Current Perspectives on the Development of Industry 4.0 in the Pharmaceutical Sector

•Investigation to determine current 4.0 adoption in the pharma/biopharma sector.•Irish pharma/biopharma sector is highly representative of the global sector.•Detailed perspective of current and projected levels of 4.0 adoption.•Knowledge & involvement of 4.0 implementation is lacking across indu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of industrial information integration Vol. 18; p. 100131
Main Authors: Reinhardt, Ingrid Carla, Oliveira, Dr Jorge C., Ring, Dr Denis T.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier Inc 01-06-2020
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Summary:•Investigation to determine current 4.0 adoption in the pharma/biopharma sector.•Irish pharma/biopharma sector is highly representative of the global sector.•Detailed perspective of current and projected levels of 4.0 adoption.•Knowledge & involvement of 4.0 implementation is lacking across industry sector. Industry 4.0 is a concept that represents the adoption by industry of techniques and processes allowed by digitisation, cloud computing, the internet of things and big data to gain competitive advantages in domestic and global markets. The research is conducted in Ireland with the resulting data examined through a global lens, yielding information relevant to the effective adoption and integration of 4.0 concepts. Key outcomes are the perspectives of the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries with regards to the adoption of 4.0, the current level of implementation of 4.0 technologies in manufacturing facilities and planned 4.0 projects to be executed. Statistically relevant relationships evident in the responses are also investigated. This research provides novel and highly relevant information concerning the state of industry preparedness for the adoption of 4.0. Across all survey respondents only 42% indicated any knowledge of 4.0. The majority of respondents who indicated a knowledge of 4.0 identified with either the Automation or Engineering department. Among established employees with greater than 8 years of experience 82% identified with having knowledge of 4.0. Those surveyed with Vice-President or Director roles, had a 98% certainty of 4.0 awareness. A noteworthy finding of this work is the identification of a substantial disconnect in knowledge of 4.0 based on seniority, function and industry. Thus while the implementation of 4.0 is playing an increasingly significant role in the modernisation of the Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical industries, challenges remain with respect to the holistic fusion of 4.0 into the culture of organisations.
ISSN:2452-414X
2452-414X
DOI:10.1016/j.jii.2020.100131