Meet Vetter Pharma-Fertigung - 2018 FOYA Facility of the Future Category Winner
Vetter Pharma Fertigung is the 2018 FOYA Facility of the Future Category Winner for their Optimizing Pharmaceutical Processes: Vetter’s Center for Visual Inspection and Logistics Project in Ravensburg, Germany.
Winners in the Facility of the Future category recognizes the application and/or implementation of innovative design concepts, new technologies and unique solutions that exemplify the next generation of agile, flexible, efficient, and effective new and existing Life Sciences facilities. Examples include continuous manufacturing, real-time release testing, continuous quality verification, automation, robotics, and other elements that set the direction for new and emerging designs/technologies.
Vetter, a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) headquartered in Ravensburg in the south of Germany, is a global leader in early drug development and clinical and commercial filling utilizing various packaging systems, from vials and cartridges, to syringes. For their customers, both big and medium enterprises, they build the Ravensburg Vetter West (RVW) site to bundle all supply chain processes within a single, innovative structure that stands ready to meet any future requirements to provide outstanding efficiency, flexibility, safety and sustainability, and is setting influential standards for the industry worldwide.
To increase its capacity for visual inspection and warehousing of pharmaceutical products after a steady increase in customer requests, as well as to meet stricter guidelines initiated by regulatory agencies, they realized that their existing facilities did not offer an effective alternative for expanding or optimizing the overall logistical infrastructure. As such, a completely new structure was needed; one that was able to meet capacity demands and allow for process optimization. The plan was to erect an autonomous site in an area of Ravensburg that could act as a central hub for all of the company’s logistical processes. It also had to include extremely efficient processes, flexible use of space and options for expansion, if necessary. Environmental concerns and energy efficiency were also made a priority.
Creating a state-of-the-art center that would meet all of the requirements for visual inspection and logistics was deemed to be the best solution. Ravensburg Vetter West was built in a modular way and provides warehousing for cold storage and room temperature products, capacity for freezers, constant climate chambers, and state-of-the-art incubation chambers. Visual inspections can be performed manually or automatically. RVW also features a lab for testing packaging materials, storage space for auxiliary materials, a central archive, and two hundred office work stations. The departments and staff from an existing Vetter building were moved into the new location in 2017, and all capacities for visual inspection and logistics bundled.
What makes the RVW facility unique is the intelligent combination of all these features. Vetter is now better prepared to satisfy the growing needs of its customers, fulfill the requirements of official agencies, and meet the challenges of the supply chain of tomorrow. The world’s international pharmaceutical and biotech companies are not the only beneficiaries. Patients too, will experience positive results.
ISPE congratulates the Vetter team for their achievements and their Facility of the Year award-winning entry. Learn more about the 2018 Facility of the Year Awards Facility of the Future Category winner.
