Pushing pharma towards data-driven and intelligent manufacturing

Steffen Gabriel Brandenhoff is part of NNE’s Manufacturing Intelligence team, who build intelligent solutions to help pharma manufacturers make pro-active, data-based decisions. Find out what it’s like to be part of the journey to move pharma to the cloud.

I recently returned to NNE after a few years “on the outside”. I missed the professional challenges, the interesting projects and the people. The interaction with customers and colleagues is my favorite part of the job. It’s very seamless – whether you’re talking to colleagues or customers, you’re on the same side.

NNE is rooted in a profound expertise and a respect for detail, but also an interest in finding new ways and innovate. Even though the average age here is almost 50 (it’s 46 red.) and the seniority is 10+ years, the ambition is always to do something different and challenge status quo. I like being part of that.

An important task with societal value

Working in the pharma industry is cool. It has societal value. I wouldn’t have the same feeling of purpose if I worked to optimize car manufacturing. Sure, in other industries you might move faster from idea to result, but the task is more important here. Creating value from data ultimately ensures that our customer can achieve and maintain steady supply of high-quality medicine.

Specifically, working in Manufacturing Intelligence is very inspiring because we have the chance to work at the forefront of innovation, enabling our customers to make pro-active decisions based on data.

Specifically, working in Manufacturing Intelligence is very inspiring because we have the chance to work at the forefront of innovation, enabling our customers to make pro-active decisions based on data."

Pushing the boundaries for how the pharma industry sees itself

Adoption of new technology generally happens very slowly in the pharma industry compared to other industries. For many years, pharma manufacturers have been focused on ensuring compliance with increasingly strict regulations. Consequently, process optimization – and innovation in any sense – was second in line.

In a sense, GMP and compliance requirements was regarded as roadblocks to innovation and to adopting new technology. But the industry is approaching a turning point where that notion is dispelled. Pharma has realized that new tech which support improved analysis methods, intelligent use of data and cloud solutions, is key to data integrity – and with that to GMP.

In Manufacturing Intelligence, part of our job is to balance the thirst for innovation – helping our customers on their journey towards Industry 4.0 – and the unbending need for compliance. That’s a really interesting journey to be part of.

Psstt... Get a sneak peek into a typical week in Steffen's worklife 
Go to NNE's Instagram account and find the "Takeovers" highlighted stories. Here's Steffen and other colleagues gives a sneak peek into their work at NNE.