The Need for Digital Biomanufacturing and the Challenges It Faces
Digitalization today is evolving as a mandatory block helping different businesses to compete and stand against the increasing market competition.
The start of the industrial revolution significantly revolutionized the manufacturing operations of different businesses. These revolutions are helping to lower the variability induced by humans and constantly leading toward the adoption of digital and automation technology to enhance productivity.
Lately, the biomanufacturing sector has been showing great interest in bringing the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) to the healthcare sector.
Industry 4.0 has several promising advantages to bioprocessing methods with the use of advanced technologies such as machine learning, automation, and artificial intelligence.
Thus, the digital transformation of pharma manufacturing is not just a choice for the healthcare sector but a necessary step to stay ahead of the market curve. Though, there are several challenges associated with the adoption of digital biomanufacturing.
Before moving on to the challenges, let’s talk in depth about digital biomanufacturing.
Digital Biomanufacturing- Shift towards Smart Manufacturing
Digital biomanufacturing refers to the modern approach to increasing the efficiency and productivity of the biopharma sector. Connecting digitally with different suppliers helps to get a deep insight into the supply chain being followed.
As a result, biopharma manufacturers can easily mitigate the chances of supply risks. Digital transformation of pharma also helps to gather information such as:
- Tracking material
- Planning production
- Checking quality
Moreover, a digital twin in biomanufacturing is one of the most effective technologies used for various purposes, such as providing the right information related to the downtime of the system and the need for maintenance more accurately.
Also, the digital twin in biomanufacturing assists in planning accurate process improvements such as the preparation of alternative plans and the need for replacement of components without any interruption in the ongoing biomanufacturing processes.
A pharmaceutical company named Sanofi has digitally transformed its manufacturing process to have better and faster production of the products and reduce disruptions caused by human labor.
The key factors driving the market demand for digital biomanufacturing are lesser dependence on human labor and more acceptance of automation and scalability across different drug modalities.
According to the BIS Research, the global digital biomanufacturing market is expected to reach $55,564.9 million by 2031 from a market value of $15,768.9 million in 2021 with a CAGR of 13.12% during the forecast period 2022–2031.
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Challenges Linked to Adoption of Digital Biomanufacturing
- Not So Strong Change Management Strategy
The main step toward the adoption of complete digital biomanufacturing is to plan and make a strategy in advance.
Due to the volatile economic and urgent situation, several biopharma companies shifted toward adopting digital transformation but did not review the already existing problems, thus resulting in digitization fizzling out.
The proper chain management strategy needs to be well designed before the adoption of complete digital biomanufacturing. It can help in setting goals for every step and allows manufacturers to understand consumer behavior in a much better manner.
Moreover, a proper chain management strategy can help to set up a budget for the complete manufacturing process and reduce the chances of any problems in the last moments.
- Lack of Skilled Professionals
Digital transformation of any sector, including biopharma, needs a determined and skilled team to operate and understand the advanced technologies.
However, the speed at which technologies are getting developed and changed has resulted in high challenges in hiring trained professionals.
The advanced technologies used in digital biomanufacturing are several advanced technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence.
In order to run the manufacturing system smoothly, the biopharma sector requires trained professionals to take big and small issues at every step.
- Security Concern
As digital manufacturing is evolving as global growth and trend factor, increasingly manufacturing tools are also getting connected with the Internet of Things (IoT).
Advanced technology is replacing humans, such as autonomous machines, artificial intelligence, and robotics, for different administrative tasks.
Due to the digitalization of the pharma sector, the amount of data generated is much higher in volume and is growing as a big concern. Security is one of the major concerns of digital manufacturing today, as any breach can lead to the collapse of the business or manufacturing unit.
Final Thoughts
There are numerous challenges associated with the shift of the pharma sector from traditional manufacturing to digital biomanufacturing. To gain effective control over digital manufacturing and stay competitive such challenges cannot be ignored.
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