Tuesday, 23. February 2010

Technical logistics in the pharmaceutical sector

Technical logistics at Bayer Technology Services (BTS) is focused on the pharmaceutical industry as well as the chemical industry. BTS collaborates with customers to develop and implement innovative measures with the aim of enhancing performance and competitiveness through custom, flexible and future-oriented logistics concepts enriched with the latest technical solutions. Recent pharmaceutical projects have demonstrated that technical know-how is every bit as important as methods competence, practical experience and industry knowledge. The Supply Chain & Logistics division of BTS plans and implements state-of-the-art warehousing and transport systems for pharmaceutical piece goods that meet GMP and cleanroom requirements.

Parenterals plant with driverless transport system

A current example of technical pharmaceutical logistics planning is the linking of the Bayer HealthCare (BHC) parenterals plant in Leverkusen with a driverless transport system (DTS).

The parenterals plant has been equipped with the driverless transport system (DTS) since July 2009. A tunnel system links the logistics center with the solids formulation, parenterals and solids packaging plants. Packaging material, such as glass bottles, or the finished products in containers used to be transported with tow tractors; now the DTS brings the required material to the production facilities and automatically transports the finished products to the central high-bay warehouse. With the connection to the parenterals plant, the on-site logistics are now completely automated.

The BTS-managed project essentially comprised the addition of an entire section to the existing building. This was connected to the existing transport tunnel, and a pallet transport system was installed for the transport of starting materials, intermediates and packaging to the plant and the delivery of intermediates and finished products to the high-bay warehouse. The difficult foundation work directly adjacent to the running plant and the incorporation of transport controllers into the existing systems up to the SAP level proved to be particularly challenging.

The reconfiguration project was completed on schedule and within budget. “Commissioning was smooth and trouble-free, thanks to the early involvement of the plant team in the project phase, training of the shift workers directly on the controls, and the targeted support by the employees of the logistics center, the vendor companies and the programmers during this phase,” said BTS project manager Hans-Joachim Fornfeist, summing up.

The DTS works around the clock safely, efficiently and hygienically, making a positive contribution to compliance with the rules of good manufacturing practice.