Faster, smarter production

加快制药流程

Pfizer transformed tablet and capsule production with continuous manufacturing, automation, and digitalization. The result is faster production, greater flexibility, consistent quality, and improved supply for patients worldwide.

From data to better medicines

Medications from Pfizer, urgently needed to help people get healthy and enjoy a good quality of life, must be continuously available to patients worldwide in consistent quality. To ensure this is the case, Pfizer is further automating and digitalizing the production of tablets and capsules at its Freiburg site.

“We are making good progress toward Industrie 4.0,” says Michael Becker, who heads Global Engineering at Pfizer in Germany. Without digitalization the current project would not have been possible.

At the production facility in Freiburg, data is recorded and analyzed at billions of points every millisecond. The data is used by the control system, which makes it possible to respond directly to the measurement results. “Quality is measured continuously, and the control system responds directly,” comments Becker. No more testing in the lab, and no need even for sampling. Everything runs automatically.

Pfizer transformed tablet and capsule production with continuous manufacturing, automation, and digitalization.

With a new automation and digitalization solution, Pfizer is aiming for continuous, fast, and flexible tablet manufacture.

Close to the “dream of every pharmacist”

Becker describes the dream of every pharmacist like this: “You put in all the ingredients at the start of the process, and out comes a finished capsule at the end.” With Continuous Manufacturing Technology (CMT), Pfizer is a little closer to making that dream a reality. The food and beverage industry led the way, and employees at Pfizer in Groton, Connecticut, USA, developed continuous manufacturing technology on that basis. CMT is now being introduced around the world, including in Freiburg.It makes production much faster and more flexible. In recent years, Becker has noticed that demand for medications is fluctuating more and more. Pfizer’s Freiburg location used to need up to four months to adjust to changes in volume. “But thanks to CMT, we now can just make a small adjustment in order for the plant to run faster or slower,” says Becker. “In other words, you can adapt to a new market situation in a matter of minutes.”

MES as the central element

The Manufacturing Execution System (MES) assumes a key role in the IT and automation project for Pfizer’s manufacturing facility in Freiburg: It forms the link between the process control system and the Electronic Batch Record (EBR) system that documents production electronically, manages all of the equipment and the process chains, and integrates all higher and lower-level systems to form an end-to-end solution for data recording and processing.

The automation solution is based on Simatic IT. To control the new plant units, the project team used powerful, high-availability Simatic S7 controllers and a Simatic WinCC SCADA system to visualize the processes. In addition to the shelf servicing unit in the high-rack store, which uses a Simatic S7-1500 as its head PLC, a vertical conveyor was also incorporated in the new MES solution to supply the equipment on the first and second floors with bulk and granulate containers. The individual systems work together seamlessly and enable the processes to function smoothly.

Robotic arm on an automated production line.

优化物流

在辉瑞决定使用新的连续工厂扩大生产规模时，也需要配套系统，以将物料运输和生产控制系统整合到统一的平台。这意味着要将许多生产环节和一个具有 120 个吨袋存储位的货架服务单元集成到自动化材料运输和过程自动化系统中。新的连续生产厂房还配备了用于连续称重和生产的自动化系统以及电子过程文档记录系统。

环境领域同样获益

Becker 表示：“环境始终是辉瑞的重要考虑因素。我们采用端到端的视角，并尽量将环保系统纳入我们的流程。”仅在这个项目中，原材料的卡车运输量就减少了近 50%。工厂采用太阳能热系统来干燥生产所需的空气，LED 为整个厂区提供照明，同时还实现了生产过程产生的热量和冷量回收。

高薪国家——德国

Becker 经常被问到这样一个问题：在德国这样的高薪国家投资自动化和数字化生产是否值得。他指出：“德国是一个高学历国家。我们的员工足以胜任自动化系统的操作，也具备专业知识。因此，凭借高水平的自动化，我们的生产效率完全可以达到工资成本较低的国家水平，甚至可能更高。”

The environment is also one of the winners

“Pfizer always considers the environment,” says Becker. “We adopt an end-to-end view and try to include environmentally friendly systems in our processes as much as possible.” In this project alone, the transportation of raw materials by truck was cut by almost 50 percent. Solar thermal systems dry the air needed for production, LEDs provide lighting throughout the building, and the heat and cooling resulting from processes is recovered.

Working in Germany as a high-wage country

One question Becker is regularly asked is whether it’s worthwhile to invest in automated and digitalized production in a high-wage country like Germany. “Germany is a highly educated country,” he observes. “Our employees are very well qualified to operate and also to understand automated systems. And thus, with a high level of automation in place, we can manufacture just as efficiently here as in a country with lower wage costs – perhaps even more so.”

效率大幅提升

得益于全新自动化和数字化解决方案，辉瑞现在可以持续全程监控其弗莱堡工厂，从而进一步提升质量标准。流程的灵活性也有提升，可以更好地适应当前需求。数字化流程管理和文档记录也提供了宝贵的信息，以支持弗莱堡生产效率的持续提升。利用面向流程的指标，可使用流程数据在线验证流程和产品质量以及工厂绩效。因此，可以加速药物的批准流程和上市。不仅如此，这也意味着可以对不同地点的技术和流程进行分析和比较——这对一家全球运营的公司而言至关重要。而且还可以联合开发新产品和新工艺，并将其推向市场成熟阶段。

保障生产顺畅，为患者带来福音

弗莱堡的片剂和胶囊用于治疗癌症、疼痛和心脏病患者。Becker 指出：“我们始终牢记，我们的生产是为了为患者服务，而不仅仅是为了技术或任何组织。”正因如此，质量是他的首要关注点，其次是供应安全。“不应让任何患者等待我们的任何产品。” 2018 年 4 月

Gloved hand sorting red and white capsules on a tray.

Smooth production for patients

The tablets and capsules from Freiburg are used for treating cancer, pain, and heart ailments in patients. “We always have in the back of our minds that production is there to serve the patients, and is not just for the sake of the technology or any organization,” Becker notes. That is why quality is his top priority, followed by security of supply. “No patient should be left waiting for any of our products.” April 2018