Life sciences
AI and automation innovation in pharmaceutical manufacturing
Context
A major pharmaceutical company, active in biotech and vaccine production’s Smart Factory team (OpEx Department) worked on implementing automation, AI and digital solutions on the shop floor, and on early-stage innovations for which business cases were built to assess feasibility and ROI before scaling.
Objectives
- Identify and scope early-stage innovations and build business cases and roadmaps.
- Support AI, automation and digital projects across sites.
- Enhance continuity, quality and reliability with digital and AI tools.
Our Approach
- Mapped Smart Factory processes to establish an AS-IS view of the production environment.
- Identified high-value AI and automation use cases aligned with regulatory constraints.
- Defined target solutions, assessed technical and compliance risks, and supported business-case development for the innovation pipeline.
- Supported implementation of selected initiatives.
- Supported AI use cases such as (eBR) electronic batch-record exception-review automation, Quality-Assurance trend detection and AI-driven reporting, alongside automated labelling and filling initiatives.
- Contributed to change management and embedded continuous in-process monitoring, including inline measurements and AI-supported review, into daily operations.
Results
Innovation pipeline
- A structured portfolio of business cases supporting fact-based investment decisions.
- Faster transition from idea to pilot to industrialization.
Productivity & automation
- Reduced manual workload on manufacturing and QA matters through AI.
- Increased throughput and consistency on final process steps.
Quality & compliance
- AI-supported review, reducing human error and review cycle time.
- Continuous in-process monitoring, strengthening data integrity.
