ABB India secures contract to automate Reliance Life Sciences’ biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility

By OEM Update Editorial August 21, 2023 7:05 pm IST

The objective behind ABB India securing a contract with Reliance Life Sciences to implement automation and control solutions in their biosimilars and plasma proteins manufacturing plants in Nashik, Maharashtra is to achieve operational excellence throughout the manufacturing processes.

ABB India has secured a significant automation contract from Reliance Life Sciences (RLS) to automate their newly established manufacturing plants in Nashik, Maharashtra. RLS’s sprawling 160-acre facility in Nashik will be home to manufacturing units producing plasma proteins, biopharmaceuticals, oncology pharmaceuticals, and vaccines.

Managing large-scale biotechnology production presents intricate challenges in terms of processes and automation. These processes strictly adhere to regulatory guidelines to ensure the quality of products. ABB’s System 800xA® solution reduces manufacturing errors and ensures high-quality yields. This solution seamlessly interfaces with different skid systems and is extensively employed for smooth operator interaction, batch control, and production information on the factory floor.

1. Balaji, Senior Vice President and Head of Energy Industries at ABB India highlighted ABB’s strong positioning in the pharma and life sciences sector, emphasising the potential for growth and innovation. As India solidifies its position as a biopharmaceutical manufacturing hub, ABB India is well-prepared to capitalise on the automation-driven industrial revolution in these sectors, pivotal for maintaining large-scale production with assured quality.

K.V. Subramaniam, President of Reliance Life Sciences, noted the company’s tradition of leveraging automation technologies for quality and productivity enhancement in its manufacturing processes. The collaboration with ABB represents continuity in this approach and advancement in virtualisation and process control.

ABB’s System 800xA solution
System 800xA will be installed in a virtualised environment for RLS. This move offers cost and operational benefits by simplifying server management and reducing the IT footprint, subsequently lowering operational costs. ABB’s multichannel remote I/O solutions will facilitate efficient data communication, reduce wiring complexity, optimise hardware space utilisation in the plant, and expedite project execution. Given the pharmaceutical nature of the manufacturing unit, the DCS (Distributed Control System) will adhere to US FDA 21 CFR Part 11 standards.

The latest Windows Server 2022 platform will provide the DCS, ensuring extended lifecycle support and top-notch software management. This approach avoids plant shutdowns for software upgrades, decreasing overall costs associated with downtime, software/hardware updates, and related services. The integration offered by System 800xA brings together various plant components, eliminating the need for multiple PLCs. This integration guarantees a unified audit trail, integrated data reports, and streamlined operations, reducing maintenance requirements, training needs, and inventory complexities. Additionally, it simplifies third-party audits. Alongside the DCS, RLS will adopt ABB’s modular remote I/O solution, which offers flexibility and a plug-and-play concept for automation. This approach enables quicker commissioning and process implementation, with the added benefit of scalability for future capacity expansion.

As Reliance Life Sciences expands its manufacturing capabilities, they intend to produce high-quality biosimilars at an affordable cost. With the largest number of biosimilars in India and a global development pipeline, the company’s expansion aligns with its goal to become a major player in the biopharmaceutical industry.

ABB has a track record of delivering advanced DCS solutions to prominent pharma companies in India and has been recognised as the world’s leading DCS provider for 23 consecutive years, according to the ARC Advisory Group’s 2021 report. 

For more details, visit: go.abb/process automation