Current Perspectives on the Development of Industry 4.0 in the Pharmaceutical Sector

Industry 4.0 is a concept that represents the adoption by industry of techniques and processes allowed by digitisation, cloud computing, the internet of things and big data to gain competitive advantages in domestic and global markets. The research is conducted in Ireland with the resulting data examined through a global lens, yielding information relevant to the effective adoption and integration of 4.0 concepts. Key outcomes are the perspectives of the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries with regards to the adoption of 4.0, the current level of implementation of 4.0 technologies in manufacturing facilities and planned 4.0 projects to be executed. Statistically relevant relationships evident in the responses are also investigated. This research provides novel and highly relevant information concerning the state of industry preparedness for the adoption of 4.0. Across all survey respondents only 42% indicated any knowledge of 4.0. The majority of respondents who indicated a knowledge of 4.0 identified with either the Automation or Engineering department. Among established employees with greater than 8 years of experience 82% identified with having knowledge of 4.0. Those surveyed with Vice-President or Director roles, had a 98% certainty of 4.0 awareness. A noteworthy finding of this work is the identification of a substantial disconnect in knowledge of 4.0 based on seniority, function and industry. Thus while the implementation of 4.0 is playing an increasingly significant role in the modernisation of the Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical industries, challenges remain with respect to the holistic fusion of 4.0 into the culture of organisations.