NNE provides end-to-end engineering services in all phases of our customer’s projects and manufacturing lifecycles. We can do that because we have all engineering disciplines in-house. We’ve got people who can design the facility, we’ve got people who can design the manufacturing process and we’ve got people who can automate that process. In this article, we’ll dig deeper into the automation and IT area of NNE in Denmark together with Senior Advisor for Automation & IT, Mogens Larsson.
NNE has a major automation and IT organization consisting of more than 350 software developers and IT consultants. We support customers in all phases of their automation projects, helping them to e.g.
- Determine the optimal level of automation and IT
- Develop customized software to ease and optimize operations
- Build effective process control systems
- Create the link between shopfloor systems and enterprise systems
- Establish data collection and analysis to enable more data-based optimization and predictive maintenance
“Our biggest strength is that we don’t just understand automation and IT. We understand pharma processing too. That’s why we’re the preferred automation and IT supplier for many of our customers.” says Mogens Larsson. “We understand our customers’ business processes and solve their most complex challenges. That’s what we’ve always done. And we always do it based on the newest technology – if that results in the best solution.”
There are so many different directions you can go in, and it's not just about coding and finding that small coding error in line 235 - in NNE, IT is so much more. It's also really awesome to see that what you did after being here for a few months, is actually applied and working in reality and knowing that you have been involved in automating a bit of the pharma industry.
Moving pharma to the cloud
One of the major themes for pharma today is data. Data paves the way towards predictive maintenance and is key to ensuring medicine is safe and of high quality. But with pharma manufacturing facilities holding a lot of data, a major challenge is applying that data correctly to get more out of production.
NNE’s manufacturing intelligence consultants are key to solving these challenges and work closely with our customers to collect, analyze and make relevant data available for insights. In short, NNE helps our customers move data from separate production systems into the cloud so it can be applied intelligently to optimize processes.
There’s something special about pharma
Pharma manufacturing is characterized by a wealth of regulations and requirements to keep the patient safe. But regulations also mean pharma is notoriously slow to adopt new technology. Although robots, for instance, have been a given in other industries for many years, robotic solutions are still somewhat new in pharma – especially within the core part of the manufacturing process.
So, at NNE, it’s unlikely you’ll work with emerging technologies as soon as they hit the market. But providing solutions for pharma adds an extra challenge because all new technology must fit into the somewhat rigid GMP (good manufacturing practice) framework. “That extra challenge is also what makes it fun. And you get a sense of purpose because you’re contributing to making sure the manufacturer can deliver medicine to patients at the right time, cost and quality. That means something for me,” explains Mogens.
Developing innovative solutions for a sector as highly regulated as pharma requires the art of managing creativity against proven practices. This seemingly oxymoronic nature of challenging proven methods with inventiveness is exactly why I find working for NNE so satisfying.
What’s next for pharma automation/IT?
Integration is an exciting step forward that will provide a whole new layer of data and intelligence to pharma manufacturing. “One area that I believe will really take off soon is the integration of intelligent instruments into the overall automation architecture in a facility,” says Mogens Larsson.
From a more concrete perspective, NNE’s engineers are also currently looking into the control room of the future. In a traditional control room, the walls are lined with screens with one screen for each process in the factory. “We’re trying to rethink that setup entirely so that we move away from the small screens in a separate room and instead set up some major dashboard screens on the production floor, so it’s closer to the actual process” Mogens Larsson explains.
In Manufacturing Intelligence, we typically work on a lot of small projects, so you get to try different things and are not caught in the same, routine assignments. And we work with new technology all the time. On top, we have an amazing culture between colleagues, a flat organization and lots of flexibility and freedom with responsibility.
Did you know?
Biggest in Denmark
NNE’s automation and IT area is made up of more than 350 IT consultants and software developers. That makes NNE the biggest automation and IT service provider for pharma in Denmark.
Industry partnerships
NNE have different partnerships with other companies like ABB, Siemens, Rockwell, Werum, Implement, Aizon. Most recently, NNE became an official AWS Consulting Partner and we have several certified employees to deliver AWS solutions for pharma companies.
Innovation playgrounds
We have several so-called technology groups which consist of NNE employees from different departments who lead our efforts in emerging technologies. They’re on top of the latest technologies and together with customers do pilot projects to develop real-life, innovative solutions based on new technology.
