THE IDEAL DESIGN OF PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURING PLANT.

When designing a pharmaceutical OSD manufacturing facility, the ways in which materials are moved from one stage of production to another should be considered from the very beginning. We discuss how materials handling processes can, and should, influence building design for lean productivity. Designing a pharmaceutical OSD facility – where to start? When designing a new facility for the manufacture of pharmaceutical oral solid dosage (OSD) products, it is vital to think about the steps involved in production. For example, do you need to blend ingredients, press tablets, undertake quality control procedures, or package SKUs in different ways? What machinery do you need to achieve those steps, and how much space does it take up? Another – often overlooked, yet critical – aspect to consider in facility design, is how will you move materials between the different steps in the production process? Materials handling matters Failing to consider how things like powders, granules, tablets and capsules will be handled and moved from one stage of the production process to another can introduce time, energy and profit-sapping inefficiencies that can seriously limit production capacity and the ability to expand in the longer term. What are the options for materials handling? Arguably the easiest way is to move materials manually via tubs, drums or boxes. However, this can waste product, time and energy, and creates quality control issues. IBC in use in building design of pharmaceutical manufacturing plant Continuously coupling processes together effectively removes the need for materials handling at all, thus eliminates waste. In this system, however, the overall process can only operate at the speed of the slowest step. The ultimate lean materials handling solution is to use Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs) to move materials between processes. Compared to manual or continuously coupled methods, using IBCs reduces wasted product, time and energy, and increases lean productivity.

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