MES can help automate and manage a range of production processes and in the pharma industry such software can be the central system of a manufacturing IT solution, providing a link between the equipment/automation level and the enterprise management system.
Yesterday our sister publication Outsourcing-Pharma.com reported Janssen had updated its MES at a major active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) plant in Geel, Belgium but according to Werum IT Solutions which supplies the PAS-X software, the J&J subsidiary is just one of a growing client base of drugmakers.
“PAS-X is used by 17 of the world’s top 30 pharmaceutical and biotech companies in more than 800 installations,” Dirk Ebbecke, spokesman for the German software firm told us. Mid-sized pharma and biotech companies with single-site rollouts are also benefitting from the ‘out-of-the-box’ software packages which can be preconfigured for specific processes.
“[The software] covers all key areas in pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing from process development to commercial production and packaging,” he continued. “It supports all major pharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, e.g. for vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, solids, liquids and other manufacturing operations.”
Werum has also experience an upsurge of enquiries from Asian API makers looking to manage their exported products, Ebbecke added. “We can help them to meet their challenges concerning regulatory compliance, documentation, quality. PAS-X MES is an out-of-the box product with the necessary functionality for pharma and biotech processes already inside.”
The growth of pharma manufacturing in Asia has already led to Werum expanding its presence in Asia with offices set up in Japan and Singapore.
Werum has a number of competitors in the MES market, including Rockwell Automation, Honeywell POMS, and Emerson Electric Company, with systems from Systech Guardian, CDC Software (now owned by Aptean) and Siemens specifically targeting the pharma world.