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How Well-planned Cleaning Leads to Better Operations

On September 21, 2021

A must: Cleaning in dispensing booths

Weighing and dispensing booths are good manufacturing practice (GMP) critical environments as the ingredients used to produce pharmaceutical products are picked up from the containers and poured onto a scale, meaning they are directly exposed to the environment. It is essential to maintain the proper environmental conditions to preserve the quality of ingredients and the safeness of the weighing operation in terms of temperature, humidity, and cleaning.

Cleaning after every use is necessary to minimize the risk of cross-contamination since the same dispensing workstation may be used for multiple batches or different products. It cannot be stressed enough that cleaning is an essential part of quality procedures adopted in the pharmaceutical industry.

Work smarter, not harder

A company must strive to optimize and make the cleaning operation for their dispensing booth as efficient as possible through understandable and straightforward procedures so that weighing and dispensing operators aren’t overwhelmed. The cleaning must be performed smartly; there isn’t a need to invest in overbearing or cumbersome cleaning operations. What is most important for balancing expenses with requirements is to customize the workstation’s cleaning operation based on date, time, and material.

Reduce risks, increase peace of mind

The benefits of a dispensing workstation cleaning plan include the:

  1. Reduced number of non-conformities due to the mandatory and straightforward cleaning operations conforming to the current GMP rules;
  2. Reduced risk of cross-contamination due to the minimized quantity of residual material;
  3. Reduced risk of faulty or inaccurate measures caused by residual material in the dispensing booth.

Accurately maintained and cleaned workstations can help prevent unexpected consequences such as weighing operation rejection, waste of material, or even measurement variations.

Next steps

The AXP365 Weighing & Dispensing™ module of AX for Pharma 365™ provides a built-in Cleaning Management system which prompts the operator with the proper cleaning procedure to follow based on the weighed material type. Operators are unable to proceed until the cleaning has been performed. The relations between material types and cleaning operations are fully configurable to guarantee compliance with safety and regulatory guidelines.

The AXP365 Weighing & Dispensing™ module of AX for Pharma 365™ also enables clients to:

  1. Schedule recurrent cleaning operations. Daily cleaning may be necessary to preserve the environmental condition of the dispensing booth after a night of inactivity, or a deep cleaning may be required every month to comply with quality standards.
  2. Register a cleaning operation log. The supervisor needs to keep track of and demonstrate the successful execution of a cleaning operation. The supervisor could also track when and who cleaned the dispensing booth, allowing him/her to pinpoint possible problems.

Next steps to ensure compliance

In short, attention to cleanliness is a must in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. Cleaning should always be guided by quality practices and performed on schedule so that it can be appropriately monitored and AX for Pharma can help. Contact us today to learn how we can help you ensure that workstation cleanliness always prevails.