Perfectly Meet The Intelligent Pharmaceutical Challenges

Digital transformation and upgrading is affecting every industry, and the pharmaceutical industry is no exception. Restricted by strict quality regulations, the challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry are even more severe, and smart manufacturing can provide promising solutions. Implementing the necessary connectivity can be a major hurdle to overcome when the starting point is an existing plant with legacy infrastructure and digitally isolated legacy systems. With the Orange Box solution, B&R provides an easy-to-manage way to connect existing factory equipment and prepare it for a digital future.

As the concept of “Industry 4.0” advances in the pharmaceutical industry, traditional human operation processes are becoming more and more digitized and automated, and the data generated is also conducive to making faster and more informed decisions. Data can predict and correct problems, avoid downtime and product defects, and play an important role in maintaining a manufacturer’s reputation and improving production efficiency. Digital, fully integrated operations are more adaptable and responsive, enabling better use of raw materials and improved productivity and quality. However, while these advancements have brought many benefits to pharmaceutical companies, they also face new challenges. The most common problem is that the cost of upgrading legacy equipment is unknown. Another challenge for many factories with automation silos is how to achieve seamless machine-to-machine and machine-to-cloud communication. Even with horizontal and vertical connectivity on the shop floor, the processing and protection of the vast amounts of new data generated cannot be underestimated. Pharmaceutical companies need to adopt innovative approaches to mitigate these risks and address them through technology channels.

Retrofitting An Existing Factory

B&R’s Orange Box enables machine operators to collect and analyze data from previously isolated machines and production lines and adapt them to smart factory configurations.

Implementing smart manufacturing appears to be an insurmountable challenge for existing factories that have been using infrastructure for decades. The time and cost involved in upgrading older systems, machines, equipment and sensors are major barriers to adopting new technologies. A specific challenge is how to collect plant floor data and share it with higher-level control and IT systems. In order to enable existing factories to fully enjoy the benefits of smart manufacturing, with minimal capital investment and minimal modifications, B&R developed the Orange Box. It allows users to easily access energy consumption and operational data from previously isolated machines and production lines to build the Industrial Internet of Things. Orange Box can significantly reduce downtime and increase the availability of existing machines and production lines, improving operational efficiency and profitability. Each Orange Box includes a controller and preconfigured software components.

The controller is able to connect operational data collected from any machine through its I/O channels or fieldbus. With this data, software modules can generate and display Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and other KPIs, and can share this information with higher-level systems via OPC UA or MQTT communication. Using the Orange Box is as simple and intuitive as a smartphone, and its installation does not require any changes to existing hardware and software. Equipment owners can dramatically increase productivity with minimal investment cost and time. Its advanced energy management function can measure the energy consumption directly on the machine and display the energy consumption information directly on the HMI screen, so that the operator can clearly see the energy consumption of each equipment or machine and get an overview of the whole plant.

Secure Data Connection Via OPC UA

OPC UA over TSN enables seamless communication from sensors and real-time control systems to ERP, MES and the cloud.

As factory floors become more interconnected, a whole new set of safety challenges is emerging. Pharmaceutical companies are highly sensitive to intellectual property rights in drug formulations and processing technologies. The OPC UA protocol provides cross-platform and cross-vendor communication with built-in security mechanisms, which makes it an ideal solution for cybersecurity challenges. In addition, its Sensitive Network (TSN) can provide secure, seamless and standardized communication from sensors and real-time control systems through to ERP, MES and the cloud.

Intelligent Future

Despite some concerns about risks, the pharma industry is slowly embracing its changes under the trend of digital transformation. With the Orange Box and OPC UA over TSN, B&R is helping pharmaceutical companies navigate the remaining hurdles, providing existing plants with the connectivity and data analytics they need to ultimately benefit from the unprecedented productivity enabled by smart manufacturing.

Achieving Operational Excellence With Collaborative Robots

On the production floor, robots help eliminate human error, improve accuracy and repeatability, and minimize the potential for human contamination. In laboratories used to develop and test new drugs, they are ideal for performing repeatable and skill-free tasks such as mixing, stirring, and titration, which also help scientists gain more time for deeper research. B&R’s openROBOTICS enables seamless integration of robots into machine control systems. New software features make it easier than ever for machine builders to synchronize robots with track-based conveyor systems and other dynamic machine components. From development and operation to diagnostics and maintenance, there are benefits to fully uniform programming of every component in the production line. Combined with B&R’s openROBOTICS software package, human operators can perform safe work side-by-side with robots without being restricted by safety fences.