what type of shutdown it is, there are usually five key phases, each with key
considerations.
Phase One: Pre-Shutdown Activities (Planning and Scheduling)
Phase Two: Declassification and Handover
Phase Three: Day-To-Day Management and Handover
Phase Four: Reclassification and Handover
Phase Five: Post-Shutdown Activities and Completion of the Shutdown Report
PHASE ONE: PRE-SHUTDOWN ACTIVITIES
(PLANNING AND SCHEDULING)
1. Confirm who should do what. Accountability and specific responsibility for key
shutdown roles: Who must be involved?
Engineering, Validation/technical operations, Manufacturing operations, QA, QC,
Procurement, Safety, Planning or S&OP team
2. Generate a list of all shutdown activities to assess.
3. Equipment replacement, consumables and spare parts (availability and lead time).
4. Change control. Make sure that any planned changes to the plant and equipment are
approved well in advance of the shutdown, not on the day of shutdown
5. Criteria for handovers between each shutdown phase. Making sure QA is involved in the
approval process is key so that oversight can be maintained and the impact on products
release assessed
6. It is vital to remind people that a plant in shutdown is still a GMP facility, not a building
site.
PHASE TWO: DECLASSIFICATION AND HANDOVER
1. All movable equipment and materials should be bagged, tagged and stored to prevent
contamination Equipment that can’t be moved should be securely covered.
2. Open pipes must be sealed/capped off to prevent contamination
3. During major shutdowns, walls and floors can be damaged requiring costly delays for
additional repairs. If you expect a lot of heavy shutdown work, make sure you protect
sampling and monitoring points capped or sealed. Before you move to Phase Three, make
sure you walk the plant to ensure that everything that should have been done has been
done!
PHASE THREE: DAY-TO-DAY MANAGEMENT
1. Controlled access: Shutdowns are not a free invitation for anyone to enter the plant. The
more people wandering around, the greater the chance of error.
2. Clothing requirements. Protective suits should be the minimum
3. Contractor management: Permit to work system (or equivalent) to ensure that
contractor’s tasks are agreed to before handed and verified upon completion. A central
location (“control room”) for all work management should there.
4. Shutdowns can involve a lot of changes to equipment and the plant. Make sure these can
be fast tracked for speedy approval with daily, face-to-face change control committee
meetings for review and approval
5. Requalification of equipment and plant.
6. Waste removal. Major shutdowns can lead to considerable waste. Make sure this is
removed immediately and is not allowed to build up
7. Cleaning. During major shutdowns make sure cleaning accompanies every major activity
to ensure contamination is controlled.
8. A DAILY “plan, do, review and adjust” must take place at the start of each day with all
key Stakeholders to ensure everyone knows what’s going on
PHASE FOUR: RECLASSIFICATION AND HANDOVER
1. “Deep clean.” This is one of the most vital activities of any shutdown and yet the one
activity often poorly done. Sanitizing agents applied to dirty surfaces, hard to clean
locations ignored, activities rushed, insufficient contact time…can all delay efficient
startup due to poor environmental control. Here are the key phases:
2. HVAC cleanup: Shutdowns and the cleaning and sanitization activities can generate a lot
of Contamination and the plant requires time to “clean up” in the resting state. Good
HVAC Systems will remove contamination and return the plant to its “at rest” state
within 24 hours
3. Plant visual inspection. One last walk-through to make sure everything is shipshape
Formal handover and sign off. This is when the plant is formally handed back to
operations
PHASE FIVE: POST SHUTDOWN ACTIVITIES AND COMPLETION
OF THE SHUTDOWN REPORT
1. Confirm environmental monitoring results.
2. Confirm plant and equipment are working within validated parameters
3. Confirm plant and equipment are working within validated parameters
4. Close out any remaining change controls
5. Close out any deviation incidents Compile lessons learned. It’s vital for everyone
involved in the shutdown to do a lessons learned review before memories fade:
>> What went well?
>> What didn’t?
>> Improvements for next time?
6. Complete shutdown report and gain approval of the report by the shutdown leader (the
author), QA and the plant owner
