This BioPhorum member only document presents the benefits, cost, risks, and timeline of participating in the pilot program for plug and play concept for automation in the biopharmaceutical industry
automated facility
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Plug-and-Play audit trail requirements
Jul 2021 | Deliverable, Plug and Play, POI - Technology Strategy, Publication, Technology Strategy
This document is one of a series, written to address the problems associated with automating equipment that lacks interoperability in the biopharmaceutical industry. It relates to the BioPhorum Stirred Tank Unit Interface Specification referenced in Appendix A, which was the first of its kind and as such, contains a number of introductory sections describing the principles upon which it, and an accompanying series of documents, are based. In turn, these principles relate back to the established standards of S88, S95 and OPC-UA, and the developing ‘plug-and-play’ approach of NAMUR (User Association of Automation Technology in Process Industries), with its module type package (MTP) equipment definition.
Plug-and-play computerized systems validation strategy
Jul 2021 | Deliverable, Plug and Play, POI - Technology Strategy, Publication, Technology Strategy
The Plug-and-play computerized systems validation strategy is a guidance document aimed at maximizing the benefits of adopting the BioPhorum approach to interoperable, modular equipment assemblies (commonly referred to as ‘skids’). The approach is based on NAMUR´s Module Type Package (MTP) standard1
and a series of interface specifications which the BioPhorum Plug and Play team is creating.
Automated Facility: Stirred tank unit interface specification
Feb 2021 | Deliverable, Plug and Play, POI - Technology Strategy, Publication, Technology Strategy
Typically, equipment skids (MTP process equipment assemblies (PEAs)) need to be treated as bespoke units when they are connected to control systems (MTP process orchestration layers (POLs)). This places automation on the critical path for facility design, build and reconfiguration. This document presents a stirred tank unit (STU) interface specification. The STU class of equipment includes single-use bioreactors (SUBs) which are central to the manufacturing operations of many companies producing biopharmaceuticals using a batch process at intermediate scales. By combining this specification with MTP, equipment and control systems, providers can enhance interoperability and reduce the equipment installation time from months to weeks or even days, depending on the installation scenario. And by providing good documentation to their customers’ quality systems, they can enable customers to reduce their internal validation effort.
Plug and play: The value of plug-and-play automation in single-use technology
Dec 2019 | Technology Strategy
Automation can improve efficiency, track performance, adjust operations, and liberate operators from mundane routines. Automation requires a flexible set of tools that align well with the inherent flexibility of single-use technology (SUT). Although SUT flexibility enhances a biomanufacturer’s ability to modify operations to meet the needs of today’s dynamic industry, it also increases timelines and costs related to customizing and validating automated additions. This paper presents the findings of a team of industry automation experts who are sharing their experiences and testing new automation methods, with a vision to a reusable, standardized approach that enables rapid integration of intelligent process skids.
Smart maintenance: digital evolution for biopharmaceutical manufacturing
Jan 2019 | Information Technology, POI - Information Technology
The pressures to achieve more with less in the world of equipment and facilities maintenance has always been there, but what part can smart maintenance and the use of digital technologies do for us? What would an investment deliver in terms of lower costs and improved asset utilisation? This paper defines what ‘smart maintenance’ means to the biopharma industry and how to measure its maturity. It showcases a tool to assess ways of working and level of digital maturity, by mapping to BioPhorum’s ‘Digital Plant Maturity Model’. It will help you and your organisation make the case for investment and justify adopting higher levels of maintenance practice, better framing the contribution of maintenance with digital maturity transition – where to build and with which capabilities. The paper articulates the value and benefits of achieving the higher digital maturity levels for smart maintenance, such as improved asset utilization and management, cost reduction and elimination of unplanned activities. The paper includes a discussion on ‘next-generation’ analytics, describing how current and future analytics packages can integrate with data solutions and the benefits they can bring to the smart maintenance approach.
Digital plant maturity model (DPMM): assessment tool
Jun 2018 | Digital Plant Maturity Model, Information Technology, POI - Information Technology
What does the concept of ‘digital plant’ mean in biopharmaceutical manufacturing? How can it be defined, measured and transformed? What is needed to move up the maturity curve. All are questions that a business needs to answer to establish a practical strategy and realize the opportunities that digital offers.
The biomanufacturing Digital Plant Maturity Model (DPMM) describes the stages of maturity from simple paper-based plants through to the fully automated and integrated ‘adaptive plant’ of the future. The maturity assessment tool can be used alongside the model. Using the characteristics provided for each dimension of the model, an assessment can be made of a plant or a network of plants against the five digital maturity levels against eight dimensions. The maturity model and provides the language and mechanism for having the right conversations with the right stakeholders and the Assessment Tool ensures a neutral assessment of the current state, and facilitates agreement on the future state.
Digital plant maturity model (DPMM) version 2: A best practice guide to using the BioPhorum DPMM and assessment tool
Jun 2018 | Digital Plant Maturity Model, Information Technology, POI - Information Technology
What does the concept of ‘digital plant’ mean in biopharmaceutical manufacturing? How can it be defined, measured and transformed? What is needed to move up the maturity curve. These are all questions that a business needs to answer to establish a practical strategy to realize the opportunities that digital offers.
The biomanufacturing Digital Plant Maturity Model (DPMM) describes the stages of maturity from simple paper-based plants through to the fully automated and integrated ‘adaptive plant’ of the future. Combined with the maturity assessment tool the maturity model can help IT professionals and stakeholders establish the current digital maturity of a biopharmaceutical facility and facilitates agreement on the future state, goals and strategy to get there.
This second version increases consistency by leveling scores across dimensions; simplifies the model by reducing the number of enabling dimensions; and improves its utility by resetting the vision for levels 4 and 5, aligning them with the BioPhorum Technology Roadmap.
Digital plant maturity model (DPMM) v1: The development of a digital plant maturity model to aid transformation in biopharmaceutical manufacturing
Feb 2017 | Information Technology, POI - Information Technology
Biopharmaceutical industry challenges and opportunities provided the impetus for a team of subject-matter experts to develop a biomanufacturing digital vision and a digital plant maturity model (DPMM). The white paper describes the stages of maturity from simple paper-based plants through to the fully automated and integrated ‘adaptive plant’ of the future. The business and enabling capability dimensions in the maturity model are also explained. Moreover, the paper describes the benefits of applying the DPMM such as enabling an organization to evaluate the state of its technology at all manufacturing sites, those within a network or at specific ‘sister’ sites. This evaluation can provide either a global roadmap spanning all manufacturing sites (e.g. a common gap for all IT) or a roadmap for specific sites.