Dear Colleague,
We are looking forward to welcoming you to the 2023 PDA Robotics and Automation Conference taking place on 03 - 04 May 2023 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands!
The criticality of the operations in drug manufacturing is explained by the specific dependency that patients require on the quality, safety, and efficiency of medicines. Recipes, processes, and tasks linked to the drug life cycle usually contain multiple manual actions led by operators that repeat similar tasks throughout the day, having differences depending on the product or the production phase. Robotization and automation in Pharma are intended to minimize the repetitive tasks performed by operators, including all those actions requiring human cognition in order to avoid undesired effects in the product. Complexity and variability are two aspects of the reality of drug manufacturing. Nothing is static, nothing is simple. When humans need to apply systematic actions in production, they must interact with equipment and material consequently to the specific task they are developing.
In Pharma, everything is connected and linked with the product and process, the robotization and automation transformation are the only solution to ensure full connectivity along the manufacturing chain and to have the right information at the right time. Understanding digital transformation as the mechanism that transforms manual actions into electronic data becomes essential for robotics and automation implementation and at the same time, the only way to generate value along the full process is to bring consistently the expected drug to patients under a performance configuration for the industry.
To make evolution possible, a change of mindset is needed. Working on the paper is not an option when a process must be optimized. Assigning repetitive tasks to operators when they could be performed by machines and computers in a more efficient and secure way is not the way to go. Delegating tasks to humans which can be better carried out by systems is not the expected strategy. Regardless of the economic margins, today we face problems of a global nature. Efficient processes, sustainable sites, distributed and subcontracted manufacturing, logistical complexity, and global distributors are examples of a configuration subjected to a complex network of parameters that is difficult to govern without digital help. Today it is necessary for companies to base their processes on the added value they provide from the biopharmaceutical knowledge of their processes and invest in those tasks related to this knowledge.
The 3rd edition of the 2023 PDA Robotics and Automation Conference is designed to catalyze the transition for those biopharma organizations that are planning to be more competitive and efficient and to crystalize those drug manufacturing companies which are already implementing robotization and automatization systems with one main goal: improve the lives of patients.
Stay tuned!
Sincerely,
The Chairs
Dieter Bachmann, Janssen Johnson & Johnson
Toni Manzano, Aizon
SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM PLANNING COMMITTEE:
- Dieter Bachmann, Janssen Johnson & Johnson
- Toni Manzano, Aizon
- Sesethu Dowiasch, Rockwell Automation
- Yvonne Duckworth, CRB Group
- Bernhard Gerl, Körber
- Florian W. Huber, TissUse
- David Hubmayr, Takeda
- Timothy Hsu, AFDO/RAPS Healthcare Products Collaborative
- Marilyn Romieux, Merck
- Philipp Schmid, CSEM
- Josh Eaton, PDA
- Falk Klar, PDA Europe
- Sabine Hartmann, Manager Programs & Events, PDA Europe