Following its motto ‘Expertise for the perfect flow,’ Bosch Packaging Technology held its Pharmatag event on 21 and 22 May 2019 at its plant in Crailsheim, Germany. 300 international participants accepted the invitation to the 9th Pharmatag to learn more about the multifaceted world of liquid pharmaceutical filling. “Our Pharmatag 2019 was again a great success,” said the new Crailsheim site manager Dr Alexander Giehl. “We presented our guests with an exciting mixture of classic special machinery and innovative, digital technologies that distinguish Bosch Packaging Technology and the Crailsheim location – and will continue to do so in the future”.
Plant tour of innovations
During the plant tour on the first day of the event, the participants looked behind the scenes of production in Crailsheim. They were able to experience both established machine concepts and individual customer projects in action. These included an integrated concept of the ALF 5000 filling and closing machine with isolator for the aseptic filling of highly potent products. Bosch also presented a line developed together with a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer, including an integrated robot for the precise and safe filling of biopharmaceuticals. Also on display were the Pharma i 4.0 Starter Edition, which visualizes production data live and in real time. The data collected with the software can be evaluated and provides the basis for process optimization.
“With our broad portfolio, we cover the entire life cycle of pharmaceuticals and machines,” emphasized Uwe Harbauer, member of the Board of Management of Robert Bosch Packaging Technology and head of the Pharma division at the evening kick-off event. “Our goal is to support our customers in their daily challenges in the best possible way. To this end, we are not only expanding our portfolio in the high-performance range and for the flexible processing of small batches. At this year’s Pharmatag, we also showed that we are moving into the next era with visionary technologies, innovative services and digital solutions together with our customers.”
Interactive expert symposium
A special highlight of the symposium on 22 May at the new Carmen Würth Forum in Künzelsau was the keynote speech by Ranga Yogeshwar. The renowned graduate physicist, business journalist and television presenter dealt with central topics such as digitization, artificial intelligence and the relationship between man and machine – topics that are also increasingly important to the pharmaceutical world. Accordingly, the symposium was also characterized by digital interaction – the Crailsheim employees watched Ranga Yogeshwar’s presentation on a large screen, while the symposium participants were able to look directly into the machines at the Crailsheim plant via live data transmission.
The symposium, ‘Expertise for the perfect flow’ moderated by Dr. Charlotte Enghave Fruergaard of NNE, once again provided important industry insights – four current case studies from customers all over the world highlighted aseptic filling with RABS, new technologies for the production of antibody drug conjugates (ADC) and the successful transfer of a concept study to the production of drugs for children with cancer. The symposium was complemented by 200 square meters of exhibition space, where participants were able to find out about both special topics and visionary future technologies. “The intensive personal exchange among the participants shows how important events such as the Crailsheim Pharmatag are for our industry,” says Alexander Giehl.
New site manager Dr. Alexander Giehl
Since 1 April 2019 Dr. Alexander Giehl has been the new site manager of Bosch Packaging Technology in Crailsheim. He succeeds Joachim Brenner, who moved to Königsbrunn after almost eight years in Crailsheim to take over the management of Ampack GmbH and the product group Liquid Food. Alexander Giehl has many years of experience in manufacturing and production optimization. His career at Bosch began in 2003 in machine and process development. After positions in internal consulting and at Bosch Packaging Systems, he headed the Deployment Business Excellence department at Bosch Packaging Technology in Waiblingen from 2016 until his move to Crailsheim. Dr. Giehl is supported by Thomas Raab, who holds the position of commercial manager in Crailsheim since February 1, 2019.
