For pharmaceutical manufacturers and suppliers within the medical industry, the need to store products safely and efficiently is more vital than any other. Where the stability and integrity of such goods can be rendered ineffective or even dangerous if not regulated appropriately, this could result in significant financial loss for the business concerned.
The implementation of robust cold storage systems is crucial to mitigate such risks and thus are set to be vastly different and more complex to similar requirements for other manufacturing industries such as food & drink.
N+1 redundancy is a critical component in ensuring the reliability and continuity of pharmaceutical cold storage facilities. Let’s explore this further:
N+1 Redundancy
N+1 redundancy is a design principle that ensures an additional backup component or system is available in case of a failure of the primary component. In the context of pharmaceutical cold storage, N+1 redundancy implies having one more cooling unit, power system or any critical component than is strictly necessary to meet the regular operational requirements. This additional redundancy acts as a failsafe mechanism, minimising the risk of disruptions due to component failures and ensuring the stable storage conditions required by pharmaceuticals.
This element of a cold store’s refrigeration specification is calculated through careful assumptions made on its operation, type of product being stored and location.
Risk Mitigation
Due to the high-value nature of the pharmaceutical goods stored in temperature-controlled environments, no matter the size, it is often a requirement from insurance providers that specifications for such facilities incorporate N+1 redundancy to ensure that functionality is always maintained. Even when they may only be intended to hold small quantities of stock, the value of this makes it difficult for providers to recover.
Flexibility & Continuous Operation
Incorporating this principle does allow for flexibility when it comes to scheduled maintenance and repair activities within the cold store, as the redundant backup system can seamlessly take over the load. Therefore, operations aren’t compromised during this time and temperature deviations remain minimal.
This also means that should the need for additional temperature-controlled storage facilities grow over time, additional systems can be installed reliably and without a complete overhaul to the existing specification.
Quality Control & Monitoring
In addition to physical systems, N+1 redundancy also extends to the data infrastructure and monitoring systems employed in pharmaceutical cold storage facilities. Real-time monitoring of temperature, humidity and other critical parameters is essential for maintaining the integrity of pharmaceutical products. Redundant data acquisition and storage systems provide an extra layer of protection against data loss or system failures. This redundancy ensures that accurate data is always available for analysis, compliance reporting and for quality control purposes.
Getting N+1 Redundant Cold Store Right
Having a clear understanding of what is required for pharmaceutical cold store projects, and hence the key differences to that of a traditional cold store build, is of paramount importance through the points discussed above. With product integrity at the forefront for any pharmaceutical manufacturer or supplier, it can be costly to not maintain a high-level specification.
As a turnkey construction partner for pharmaceutical cold storage projects across the UK, CREST have the specialist expertise required to understand the complexities of N+1 redundant specifications to meet EU GMP and GDP standards.
For reliable advice on your upcoming industrial cold store project or to hear about CREST’s vast experience in the industry to date, get in touch with us.
You may also be interested in our case studies…
- Turnkey Pharmaceutical Cold Stores, Stevenage
- Chilled & Ambient Pharmaceutical Cold Storage, London
- Pharmaceutical Cold Storage for Vaccine Production, Liverpool
