Production Management and Analytics Lead Pharma/Biotech Technology Investments

by

Stephanie Neil is a Senior Editor at Managing Automation magazine. She joined the publication in 2000, covering factory floor automation technology trends and case studies. Since then her cover story and special report coverage has expanded to include all aspects of the manufacturing enterprise in order to provide information on sensor-to-boardroom applications and business processes. Prior to joining MA, Neil spent 11 years at eWeek (formerly PC Week), a weekly IT journal, where she was Managing Editor of the Features department.

')" href="mailto:editorial@thomaspublishing.com?subject=Mail%20bag:%20Stephanie%20Neil" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); ">Stephanie Neil, MA Editorial Staff

A new report by ARC Advisory Group predicts widespread automation investments in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, despite tightening budgets in the current financial crisis.

The report, “Automation Expenditures for Pharmaceutical and Biotech Industry Worldwide Outlook,” forecasts that these industry segments will invest more than $3 billion in automation technology by 2012. Much of that money will be directed at projects that will deliver immediate return on investment in areas such as manufacturing operations consolidation and applications standardization across the enterprise, the report says.

Because the discovery and commercialization of new drug products will remain the cornerstone of competitive advantage, pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturers are also focusing on production management software — such as MES — andanalytics software to increase productivity and flexibility as well as ensure product quality. The industry will also be focused on regulatory compliance and increasing automation while shortening time to market.

To that end, some suppliers offer analytics to help reduce production cycle time and throughput. Others provide analytics that can evaluate numerous solvent extraction schemes, reducing the number of experiments performed during the drug development phase. This ARC study will help users learn what others in the industry are doing and the capabilities of each supplier. The report also discusses strategies and tactics that suppliers and manufacturers can use to succeed in the rapidly changing worldwide pharmaceutical and biotech industry.