Mark Southern

Mechanistic modelling of industrial-scale roller compactor ‘Freund TF-MINI model’

Abstract A pharmaceutical roller compaction process was modelled using the Johanson powder mechanics model, which may be employed to achieve desired process performance. Mathematical modelling of the compaction of microcrystalline cellulose (PH102) was used to determine optimal process conditions for an industrial scale roll compactor (Freund, Model TF-MINI). The critical process parameters investigated were screw speed and roll pressure, while the rolls were kept at constant speed and the roll gap as variable. The roll-compacted ribbon density was considered the quality attribute of interest, as it is directly linked to the granule properties, particle size distribution and tablet mechanical properties. Experimental process data were used for model calibration and validation. This was followed by utilisation of the predictive capability of the model to achieve desired process performance of the compactor. The model findings indicated that the developed mechanistic model for the roller compactor can provide a design space to correlate the process parameters and materials properties to the critical quality attributes of granules which would be useful for implementation of Quality-by-Design paradigm in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

An Engineering Prototype Workflow Management System

Abstract Engineering workflow management is a key focus for European manufacturing companies, however, issues such as time required to gather data, develop systems and integrate into current manufacturing environments presents obstacles for adoption. This paper presents a high level prototype of an engineering workflow system developed in conjunction with a medical device company to address this gap. The prototype data was used to construct a high level artifact which illustrates how the implementation of Advanced Platform for Manufacturing Engineering and Product Lifecycle Management (7th Programme, “amePLM”) engineering workflow management system can improve product design and development processes through increased productivity by capturing workflows which previously went unquantifiable.

IT-Based Knowledge Management Systems to Support the Design of Product Development Processes

In today’s dynamic business world, the ability to continuously innovate and respond to customers’ needs is fundamental to success. To enable companies to do this a thorough understanding of their internal processes is required. Experiments can provide significant opportunities for companies to generate knowledge about their product development processes. This chapter examines the role of experimentation in designing robust product development processes and the role of information technology in supporting this. It outlines an IT-based knowledge management system to support the creation, transfer, and the use of knowledge amongst engineers in designing and conducting experiments that lead to robust product development processes. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the key issues for future research in this area.

Product Lifecycle Management Requirements Gathering: Industrial Pilot Cases

Abstract Product Lifecycle management (PLM) is a concept that aims to integrate the various processes and phases involved during a typical product lifecycle. This paper reports on the capture of requirements for PLM from five Industrial Partners in a FP7 project “advanced Platform for manufacturing engineering and Product Lifecycle Management” (amePLM). The objective of amePLM is to develop a software platform which will provide a collaborative extensible engineering platform that will leverage state-of-the art research on semantics, heuristics and visualization. The five Industrial Partners in amePLM vary in size (micro, SME to large) and by sector, from electronics, healthcare, advanced technology to engineering services. Independent of the company size and the sector it operates in the PLM requirements gathering reported in this paper shows that there are deficiencies in the support for collaboration, project management and visualization in the current PLM tools used by these companies. To capture requirements from the companies a new PLM requirements gathering methodology was developed which is reported on in the paper.