IoT or Internet of Things is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines. These interrelated devices that are being connected to the Internet can be categorized as things that collect information and then send it, things that receive information and then act on it, and things that do both.
IoT has made people’s life much easier by allowing them to live and work smarter. Not only it offers smart devices to automate homes but is also essential for businesses. It helps businesses by delivering insights into everything from the performance of machines to supply chain and logistics operations.
(Source: wire19 )
IoT has the power to revolutionize various industries. One such industry is the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. The introduction of IoT application development services into the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry has transformed the way they carried out various processes starting from drug discovery to remote patient access and monitoring. Numerous pharma companies throughout the world are increasingly adopting IoT technologies in their manufacturing plants to gain optimization and improve process efficiency.
Benefits of IoT Technology for Pharma Companies
There are several benefits of adopting IoT technology in the pharma industry. By adopting IoT technology pharma companies can have supply chain visibility, operational efficiency, better customer service, better inventory management, loss management and much more. The latest technology combined with IoT can be deployed for covering different verticals including manufacturing, monitoring, distribution, and control-in-transit. Moreover, with the real-time accessibility of data, pharma companies can ensure proper quality, lessening the probability of any burglary, depletion or fabrication.
Here are some of the key benefits that Pharma manufacturing companies are getting by adopting IoT technology:
- IoT undoubtedly has incredible potential to aid pharma companies to improve their quality output and trim down costs.
- Earlier techniques for data synchronization were quite time-consuming and highly vulnerable to human error. However, with the advent of IoT technology, the whole process of data synchronization has become much easier and error-free.
- By effectively connecting networks, equipment, and systems to share information across the plant, IoT technologies enable standardization within a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant.
- IoT helps pharma companies to gain access to real-time data and visibility of operations throughout the complete manufacturing process.
- A network of linked devices with monitoring sensors can greatly decrease the risk of machinery break down and assure precision production by identifying issues and alterations before they cause any problem
- The pharma IoT monitoring sensors can instantaneously feed all relevant facility data into a single dashboard, updating the concerned person about any unusual circumstances or indispensable maintenance requirements.
- IoT also facilitates better inventory controls and costs reduction as connected devices can easily track the availability of materials in real-time.
- IoT provides enhanced control over pharmaceutical or device inventory. The computers that correlate the data can determine how much more production is required and identify batches that have passed their expiry date. Tracking devices make it easier to identify and remove unnecessary batches from the supply chain.
- Pharma companies need to maintain consistent regulatory compliance by keeping all their processes well-documented. Pharma IoT connected devices facilitate a continuous transmission of data to the server to establish and maintain their quality standards. This further helps in reducing the amount of manual paperwork and potential margin for error.
- The information collected through IoT connected devices can be used in more advanced ways. For instance, data analytics software can be used to determine- what areas are most susceptible to issues, identify inefficiencies and potential cost overruns so that improvements can be put in place to improve productivity and profitability.
- Enhanced patient connectivity and adherence is another key advantage that pharma companies are gaining by using IoT technology. These days, various leading pharma companies are using smart devices to administer medications and monitor their effects on patients.
- Clinical trials are another obvious application of active monitoring with IoT connected devices. Examining the effects of experimental medication in real-time helps to access its effect and allow quick detection of adverse reactions. This further reduces the participants’ risk and improves the quality of the test data.
Future of IoT in the Pharma Industry
In the pharmaceutical industry, even small mistakes can result in serious consequences. Therefore the whole industry tends to be a little cautious about adopting any technology. However, looking at the benefits of IoT technology for pharma companies, many leading, as well as growing pharma companies are adopting IoT technology in their processes. By integrating smart pharma IoT application development services into their organizations, pharma companies are already experiencing better production processes, reduced costs, advanced ways of treating patients and much more. So, it would be correct to say that the future of IoT in the pharma industry is quite bright.
Key Challenges for Pharma Companies While Implementing IoT
It is important to note that implementing IoT technology is not hassle-free. Pharma companies are required to conduct detailed due diligence to analyze the people, process and technology inclination for IoT. Some of the key challenges that pharma companies need to deal with are:
- Developing device platforms and the ability to manage inter-operability across these platforms
- Data privacy, security and vulnerability management
- Application and business modularity to ensure better plug-in and plug-out without disturbing business operations
- The ability to upgrade and manage large volumes of structured and unstructured data
In order to tackle these kinds of challenges and automate a business process, a pharma company can avail the services of a reputed IOT Development Company that can assure data security, improve decision-making ability and help reduce unnecessary expenses.
Conclusion:
Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of physical devices or components and other items, connected with software, sensors, electronics, and network connectivity that enables gathering and exchange of data. With so many advantages, IoT has become a necessity in today’s era of digitalization, which is why many industries including pharma are quickly adopting this technology.
By 2020, it is expected that about 40% of IoT-related technology will be applied in health-related sectors generating up to a $117 billion market. Today, IoT is not only offering added quality, agility and value to the business but also promising tremendous opportunities for innovation. On the whole, IoT can lead to a completely new era of transformation in the pharma industry.
