{"id":257271,"date":"2024-09-28T10:33:32","date_gmt":"2024-09-28T16:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mfe-is.com\/?p=257271"},"modified":"2025-04-25T14:01:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T19:01:20","slug":"how-the-pharmaceutical-industry-is-using-drones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mfe-is.com\/en_ca\/how-the-pharmaceutical-industry-is-using-drones\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Pharmaceutical Industry Is Using Drones"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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How the Pharmaceutical Industry Is Using Drones to Improve Inspections and Cleaning Protocols<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Regular maintenance is essential to pharmaceutical operations.\u00a0This maintenance helps ensure that plant assets remain in\u00a0good working order.<\/p>

It also helps ensure that no contaminants enter the equipment, which is an essential concern for manufacturing pharmaceuticals.\u00a0<\/p>

Maintenance management<\/a> in the pharmaceutical industry follows three general steps:<\/p>

1. Collect inspection data<\/b>\u2014collecting data, like photographs or video, showing the condition of assets.<\/p>

2. Analyze inspection data\u00a0<\/b>\u2014review the data collected to make maintenance determinations, including whether defects should be monitored or repaired.<\/p>

3. Perform maintenance work<\/b>\u2014actual repair work to fix defects or other mitigating steps to help stop a defect identified in an asset from getting worse.<\/p>

Traditionally, the first step\u2014inspection data collection\u2014has largely been made in person, by an inspector physically inspecting assets with their naked eye.\u00a0<\/p>

Whether the inspection is of the inside of an asset, like a tank or pressure vessel, or of the outside of an asset, like piping or pipe racks, inspectors will wear the appropriate PPE and collect all the visual inspection data they need by looking at the asset following a prescribed method, as well as taking photos or videos reflecting its condition.\u00a0<\/p>

These traditional methods for collecting inspection data in the pharmaceutical industry come with dangers to the inspector, including confined space entry and work at height on\u00a0scaffolding\u00a0or ropes.<\/p>

New inspection drones and other robotics solutions are helping pharmaceutical companies improve their inspections by allowing inspectors to collect all the data they need remotely.<\/p>

The same methods are also being used to support Riboflavin testing (also called Spray Shadow testing), which will be explained in more detail below.<\/p>

Let\u2019s take a closer look.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

How Drones Are Improving Inspections in the Pharmaceutical Industry<\/strong><\/h2>

Here\u2019s how inspectors and maintenance managers in the pharmaceutical industry are using drones and drone-related software to improve their work.<\/p>

During Data Collection<\/h3>

During data collection, inspectors are using drones like Flyability\u2019s Elios 2 drone to go into hazardous confined spaces and collect high-quality visual data remotely, avoiding the need to enter those areas themselves<\/p><\/div><\/div>

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Flyability Elios 2 Drone<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

The Elios 2 is a caged indoor drone made specifically for operating in confined spaces. It was designed with collision tolerance features, allowing it to crash while in flight and continue flying unharmed.<\/p>

In the pharmaceutical industry, the Elios 2 is being used for data collection inside:<\/p>