ABB India has secured an automation contract from Reliance Life Sciences (RLS) to automate their new manufacturing plants in Nashik, Maharashtra.

The 160-acre facility located in Nashik will house manufacturing plants for plasma proteins, biopharmaceuticals, oncology pharmaceuticals and vaccines.

Large-scale biotechnology production presents distinct and complex process and automation challenges. “We are proud to partner with RLS on this critical project. This collaboration will reinforce our position in the pharma and life sciences markets, where, as a technology provider, we see tremendous potential for growth and innovation,” said G Balaji, SVP, Head of Energy Industries, ABB India.

System 800xA will be installed in a virtualised environment for RLS. According to the company, virtualisation brings many cost and operational benefits by simplifying how servers are managed and maintained. Additionally, it also reduces the IT footprint and, thus, operational costs.

“We have a tradition of leveraging automation technologies in our manufacturing processes, as part of our larger objectives in quality and productivity,” said KV Subramaniam, President of Reliance Life Sciences. “The partnership is also a step up in terms of virtualization and process control.”

Remote solutions

Moreover, the multichannel remote I/O solutions will enable streamlined data communication, reduce wiring, declutter the hardware footprint in the plant, improve space utilisation, and facilitate faster project execution.

As installation is for a pharmaceutical manufacturing unit, the DCS would be supplied in compliance with US FDA 21 CFR Part 11 to meet the required standards, said the company.

ABB will deliver the DCS on the latest Windows Server 2022 platform, which will ensure extended lifecycle support and software management, helping RLS avoid any plant shutdowns for software upgrades, and reducing overall costs associated with downtime, software or hardware updates and related services.

Reliance Life Sciences has the largest number of biosimilars on the market in the country and is under development globally. By scaling up its manufacturing facilities, the company aims to produce high-quality biosimilars at an affordable cost.

ABB’s Process Automation business automates, electrifies, and digitalises industrial operations that address a wide range of essential needs – from supplying energy, water, and materials, to producing goods and transporting them to market.

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