IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jwaste/v3y2025i3p28-d1729085.html

Energy Efficiency and Waste Reduction Through Maintenance Optimization: A Case Study in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Nuno Soares Domingues

    (Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Rua Conselheiro Emídio Navarro, 1, 1959-007 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • João Patrício

    (Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Rua Conselheiro Emídio Navarro, 1, 1959-007 Lisbon, Portugal)

Abstract

The global rise in population, increased life expectancy, and heightened international mobility have escalated disease prevalence and pharmaceutical demand. This growth intensifies energy consumption and chemical waste production within the pharmaceutical industry, challenging environmental sustainability and operational efficiency. Chromatography, a vital analytical technique for ensuring product quality and regulatory compliance, can also contribute to material waste and energy inefficiencies if not properly maintained and optimized. This study applies Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) to chromatographic equipment maintenance within Hovione’s Engineering and Maintenance Department, aiming to identify and mitigate failure risks. By integrating environmental metrics derived from Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) into the FMEA framework, a hybrid risk evaluation tool was developed that prioritizes both equipment reliability and sustainability performance. The findings demonstrate how this integrated approach reduces unplanned downtime, lowers solvent waste, and improves energy efficiency. Additionally, the study proposes a conceptual dashboard to support proactive, sustainability-driven asset management in pharmaceutical laboratories. By bridging reliability engineering and environmental sustainability, this research offers a strategic model for optimizing resource use, minimizing chemical waste, and enhancing long-term operational resilience in regulated pharmaceutical environments.

Suggested Citation

  • Nuno Soares Domingues & João Patrício, 2025. "Energy Efficiency and Waste Reduction Through Maintenance Optimization: A Case Study in the Pharmaceutical Industry," Waste, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-20, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jwaste:v:3:y:2025:i:3:p:28-:d:1729085
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2813-0391/3/3/28/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2813-0391/3/3/28/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alsyouf, Imad, 2007. "The role of maintenance in improving companies' productivity and profitability," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(1), pages 70-78, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Johannes Freiesleben & Nicolas Gu'erin, 2015. "Homogenization and Clustering as a Non-Statistical Methodology to Assess Multi-Parametrical Chain Problems," Papers 1505.03874, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2017.
    2. Wiesław Fiebig & Willy Prastiyo, 2022. "Utilization of Mechanical Resonance for the Enhancement of Slider-Crank Mechanism Dynamics in Gas Compression Processes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-27, October.
    3. Janak Priyantha, 2021. "Literature Review: The Role of Organizational Factors in Maintenance Organizations Affecting Their Manufacturing Performance, From Sri Lankan Cultural Perspective," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 5(4), pages 353-366, April.
    4. Abbas Al-Refaie & Natalija Lepkova & Mehmet Emre Camlibel, 2022. "The Relationships between the Pillars of TPM and TQM and Manufacturing Performance Using Structural Equation Modeling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-17, January.
    5. Scarf, P.A. & Cavalcante, C.A.V. & Lopes, R.S., 2019. "Delay-time modelling of a critical system subject to random inspections," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 278(3), pages 772-782.
    6. Kui Wang & Chao Deng & Lili Ding, 2020. "Optimal Condition-Based Maintenance Strategy for Multi-Component Systems under Degradation Failures," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-12, August.
    7. Moritz-C. Schlegel & Claudia Koch & Mona Mirtsch & Andrea Harrer, 2021. "Smart Products Enable Smart Regulations—Optimal Durability Requirements Facilitated by the IoT," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-14, April.
    8. Hu, Jiawen & Jiang, Zuhua & Liao, Haitao, 2017. "Preventive maintenance of a single machine system working under piecewise constant operating condition," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 105-115.
    9. Sun, Kaibiao & Li, Hongxing, 2010. "Scheduling problems with multiple maintenance activities and non-preemptive jobs on two identical parallel machines," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 151-158, March.
    10. Compare, M. & Martini, F. & Zio, E., 2015. "Genetic algorithms for condition-based maintenance optimization under uncertainty," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 244(2), pages 611-623.
    11. Davide Consoli & Fabrizio Fusillo & Gianluca Orsatti & Francesco Quatraro, 2021. "Skill endowment, routinisation and digital technologies: evidence from U.S. Metropolitan Areas," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(8), pages 1017-1045, September.
    12. Jiawen Hu & Zuhua Jiang & Hong Wang, 2017. "Joint Optimization of Production Plan and Preventive Maintenance Schedule by Stackelberg Game," Asia-Pacific Journal of Operational Research (APJOR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 34(04), pages 1-28, August.
    13. de Jonge, Bram & Jakobsons, Edgars, 2018. "Optimizing block-based maintenance under random machine usage," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 265(2), pages 703-709.
    14. Evangelos Mourelatos & Manolis Tzagarakis, 2018. "An investigation of factors affecting the visits of online crowdsourcing and labor platforms," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 95-130, December.
    15. Yihai He & Changchao Gu & Zhaoxiang Chen & Xiao Han, 2017. "Integrated predictive maintenance strategy for manufacturing systems by combining quality control and mission reliability analysis," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(19), pages 5841-5862, October.
    16. de Jonge, Bram & Scarf, Philip A., 2020. "A review on maintenance optimization," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 285(3), pages 805-824.
    17. Alejandro Mac Cawley & Maximiliano Cubillos & Rodrigo Pascual, 2020. "A real options approach for joint overhaul and replacement strategies with mean reverting prices," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 286(1), pages 303-324, March.
    18. Iyad Alawaysheh & Imad Alsyouf & Zain El-Abideen Tahboub & Hossam S. Almahasneh, 2020. "Selecting maintenance practices based on environmental criteria: a comparative analysis of theory and practice in the public transport sector in UAE/DUBAI," International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, Springer;The Society for Reliability, Engineering Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM),India, and Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, vol. 11(6), pages 1133-1155, December.
    19. Ualison Rébula De Oliveira & Hilda Anatiely Donato Souza & Carlos Augusto Gabriel Menezes & Henrique Martins Rocha, 2023. "Straightening machine preventive maintenance intervention plan based on AHP: a case study in a steel company in Brazil," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 1577-1593, September.
    20. Omorodion Omoregbe & Eniola Yemi Taiwo, 2017. "Production Facilities Maintenance Practices and Sustainable Competitive Advantage in the Paint Manufacturing Industry, Benin City, Nigeria," Annals of the University of Petrosani, Economics, University of Petrosani, Romania, vol. 17(1), pages 209-222.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jwaste:v:3:y:2025:i:3:p:28-:d:1729085. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.