There’s one thing anyone who works in the medical field knows for sure: there isn’t a lot of room for error. Medical and pharmaceutical automation requires the highest levels of quality adherence and only has room for the tightest of tolerances. It’s understandable that there isn’t room for error when the industry you’re in is based on the physical health and wellness of human beings.
Because of this, it’s become common knowledge that developing automation systems for the mass production of pharmaceuticals or medical products is one of the most complex corners of the automation industry to be in. You have to be sure of your businesses’ ability to deliver consistent quality results if you even want to dip a toe in the water.
Choosing to take part in medical automation equipment manufacturing means committing to always delivering the best possible solution. In order to do that, you have to stay on top of the latest industry trends and developments.
What does the future of medical automation equipment manufacturing look like?
The future of medical automation equipment manufacturing looks like more and more supply chains seeing better product control, lower manufacturing costs, higher productivity, and faster speed to market. When it comes to creating that future, there are a few main drivers:
- Agile project management. The future of medical automation equipment manufacturing project management is agile. Hear us out: because quality control is so important in this industry, automation solutions need to be developed with an incredibly close attention to detail being paid. An automation solutions provider has to be able to work closely with their client to meet their very specific compliance needs, and an agile project management method makes that a lot easier. This type of approach is flexible with a focus on communication, collaboration, and the ability to pivot quickly. In manufacturing, it leads to problems and potential bugs getting ironed out early on in development so that they aren’t liabilities later on.
- Going beyond the traditional automation toolbox. When it comes to medical automation equipment manufacturing, there’s a series of solutions all companies can reach for. Robotic equipment, vision systems, conveyors, and control systems are all common automation solutions in this space. They’re common because they’re well known, but just using these types of solutions won’t be enough in the future. Companies are going to need to know how to optimize the use of these tools through performance analytics and process refinement.
- Automation that goes behind the scenes. To be able to stand out in the medical automation equipment manufacturing space in the future, automation solutions providers are going to need to provide robust customization that also includes behind the scenes support. For example, the FDA requires part-by-part documentation of machine parameters, including deviations. Automation solutions with back-end support can collect and store individual part data during manufacturing, making verification far easier for the end user.
From medical device assembly automation to improved pharmaceutical process control, the future of medical automation equipment manufacturing is looking bright. If you’d like to learn more about custom automation project options for your medical business, we recommend getting in touch with the expert team at Summit Engineered Automation. We’ve got the engineering expertise and tools to get you up and running in no time.