Leveraging Smart Manufacturing

Pooja Patil, Corporate Communication, B&R Industrial Automation emphasises the need for smart manufacturing practices to tackle quality challenges that arise in the industry

SMART MANUFACTURING is trending in manufacturing sectors, which includes the Internet of things, edge computing and cloud computing. With strict regulations to follow, pharma industry faces several challenges related to quality, productivity, efficiency and wastage. Smart manufacturing practices offers the industry various ways to tackle these challenges cost-effectively. With ever-growing market and increasing complexity in the way drugs are manufactured, stored and distributed, this industry is required to remain competitive. Being one of the heavily regulated industries, there is always a constant need for continuous product monitoring right from the raw material until finished product.

Traditionally, pharma companies were heavily relying on the human factors whereas with Industry 4.0, which is all about digitalisation, automation and collaboration, now the processes are more autonomous and computerised. Any deviations or untoward occurrence can be predicted and corrected, to avoid the down time or loss, which can damage the reputation of a pharma manufacturer. Smart manufacturing allows manufactures with continuous and real-time monitoring of all required processes helping companies keep track of prescribed parameters. By applying digital technology, data further can be analysed and used to make better and faster decisions. Digitalisation allows full integration of operations and improving manufacturing processes by making them more adaptive and responsive resulting in accurate planning, manufacturing efficiency, productivity, raw material management, efficiency, quality assurance and waste reduction.