In recent months, healthcare providers and pharmacies across the US have experienced shortages of drugs like amoxicillin, Tamiflu, and children’s Tylenol. Without access to these high-demand medicines, families have been left scrambling to get through the “tripledemic” flu, RSV, and COVID season.
The biggest culprit of the shortages appears to be a surging demand for the products. The end of 2022 saw reported RSV and flu cases reaching heights not seen in more than a decade, according to the New York Times. Drugmakers’ supply chains were simply not prepared to handle the extreme increase in volume after the mild RSV and flu seasons of the last few years.
We understand the heightened pressure pharmaceutical plants feel with each decision they make. When people depend on your company for their health and well-being, solving problems comes with a heightened sense of urgency. As such, we know creating a more stable supply chain is now top of mind for many in the industry. Introducing automation into your manufacturing processes can remove some of the margin of error and give employees running the plant the support they need to be more efficient.
Unfortunately, according to McKinsey, biopharma companies have been slower to embrace automation than manufacturers in other industries. One reason for the late adoption is the long list of regulations that pharmaceutical plants must adhere to, which often delays their ability to introduce new technology. However, many of our pharmaceutical customers have found that the benefits of introducing automation are far greater than they imagined.
Monitoring
The strict regulations in the pharmaceutical industry actually present a perfect opportunity for using automation to enhance rigorous quality control processes. Many plants today still rely heavily on manual monitoring processes, which can consume hours or even days from valuable employees who could be better utilized elsewhere. It also introduces elements of human error, which can lead to wasted product batches and further delays down the line.
Advanced monitoring is an area where automation can be incredibly helpful. Highly sensitive devices are able to quickly track and measure products throughout the production cycle and immediately alert the site to issues that require immediate corrective action. According to data from Pharmaceutical Technology, Pfizer managed to post less than 0.1% product loss for its COVID-19 vaccines using automated onsite monitoring. Automated monitoring systems can also be used to encrypt production data, which keeps valuable plant information more secure from cyber-attacks, which have become a common issue in the manufacturing sector.
Communication
Pharmaceutical manufacturing sites can involve thousands of moving parts to create products that are then distributed to point-of-use destinations scattered across the globe. To maintain a fluid production process while fulfilling a high quantity of orders, plants rely on swift communication among employees. In many cases, sites’ existing communication methods, such as email or even word of mouth, have not scaled at the same rate as production. When employees miss important updates or messages, it can result in wasted batches of product or unexpected downtime.
To facilitate these kinds of sudden and urgent messages, it’s important for facilities to implement a communication tool that better connects team members. When employees are busy working, an automated alert or message notification can be the difference between catching an important production update or wasting a batch of product. Utilizing automated communication tools that quickly direct attention to changes will allow all departments to remain coordinated and run efficiently.
Data Collection
Perhaps an unexpected but particularly useful aspect of automation is the detailed data collection these tools can offer. The most effective automation tools will link to other technologies and track products throughout the production cycle, which means they can gather and share information that will better inform production. This important and accurate data allows facilities to make better decisions about changing production schedules or the size of the product batch on a particular day. Utilizing real-time data means plants can plan their schedule based on current supply chain conditions, rather than estimates.
VirtECS® and VirtECS® Symphony are two such tools that can provide automation and data collection capabilities. VirtECS® automatically tracks real-time data using a virtual plant model to identify opportunities to optimize production and make beneficial scheduling changes. Its web-based counterpart, VirtECS® Symphony, can then publish the new schedule instantly and alert plant employees to urgent updates. VirtECS® Symphony also offers a messaging feature that employees can use to instantly make comments or suggestions to their colleagues across the site. For more information about VirtECS® Symphony, follow the link to download our short informational guide. https://blog.combination.com/guides/virtecs-symphony-guide/
