Research, development and clinical trials - these are the factors that have mainly defined the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries in recent decades. Research & Development (R&D) creates the new medical magic that increases quality of life and saves lives. Looking at corporate vision and mission statements, it’s also where the pride and focus of the company is targeted.

Drug production, on the other hand, enjoys a little less attention - even though the best research is of no use without efficient and safe drug production. Patients rely on safety, but also affordability and reliability. And with the still unstable supply chain situation, it is obvious that the strategy of almost completely outsourcing the production of certain active ingredients has significant risk – both for patients and producers. So what can pharmaceutical companies do to make their production more efficient? So that it can act faster and more dynamically, make cost of care less expensive for patients, yield more margin, and also allow more flexibility in the choice of production location? And all this with the highest transparency and corresponding compliance? Not to forget the topic of "sustainability", which particularly affects an energy-intensive industry such as pharmaceuticals and life sciences. We have 4 ideas which we will talking about at several events coming up in the next few months, and they include:

Getting inspired by others

"Less waste" - this aptly sums up the challenges facing modern pharmaceutical production: Saving material, saving time, saving money - without negatively impacting the quality. These are aspects that the automotive industry, for example, knows only too well and solves through digitalisation of production, namely Industry 4.0. The experience gained there over the years can also be transferred to many areas in the pharmaceutical industry. Examples include the concept of the "digital twin", the use of video technology and AI in quality assurance and digital worker guidance systems. Pharmaceutical managers can be taking a more detailed look at what is already working elsewhere - to not only get inspired by other industries, but also understand how it would fit in the regulatory setting of pharma.

Going digital allows you to see more

Quality assurance with the help of video recordings and artificial intelligence has proven itself in the automotive industry where cameras monitoring production and observing conveyor belts automatically identify unwanted scratches, dents, and other misalignment issues when something isn’t up to quality expectations. These automated techniques are ideally suited for pharmaceutical production. Identifying particulate in fluids, sorting out obviously defective pills – and if the defect rate exceeds a defined limit, sending a warning for a quick maintenance check of a machine that might be causing the problem in real time, before more and more rejects are produced. This not only saves money, but also valuable time, for example when processing preliminary products that have a long cultivation period. Once an error has been detected, the situation can integrate into a digital process twin in order to improve automation step by step.

Going digital allows you to be flexible

One of the important aspects of agile production is flexible personnel planning, which guarantees smooth processes even in times of holiday, illness or peak loads. An important building block for this is the so-called digital worker guidance system. With the help of monitors, smartphones, tablets or other mobile devices, production workers can receive concrete instructions on the operation of machines and systems and on individual process steps. This not only reduces the error rate in normal operation, it also allows colleagues to be deployed flexibly in exceptional situations, i.e. at different points than usual. Another advantage is: with a digital worker guidance system, paper largely disappears from production. This leads to more sustainable production and at the same time helps to get as much data as possible from ongoing operations directly into the back-end systems without having to enter it manually.

Open your eyes - and talk to the right experts

The challenges facing pharmaceutical companies are great. Their advantage, however, is that many of the projects that now need to be tackled have already been implemented in other industries in a similar form. Networking with experts from mechanical and plant engineering as well as the food, process and automotive industries can be a solution, albeit a time-consuming one. The quick alternative pose consultancies such as Avanade, which have already implemented digitisation solutions in all these industries for years. They know the methods and solutions - and at the same time are also familiar with the requirements of the pharmaceutical industry from other projects.

So it is about communicating at all levels, including within the industry. At Avanade, we want to initiate and promote discussions in the industry with a series of events centered around the digitalisation of pharma and life sciences. The first event will be our Avanade Breakfast Event for Life Sciences on 19 April in Zurich. Simply register here.

And if you don't want to wait that long and have questions right away or want to start an inventory of your manufacturing processes directly, feel free to contact us (https://www.avanade.com/de-de/contact). We look forward to working with you to identify and leverage the potential that is still hidden in your production today.