Improving vaccine production with advanced analytics

mRNA vaccine picture courtesy of Wikipedia

This scientific, engineering and logistical achievement that is the COVID-19 vaccine is a feat unparalleled. It’s the perfect example of human ingenuity and how modern advancements can make a difference. A lot of credit, however, has to go to the rise of Industry 4.0 and the use of digital technologies like automation, computer science, and advanced analytics. In fact, automated operations, process simulation, and self-service analytics have helped pharmaceutical production processes become more agile and efficient, contributing to increased production capacity and product quality. This solution has become the production and quality control game-changer by making pharmaceutical companies more adaptive and responsive, thus improving operational processes.

Using time-series data to improve operational performance

Captured from sensors throughout the production line, t…

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Pharma’s been slow to adopt Industry 4.0 — but that could change

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

The pharma industry has been relatively slow to embrace concepts such as Industry 4.0.

The philosophy has roots in a German framework that prioritizes digitization to drive manufacturing efficiency, promising that cyber-physical systems will usher in the next industrial revolution. The Industry 4.0 framework spans connectivity, analytics and AI and integrated automation technologies.

But the deployment of Industry 4.0–inspired technologies has been uneven in the pharma industry. “The industry is pretty cautious,” said John Younes, COO of Litmus Automation, the developer of an industrial edge computing platform.

One of the reasons for the lag, apart from the industry’s regulated nature, is the combination of high profit margins and manufacturing complexity. “In automotive, every second you shave off the cycle time on a subassembly is more money in your pocket,” …

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