Post 01229e: Cold Chain Repair And Maintenance

POST 01229E: COLD CHAIN REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE 20 FEBRUARY 2008 Follow-up on posts: 01227E, 01226E, 01225E, 01221E, 01218, 01216, 01214E ************************************************************************************* Hello all, Here are my inputs for cold chain: 1. The inventory for each unit of equipment must have the following: ü name of equipment ü make year of manufacturing ü year of installation at the site ü condition—working/not working but reparable (estimated repair cost/ time)/not working can not be repaired/ ü spares position ü nearest technician This will provide us with the number of units that need to be condemned after a certain time span, say 10 years in the case of refrigerators so that plans can be made for their replacement. Often units don’t work for want of small spare parts such as fuses/plugs or the absence of a technician to carry out repairs. It will be good idea to identify suitable local electricians in the town and train them to undertake minor repairs and maintenance and pay them as per job basis. For major repairs the equipment could be taken to the district or other workshop. As regards Vikram’s suggestion, it is good, but In India the refrigerator manufacturers are NOT interested in MOHFW cold chain refrigerators specification since the domestic market is large. Blue star to my recollection did take up some repair and maintenance work in some states but the experience was not so good. Repair and maintenance is a big issue in all the states; just as that of trained technicians for all biomedical equipment. In India every institution has a process to mark equipment as condemned, but the option is rarely exercised for various reasons. Through this process non-functional equipment/vehicles are condemned so that new ones can be ordered, but district and PHC officers are willing to do so provided a clear order is received by them from the state/national level. So what’s the solution? Here is one: 1. Make an inventory using the agreed format at all levels (see xl sheet attached) 2. Compile one for each higher level. 3. Identify equipment that is not functioning. 4. Advise state/national offices to issue the condemnation order at each institution to condemn broken down equipment and make space for new units. 5. On condemnation, the equipment is sold to scrap dealers - where does the money go in the case of donated equipment? This should go with the inventory order. 6. List those units that are reparable and state the likely problem and the spares required. 7. Try and get the units serviced by a local technician/electrician 8. Those units that cannot be handled at this level, should be brought to a central facility for repair. 9. Keep a buffer stock of 10% of all equipment at the state/regional level to replace the equipment that has come for repair. 10. Repair the equipment and keep them in buffer stock. In India all equipment, including refrigerators, are repaired for many decades and new ones are bought only if the repair cost is more than 40% of the new one or spares are unavailable ( its cheaper and works well) This is REUSE−RECYCLE−REDUCE. It will be better if manufacturers can work with a similar idea and make equipment that is easy to service and repair by a local technician. If a manufacturer supplies more than 100 units of equipment in a country, the manufacturer must make provision for service and repairs for at least 5 years. For this the manufacturer can train and collaborate with local companies/engineers and train man power and supply the spares. A detailed inventory of break down and spares used will tell us what spares are needed most and the manufacturer must make arrangements for the same. Cheers [log in to unmask]">Anil Varshney (I am alive) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In response to post 01227E on sub-national capacity, [log in to unmask]">Dr Varshney writes: When districts are divided in India, funds are allocated for the infrastructure that has to be built such as buildings for every department including health; equipment staff is relocated until new equipment arrives and is commissioned; and the distribution is carried out by the old health office. Further, if new staff is posted for the new district, they continue to work from the old premises until a new one is built or rented. 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