iSpeak Blog

The Premier Technical Event Where the Pharma Industry Meets

Robert E. Perks, MSc, CEng
John Bournas am18

We are now less than five months away from the start of the 2019 ISPE Annual Meeting & Expo being held this year in Las Vegas!

The 2019 ISPE Annual Meeting & Expo is the premier technical event where engineers from the pharmaceutical industry can meet, learn, and share knowledge with a huge range of professionals from both the manufacturing, regulatory, and the supply sides of the industry. It’s very easy to make assumptions about the trends and solutions being implemented in the industry. The education program and exhibits can open your eyes to new approaches and technologies that have been developed or are in development. Our goal for this year’s program is to inspire and prepare you and your companies to “Modernize, Globalize, and Transform” the industry through innovative strategies, materials, equipment, and technologies discovered during your experience at the conference.

2019 ISPE Annual Meeting & Expo

As the pressure to increase efficiency and provide consistency within the pharmaceutical manufacturing process only increases, the need to modernize and transform your processes continues to increase accordingly. The Annual Meeting provides unique opportunities:

  • Learn how your industry colleagues are meeting the challenges and how the regulators are supporting those efforts.
  • Learn how others are building new facilities and upgrading existing facilities and processes
  • Engage with other professionals in workshops and education sessions
  • Learn directly from vendors what solutions could be applied to your specific challenges

I am particularly looking forward to two aspects in particular at the conference:

As the pharmaceutical industry moves onwards into the 21st century so too, do the ways that we manufacture our products and the expectations for not only improved efficiency and reduced costs but also improved consistency and quality for our customers, the patients.

Pharma 4.0™ provides a platform for both the vertical and horizontal integration of the manufacturing process from formulation to packaging and shipping. The presentations at this year’s Annual Meeting will provide insights from industry experts into both the conceptual concepts of Pharma 4.0™ and the considerations that need to be applied and the practical experiences and challenges of implementation into the manufacturing environment. Pharma 4.0™ encompasses all areas of an automated manufacturing process from instrumentation through to the Enterprise System. I’m looking forward to hearing about and understanding the challenges, successes and outcomes of the Pharma 4.0™ journey.

In order to fully realize the technological gains within the industry, we also need to able to reflect on the places that we manufacture our products. Optimal quality, consistency, and production efficiency require state of the art facilities. Both the Facility of the Year event and the Facilities of the Future presentations and discussions will provide information on how your colleagues have developed and implemented upgrades to existing facilities and new, greenfield sites. Hearing how considerations for the layout, construction and implementation of the latest building and process technologies from your colleagues can only inspire you on your journey to the next level of manufacturing excellence.

Gaining an appreciation from your industry colleagues on the practical aspects and challenges that are involved in improving the manufacture of life-saving or sustaining drugs and treatments is a component in the continuous improvement that our industry needs in order to thrive. Come to hear and discuss these opportunities with the people who’ve already been there!

Young Professional

As a Young Professional, the 2019 ISPE Annual Meeting & Expo is the opportunity to gain insight into the broader fields and careers within the industry and to gain additional industry knowledge to exploit in your current role. Networking with future colleagues prepares young industry members to advance their careers and develop the skills necessary to succeed in multiple areas of pharmaceutical engineering. New this year is the first International Student and Young Professional (YP) Hackathon. The event will be challenging, educational, and filled with opportunities for collaboration and networking as you help solve real-world, industry-relevant challenges.

Membership Orientation

As a member of ISPE for over fifteen years, I cannot underestimate the power of the connections that I’ve made within the industry over those years, from my first Annual Meeting and to serving on various committees within the ISPE organization. For me, these connections are priceless and will continue to deepen as time goes on and the industry continues to evolve.

Come to the 2019 ISPE Annual Meeting & Expo to learn and engage, but also come to meet fellow professionals, bond, and make friendships as part of the ISPE family. This event is where it all starts.

Take advantage of the early registration discount and save $400+ if you register by 30 June.

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