Among the many knowledge sessions at the trade fair in which the pharmaceutical industry took centre stage, we would highlight the agenda organised by ManageArt, a consultancy dedicated to the industrial chemical-pharmaceutical sector with the aim of developing the sector’s competitiveness.
On 2 June, a new meeting of the ManageArt Industrial Efficiency Forum for the pharmaceutical sector was held. The event provided an update on the progress of the working groups active in recent months, the follow-up on supplier audits carried out, developments in energy purchasing positions for both electricity and gas, and an update for forum members on the various meetings held by the Forum’s functional groups.
The aim was to analyse trends in absenteeism rates and action plans. The Supply group organised a session to discuss the advantages and drawbacks of different Warehouse Management System solutions. The AI group also met, where the Quality group was invited and 4 AI use cases in that area were presented, with more than 100 people in attendance. Finally, an update was given on the launch meeting of the Continuous Improvement group, held at GSK’s production plant in Aranda with high participation from laboratories.
After the Forum meeting, the group moved to Expoquimia’s International Meeting Point, where a round table entitled “Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence in industrial pharmaceutical plants: from debate to action” took place. The session presented the projects currently under way at pharmaceutical industrial sites in Spain and how they are being approached.
Following the introduction to the round table, Carlos Morras Ruiz-Falco, moderator, and the speakers, Pol Salvadó Cols (Almirall), Pau Cuadrado Agell (Boehringer Ingelheim) and Asier Herrero Barandica (Cinfa), discussed the application of AI in their pharmaceutical plants.
The round table covered several topics, such as the most common areas of AI application, the decision criteria for developing and rolling out AI projects versus traditional projects, return on investment, security considerations and governance. Data privacy and confidentiality also sparked considerable debate, as did trust in hyperscalers. Regulation in the pharmaceutical sector and its Annex 22 was part of the discussion, along with data quality and more organisational aspects within companies (incentives, KPIs, number of staff, training, etc.).
Finally, an attempt was made to look ahead, making it clear that AI is a “must”, with its barriers and complexities, but that it is here to stay as a technology and that its use will shape the evolution of each site.