The pharmaceutical industry uses electric motors for hundreds of purposes. To name only a few, they power the HVAC that warms, cools, and filters air; the pumps that move refrigerants and other liquids; and the grinders, mixers, and fillers that 
compound the product. Some of these motors may be general duty, but others must be washdown rated or explosion-proof. What all of these motors must be, though, is reliable.
The cost of unplanned downtime is always high in manufacturing. In pharmaceuticals, it is astronomical. In late 2010, Novartis had a plant shutdown that may have cost it $560 million. That's half a billion dollars.
With costs like these, anything that maintenance staff can do to reduce the risk of shutdown is a good investment. Case in point: Shaft grounding rings for electric motors controlled by adjustable speed drives. Without shaft grounding, these drives cause electrical bearing damage and premature failure. Motor failure in a critical process can put a major kink into a production line.
The most reliable shaft grounding product is the AEGIS® Shaft Grounding Ring. AEGIS rings are also the only shaft grounding product with a 2-Year Extended Warranty. AEGIS rings can be installed on in-service motors, but they are also available factory-installed on general purpose, washdown duty, and even explosion proof motors. Whatever kind of motor you need, it's probably available with an AEGIS ring factory-installed.
AEGIS rings are an integral part of a full reliability strategy. Whatever the application, if a motor is on a variable frequency drive, it should have AEGIS shaft grounding.
AEGIS Rings also come with a 2-year extended warranty against bearing fluting damage. No other form of protection against VFD-caused bearing damage offers a warranty like this.
To learn more about AEGIS shaft grounding and best practices for electrical bearing protection, sign up for a training. We offer monthly live training webinars, and we can also visit your facility to review your exact application.
