More pharmaceutical manufacturers are investing in automation strategies to improve their operations and services. Nearly 50 percent of pharmaceutical and medical device companies have line automation integration underway and will be tracking overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), according to the 2017 report, “The Evolution of Automation,” produced by PMMI, the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies.1
Automation increases confidence in the line by reducing operator failures, which can cause downtime, providing greater quality control in a highly regulated industry. The growing market for small-batch pharmaceuticals and unit dose packaging continues to increase demand for such technologies. As automation becomes an ever-greater component of the pharmaceutical manufacturing process, the way employees interact with machines on the packaging line is changing as well. These changes will be visible in the technologies displayed at Healthcare Packaging EXPO, taking place October 14-17 at McCormick Place in Chicago.