Healthcare Packaging News: Data and AI Accelerate Digital Transformation in Pharma
The PDA Annual Meeting emphasized the growing need for pharma manufacturing facilities to become digitalized to improve productivity, open the door to further technologies, and make the most of the ‘digitally native’ workforce.
As the name implies, “Pharma 4.0” is Industry 4.0 applied to pharmaceutical manufacturing, which is the addition of cyber-physical systems to computerize manufacturing while focusing on the human element. The concept has been gaining traction in recent years and was a common theme in the 2021 Parenteral Drug Administration (PDA) Annual Meeting.
The four pillars of Pharma 4.0, as explained by Gilad Langer, industry practice lead at Tulip Interfaces, a digital technology provider, are:
Resources
Information Systems
Organization and Processes
Culture
These pillars focus on digitization, digitalization, and the human element.These pillars focus on digitization, digitalization, and the human element. Here’s one company’s explanation of digitization vs. digitalization. Further, Pharma 4.0 allows for the democratization of technology. In other words, what once was available only to experts is now available to the general workforce. The shift to this democratization can be eased through the new generations entering the field, who are all but raised on technology, making them what Langer called “digitally native.” Yet, the pharmaceutical industry is not taking full advantage of these advancements...
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