A. M. Biomedical (Life Science) industries need a solid and powerful physical infrastructure that allows them to operate without failures or errors every day of the year. For this, it is essential that the availability of energy is constant, without outages of any kind, brownouts or blackouts that could affect the integrity and operation of the equipment in the manufacturing plants.
The country is home to more than 30 laboratories certified by the pharmaceutical industry and the life sciences sector is dynamic and promising. Operating costs to produce medical devices is 40% lower than the Central American average, according to Invest in El Salvador.
But Life Science is a very sensitive sector. Momentary outages and poor-quality power supply can cause significant decreases in production, including loss of sterility and critical assets downtime. The unavailability of power can also affect the integrity of information, which is vital in these highly regulated industries for quality control and continuity of data capture.
It is essential to upgrade systems to meet regulatory requirements and ensure data integrity: modern systems help life sciences companies comply with regulations and avoid delays and fines.
IT system outages can lead to losses of, in some cases, $300,000 per hour. In addition, according to REDICA systems, companies lose up to 10% of their turnover due to poor power quality. To maintain critical services and prevent equipment failures, it is essential to always keep the infrastructure up to date, since the old one implies higher energy costs compared to more modern and efficient equipment.
Adopting new devices, such as uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), can significantly increase energy efficiency and reduce operational costs. When operating in green mode, some of the newest UPSs can achieve efficiencies of up to 99%. Overall, Schneider Electric estimates that upgrading an older data center can increase efficiency by up to 67%.
This is because modern systems allow for increased speed of access to historical data, native storage of information and visualization in multiple locations. All of which results in a greater ability to make informed decisions, based on accurate data, about product quality. A modern architecture based on predictive technologies has several benefits, starting with the ability to generate reports with high data integrity, streamlining the decision-making process, and optimizing resources. EcoStruxure Asset Advisor offers maximum protection for systems through continuous monitoring that generates intelligent alarms, mitigates the risk of failures and provides an expert solution that complies with cybersecurity standards for data protection. These technologies provide specific details on alarms, allowing for faster and more efficient response and anticipation of failures. MTZ breakers, for example, allow power to be removed remotely, thus reducing the risk of electrical accidents.
the integration of renewable energy and automated technology increases the resilience and efficiency of operations, and Smart Grid and automation solutions are ideal for this. Advanced technologies such as simulations, digital twins, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality improve quality, performance, productivity, and energy efficiency.
The use of digital twin technology at any level – equipment, machines, buildings – makes it possible to have real-time information available that can improve quality, performance, productivity, and energy efficiency. When used in conjunction with IoT plant and equipment data, static information is transformed into real-time dynamic simulations enhanced by intelligent live data.
The new systems make it possible to tightly monitor environmental conditions (temperature, cleanliness, humidity) and record critical events, while at the same time offering protection against cyber-attacks in the manufacturing industry. Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Building Operation Compliance Pack provides layers of flexibility that simplify compliance-related processes in Life Sciences.
