Manufacturers are ready to invest and experiment with different breakthroughs of technological advancements. The only thing that takes the decision in different innovations is the time required to adapt to newer technologies. OEMs and EUs are continuously looking out for solutions that are easily implemented without taking much time and effort. Innovations on other hand have scaled up the technical expectation of the pharma packaging industries. This has helped the packaging manufacturers to now implement available technologies to impress the consumer market; however, not everyday innovations can be best put to use – a technology that is sustainable, cost-effective, easy to implement and provides minimum footprint becomes the best of choice.
Pharma packaging rising
Digital transformation is impacting every industry and pharmaceuticals is no exception. With some of the most stringent quality regulations to follow, the pharmaceutical industry faces unique challenges to which smart manufacturing offers promising solutions. When the starting point is a brownfield site with aging infrastructure and digitally isolated legacy systems, implementing the necessary connectivity can be a major hurdle.
The implementation of Industry 4.0 in the pharmaceutical industry which has traditionally human-driven processes is becoming increasingly digitized and automated. In all these, pharma packaging seems to have changed the face of traditional packaging solutions. Under strict regulations, maintaining every information and color codes while manufacturing any pharma boxes has seen an outburst of technology inclusion.
B&R has been an innovative solution provider and has maintained a positive impact on pharma manufacturers. In line with this, B&R has developed an integrated single-PC solution for users in the pharmaceutical industry to monitor and control their entire operations, which also meets the increasing demands of FDA compliance. PharmaEdge offers all the benefits of SCADA and a powerful control system in one device. With possibilities to add energy monitoring, condition-based predictive maintenance, and MES/ERP connectivity, it enables the implementation of smart machines for the future of the industry.
Why PharmaEdge?
PharmaEdge is a product specifically made with intelligent and integrated architecture in one box which is the go-to solution to bring all control processes under one product or solution to solve all day-to-day maintenance issues. In short, it is a single channel for a shop floor work model to keep it running hassle-free. Quality and compliance were the foremost things that B&R-specific engineers under R&D team have designed with the product development team because maintaining the best quality along with all the compliance regulations is something every pharma manufacturer adheres to and is definitely the sustainable way in maintaining a positive manufacturing ecosystem.
Quality, regulatory compliance, safety, easy track and trace, and efficient data access are the trademarks of a world-class pharmaceutical facility. PharmaEdge provides a quick and easy way to implement and customize audit trails. System manufacturers and end users benefit from maximum security without having to implement organizational measures. Features offered by PharmaEdge include data archiving and retrieval, electronic signatures, batch reporting, access protection and central user management as well as audit trail and change management. The integrated PharmaEdge solution helps users optimize the performance of their automation systems while simultaneously improving cost and energy efficiency. Instead of deploying separate control systems for process control, SCADA, energy monitoring and condition monitoring, users get all this functionality in a single, integrated system with built-in cybersecurity. With this one-box solution, users are able to monitor as well as control their entire operation.
PharmaEdge consists of a B&R industrial PC running a hypervisor solution with both Linux and Automation Runtime operating systems. It offers machine and process automation libraries for easy configuration. There are no limitations to internal tags and no incremental costs for additional tags. Built-in features support easy reporting and historical data retrieval.