A tight timeline or a limited budget may leave you considering used pharmaceutical equipment for your new project or product expansion.

Lead Time Matters

The best way to guarantee your equipment will have a long, hassle-free lifespan is to buy the correctly specified unit new from a reputable manufacturer. However, when you commission a new unit, it can come with up to a six-month lead time.

Sometimes speed to market matters more than price. For example, when you have a limited amount of time to exclusively manufacture a particular drug, every day of production time matters. In that case, it can be advantageous to purchase a used piece of equipment that comes with little or no lead time at all.

However, if you are not careful when buying used equipment, you can actually end up slower to market. You have to scrutinize the equipment and vendor very thoroughly to ensure you purchase equipment that will work for your needs.

How to Get Quality on a Budget

You do not have to sacrifice quality and reliability when you purchase used pharmaceutical equipment. A used piece of equipment that has been well-maintained and has original documentation can be an incredible value.

Be wary of equipment that is "too cheap.” With a limited budget or tight timeline, the last thing you need is to purchase a wildcard piece of essential equipment that might break down on you without notice, leaving you treading water and hemorrhaging cash.

Some of the potential pitfalls to avoid include:

1. Buying equipment that is not in working order. If you have to repair the unit to get it up and running, you will lose the production uptime you would have gained by buying used. If the unit is in bad enough condition, the repairs could end up costing more than the price of a brand new unit.
2. Buying equipment that has not been inspected for future problems. Just like when you buy equipment that isn't in working order, you can lose uptime if your equipment is always breaking down because some of the components are near the end of their useful lifespans.
3. Buying equipment that has no documentation. FDA validation can be a very time-consuming task for used equipment with no documentation. Troubleshooting validation issues is an extremely difficult process if you have no information about the components that make up your equipment or how it was built.

It is important to purchase from a vendor you trust to mitigate all of these risks. A trustworthy vendor should have a quality program in place like Paul Mueller Company does, where we factory test our used units to verify they are in working condition and offer a confidence-inspiring warranty.

When Used Pure Steam or Water-for-Injection Equipment Won't Cut It

Used equipment has the potential to get you up and running quickly and for less, but it isn't always going to be the best buy for your situation.

Used equipment isn’t an option if any of these points are important to you:

1. Having specific technical requirements. For example, you need to make water for injection and pure steam at specific capacities, specific instrumentation, or programming requirements.
2. Prioritizing longevity and reliability. Even well-maintained used equipment will give you less uptime than a brand new unit.
3. Needing your facility to look like a showroom. For example, a contract manufacturer has to instill confidence that they can be trusted with manufacturing products for other companies. Having a great looking facility is one step in that process.

If these factors are crucial to your project then new new pharmaceutical equipment is likely the option for you.

Paul Mueller Company Used Pharmaceutical Equipment

We factory test all of our used pharmaceutical equipment so you can buy it with the confidence of knowing that it will arrive fully operational. We provide all the documentation available for each unit we sell, which will make your maintenance team extremely happy and we stand by our equipment with a 30 day limited warranty.