Innovative Drum Handling Robot at the New Bayer Sol-1 Production Facility in Leverkusen, Germany
ISPE. RAYA 2023 Winner Audience Award
Cooperation of Bayer, Glatt, Hof and Stäubli
The objective of this robot application is to achieve a full automation of typically manual supported pharmaceutical production processes by combining common process equipment with robot arms!
To realize this a cooperation of 4 companies was arranged:
Bayer as customer and source of the idea as well as supporter for the engineering and implementation process by reviewing and evaluating all proposed solutions and documents.
Glatt as main contractor of Bayer for the manufacturing of the equipment who delivers the package units including the supervisory control system as well as engineering partner for the project planning and designer of the entire package units.
Hof as robot integrator for Glatt who designed the gripping tool and the prism as well as the robot integration into the control system of the package unit, the integration of the necessary safety equipment and the teaching of the motion sequences.
Stäubli as manufacturer of the robot arms itself as well as supporter for the robot integration by Hof.
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Main aspects:
- Increasing efficiency by decoupling of automated pharmaceutical production processes from manual operations
- Replacing of ergonomic inconvenient and difficult manual operations (due to construction constraints) by reliable automated operations
- Suitability to handle OEB 5 products
- Increasing human protection by avoiding contact between operators and product with high potent API resulting from a potential malfunction
Cost Effectiveness – Explanantion of ROI
Main driver is not a quick ‘Return of investment’.
Main aspects regarding cost effectiveness are:
- Avoiding costly damage on equipment due to operating errors
Containment flap system allows only a few millimeters of deviation between the active and passive components.
The robot will be able to do this operation very reliable and with repetitive accuracy. - Increasing overall asset effectiveness (OEB)
No waiting times for an operator for manual transfer operations between automated production sequences. - Availability 24/7
Easyness to integrate
- Adjustment of the gripping tool to the handled objects
- Considering the limited total load of the robot arm (in this case: 130 kg)
- Providing a specific safety risk assessment for every use case to investigate which safety devices have to be installed and integrated into the robot control.
- Specific teaching of the motion sequences of the robot.
No qualification necessary! Robot is a substitute for manual operator handling.
We are proud of this award!
Courage for Pioneering Work
One of the first applications that introduces heavy load robots into Pharmceutical Solida Productionand hopefully pave the way for others to follow.
Cooperation beats Solo Runby merging company-specific know-how
Very good example for the cooperation of several companies to achieve one goal that could not have been reached by one company alone.
Further information on this topic and related topics can also be found in the following publications:
Link to: API-Produktionsanlagen effizient planen
Copyright: ZVH Straubing
December 2023: Glatt wins follow-up order for BioCampus MultiPilot in the port of Straubing-Sand
Link to: Topping-out ceremony for SOLIDA 1 at Bayer in Leverkusen, Germany
Copyright: Bayer AG
May 2022: Glatt as system integrator for the world’s first learning pharmaceutical production
Link to: The design and modularisation of API synthesis plants
Copyright: HPCi Media Limited
Published article: ‘The design and modularisation of API synthesis plants’ PDF, English
Link to: Avoiding mistakes in cleanroom constructionCopyright: Vogel Communications Group
Published article: ‘Planning is everything. Avoiding mistakes in cleanroom construction’ PDF, Englisch
Link to: High containment for solid drugsCopyright: Vogel Communications Group
Published article: ‘High Containment Processes in the Solid Drugs Production’ PDF, Englisch
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