Read more about Azo's solutions for continious production here.
P&A: Over the last few years, the pharmaceuticals industry has not really changed all that much: Although very rapid progress has been achieved in research, there is clearly a pressing need for the manufacturing of medication products to make up lost ground. Can Azo confirm this?
Alois Billigen: Continuous production in the pharmaceuticals sector continues to lead a life in the shadows. Flexibility on the other hand is a higher-priority concern: while this used to be an important point for contract manufacturers, the changeover of recipes within production and the demand for bespoke production now has a higher status across the board. This is also one of the reasons why Azo dedicated itself to the automation of the very smallest of components: the number of these components and therefore also the complexity of the recipes has risen significantly.
What is currently being expected of the process industry, and of the pharmaceuticals sector in particular, in relation to automation?
The potential for automating processes is far from exhausted. Slogans such as constant quality, safe production, tracking and tracing are and indeed always have been the requirements expected of the manufacturing sector. However, as the need for flexibility rises, we can see that robotics and associated processes are gaining in importance. The role of the employee is changing from a worker to a supervisor of systems that are more and more self-monitoring.
What homework still needs to be tackled by the manufacturers of robotics and AGV solutions?
In my estimation, the challenges lie in the integration of systems of this kind in the manufacturing processes, i.e. the connection to the production control systems. This affects manufacturers of control system technology, robotics and AGV solutions.
Let’s dare to look into the future: Which trends might emerge for automation in the pharmaceuticals sector?
In future, the pharmaceuticals industry is going to become much more similar to other sectors in terms of Smart Factory, Smart Processes, Machine Learning etc.
