Pharma manufacturing refers to the industrial-scale synthesis of pharmaceutical drugs. This is a process with many challenges and techniques that practitioners will need to be aware of to ensure that drug development is optimized. Doing so offers clear benefits for any pharma manufacturer, as optimized production will invariably have a positive impact on organizational profits. Numerous methods and tools can be applied to enhance manufacturing optimization efforts
The term digital manufacturing essentially encompasses the application of digital tools or techniques to optimize the manufacturing process. This could mean the application of data and analytics or leveraging advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).
These digital tools have been pivotal for enhancing the manufacturing process to combat uncertainty during the intense disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The rise of these digital tools ushered in the era of Industry 4.0, the ongoing automation of traditional manufacturing, with a report by Pharma IQ noting that 94 percent of pharma manufacturing practitioners were able to continue operations as a result of Industry 4.0 solutions.
Flexibility in the manufacturing process is key, particularly in response to sharp increases in demand, which is what the industry has seen with the global need for speedy production of the Covid-19 vaccine. As revealed in a report by Rockwell Automation, Critical considerations for deploying smart, fast and flexible life sciences facilities, flexible manufacturing could mean executing smaller batches, optimizing asset utilization or being first to a new market.
Implementation of flexible manufacturing facilities is on the rise, with many pharma manufacturers realizing the benefit of flexible tools such as single-use reactor bags, smart totes and mobile processing equipment. This allows organizations to quickly pivot the setup of the manufacturing process to respond to demand increases or enforced shifts in manufacturing focus.