POST 01073E : REFRIGERATOR/FREEZERS PURCHASE AND OPERATING COSTS
Follow-up on Post 01063E
(http://listes.ulaval.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A2=i ... .org&P=351)
2 April 2007
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This posting contains two contributions. The
first is from Carib nelson
(mailto:[email protected]) from PATH in the USA.
He replies to Emmanuel Taylor. The second
contribution comes from Ogwang Geoffrey
(mailto:[email protected]) or (mailto:[email protected]) from UNICEF.
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In response to the March 9th Posing 01063 where
Emmanuel Taylor asked for more information about
reports that ILRs are freezing vaccines, I can
share some experiences from PATH cold chain monitoring studies:
In a baseline study in Indonesia in 2001-2
(published: Bull of WHO. February 2004, 82 2) we
found that 12 out of 30 (40%) of the HB vaccine
shipments that were stored in district level
ice-lined refrigerators were exposed to
temperatures below 0°C. In a Bolivia monitoring
study in 2005 (published: Vaccine 25 (2007)
433-437), we found at 6 out of 6 DPT-HB-Hib
shipments stored in district-level ILRs were
exposed to freezing. I believe many people can
share stories of ILRs they've seen with temperatures in the freezing range.
However, Indonesia has made significant
improvements in eliminating freezing in ILRs.
They introduced a simple new operating procedure
whereby the ILR thermostats are set at a lower
power setting. This results in the ice-lining
being an ice-water mix, or even just a cold water
lining, and thus reduces potential hold over
time, but they found that the cool water provided
more than sufficient hold over for the duration
of power outages encountered in Indonesian district health offices.
This practice has virtually eliminated freezing
in the ILRs. It was a simple retraining procedure
to introduce this policy. The training poster
(http://www.technet21.org/pdf_file/Poster_ILR.pdf)
here was translated into Indonesian and used to
remind vaccinators of the basic steps to prevent freezing in ILRs.
Carib Nelson
Team Leader, Technology Solutions
PATH
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Purchase and operating costs are part of the cost
elements in the total life cycle cost of
equipment. Life Cycle Costing (LCC) is one of the
key areas of concern in the procurement of
equipments. LCC means that decisions on what to
buy are based on costs to buy and costs to own an
asset over its economical life.
Total life cycle cost of equipment mainly includes:
• Acquisition/cost price of equipment which
includes administrative cost of processing orders & delivery cost
• Installation & commissioning
• Operating cost which includes maintenance cost, energy consumption
• Disposal cost
If we are focusing on acquisition and operating
cost, I suggest that we compare with equipment of
same capacity. The comparison can still be
extended to installation/commissioning and
disposal. Indicators based on practical data
should be sought to guide the comparison. This
comparison will give us the idea of how
acquisition, installation, operating and disposal
cost vary between equipment from different
manufactures but yet having same storage/freezing
capacity. In the comparison, for example, one can
say ‘acquisition cost of Electrolux freezer is
higher than that of vest frost of the same capacity’……
However, it’s very important to look at all the
costs involved in owning equipment in the overall
economic life of the equipment. I further suggest
that after the comparison of the individual cost
element, one can then finally sum all the costs
estimates (acquisition,
installation/commissioning, operating & disposal)
to come up with the total life cycle cost of
particular equipment. The comparison of the total
life cycle costing is far best because it tells
us how much one would spend over the rest of the
economic life of the equipment. Idea to look at
the total cost involved in owning
equipment/technology is also very useful in the
choice of the energy source for cold chain
equipment, e.g. use of generator, solar, gas,
kerosene. In real life engineering, the cost of
acquiring/purchasing equipment may appear to be
lower than the other but the eventual operating
and disposal costs could be disappointingly high.
It should be noted that, issues of equipment
design to offer reliability and dependability is
equally very important in the choice.
Ogwang Geoffrey
Mechanical Engineer, Student of Master of Science
in Procurement & Supply Chain Mgt, Associate
member (Professional level) of The Chartered
Institute of Purchasing & Supply-UK, with hands
on experiences in Vaccines Cold Chain management
in Mass Immunization Campaigns with UNICEF.
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