Schneider Electric launches EcoStruxure for accelerating sustainability in the Indian pharma industry

By OEM Update Editorial June 13, 2024 6:50 pm IST

Schneider is leading the shift towards Pharma 4.0 by leveraging digital tech to build sustainable, resilient, and agile pharmaceutical facilities. The use of digital technologies aims to reduce ~70% of CO2 emissions.

Schneider Electric, the global leader in the digital transformation of energy management and NextGen automation, has launched EcoStruxure for Life Sciences Segment. This cutting-edge software technology aims to accelerate the efficiency and decarbonization of the pharmaceutical sector by facilitating the transition to Pharma 4.0.

By harnessing digital technologies, EcoStruxure for Life Sciences promises to reduce up to 70% of carbon emissions by leveraging universal automation to develop smart facilities, manufacturing, supply chains, and sustainability. The IoT-enabled solution is designed to drive water conservation, implement process electrification, foster sustainability by design, utilize green electricity, reduce Scope 1, 2, & 3 emissions, and promote circularity.

The pharmaceutical industry faces mounting pressure to adopt sustainable practices and minimize its environmental footprint. EcoStruxure for Life Sciences aims to enable pharmaceutical production and biotech facilities to become future-ready by integrating sustainability, resilience, and agility into their operations, accelerating the transition to Pharma 4.0.

Speaking at the launch, Arvind Kakru, Vice President – Industrial Automation, Schneider Electric India said, “Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure for Life Sciences presents an excellent opportunity for the pharmaceutical sector to collaborate in achieving the country’s climate goals by embracing Pharma 4.0. Our pioneering solutions will empower our customers and partners to embrace sustainability. The launch of our EcoStruxure solutions underscores our dedication to engaging with key stakeholders in the pharma industry and guiding them towards the future of Pharma in India.”

The key focus pillars for obtaining Sustainability In Life Science through EcoStruxure solutions include:

Water Conservation: Leveraging real-time water tracking to enable businesses to monitor water usage with precision, linking water quality risks directly to operational and governance strategies. Additionally, the introduction of on-site water treatment capabilities and innovative VOC recovery methods will contribute towards environmental responsibility and regulatory compliance.

Process Electrification: Empowering businesses to embrace electrification to drive towards a greener and more efficient future by optimizing energy distribution, ensuring seamless integration of renewables, and the management of microgrids.

Sustainability by design: Embedding sustainability across every step of the design through process optimization to streamline processes, increase efficiency, and reduce wastage.

Green electricity: Assisting the pharmaceutical sector to source green electricity through renewables, PPAs, and minimizing offsets to spearhead sustainability across the value chain.

Reduce GHG Scope 1 & Scope 2: Empowering the sector to reduce its Scope 1 & Scope 2 emissions by offering consulting solutions covering decarbonisation and energy strategy, energy management solutions, carbon capture technology, green hydrogen solutions, and integrated power and process solutions.

Circularity: Collaborating closely with upstream suppliers and partners to ensure the sourcing of 100 percent circular materials and ingredients while managing waste efficiently.

Reduce GHG Scope 3: Deploying the best practices by leveraging data, tracking carbon emissions throughout the portfolio, and identifying priority areas for continuous improvement. Leveraging low-carbon design standards for major projects, implementing supply-side management, harnessing digital tools and digital twin technologies, and promoting green certificates. 

AVEVA PI System: An industry-leading data management solution that collects and stores data from any location and source. It offers deeper operational insight, faster analysis of critical data, and expanded visibility of remote assets and IIoT sensors, helping the pharma facility operate more efficiently and sustainably.

Cobots: Schneider Electric provides collaborative robots (cobots) that are designed to work alongside human operators to enhance efficiency, safety, and productivity in life science applications. They can perform tasks such as lab automation, sample handling, and packaging with precision and reliability. These are ideal for protecting sterile environments from contamination and can complete repetitive tasks with low error once programmed.