It is the most important pharmaceutical sector in Europe, second only to the Germany<\/strong>, with an export that exceeds 70%<\/strong> of the total production. But the Italian pharmaceutical sector is ready to move towards industry 4.0<\/strong>? The answer is that there is still much work to be done. At least this is what emerged from a survey conducted in 2017<\/strong> from Pharmaceutical industry association<\/a> (Afi).<\/p>\n The results of which were disclosed this morning at Milan<\/strong> as part of the presentation of the sixth edition of Pharmintech<\/a>, life science fair scheduled at Bologna<\/strong> from the 10<\/strong> to the 12<\/strong> April 2019<\/strong>. The result is that only a percentage of industries between the 50<\/strong> and the 60%<\/strong> is ready for the leap to digitization. This can be understood by looking, for example, at these numbers:<\/p>\n The most interesting element is related to month<\/strong>i.e. the production management system. \u201cIt is about that infrastructure that will allow integration between all the machines.<\/em><\/p>\n And we are stuck at 50%<\/strong>\u201d<\/em>, he stressed Alberto Bartolini<\/strong>, coordinator of the Afi supply chain area.<\/p>\n Now, it is necessary to specify that of the 200<\/strong> companies to which the survey was submitted, only about fifty responded. Therefore, without having a production management information system, I am, with certainty, only the 12,5%\u00a0<\/strong>of Italian pharmaceutical companies. Unless the proportion is respected even among those who have not answered Afi's questions.<\/p>\n Only the 56%<\/strong> of the companies that provided an answer stated that their systems are validatable. That is, they have the characteristics necessary to be usable in accordance with the law. \u201cThis means that validation today comes with paper supports and procedures. And that in the future it will be necessary to invest to replace these systems"<\/em>. Again, only the 58%<\/strong> performs a data integrity verification process. So is there a safety problem in pharmaceutical companies? \u201cNo, because those who do not carry out these processes digitally do so with paper procedures\u201d<\/em>, he stressed George Bruno<\/strong>, ad of recipharm<\/strong> and Vice President AFI.<\/p>\n The problem, in other words, is digitization. And it is all the more serious the more one considers that "in the pharmaceutical sector the choice of 4.0 does not exist: it is an obligation"<\/em>, emphasized the president of Pharmintech Sergio Domp\u00e9<\/strong>. Ultimately, concluded Bartolini, \u201cThere is a lot of room for improvement. Which, however, must be launched in a very short time, because the new processes are arriving"<\/em>.<\/p>\n Related news:\u00a0Scaccabarozzi: we are already industry 4.0. \u201cWe have 15,000 new drugs under development and 7,000 in clinical trials.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fedaiisf.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/AFI-digitalizzazione-farmaceutica.png\")
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<\/a>We must also take into account the fact that the request was for IT managers to respond. But only in the 5%<\/strong> of cases this has occurred. The fact remains that, explained Bartolini, \u201cfrom a 4.0 point of view, all these indicators must reach the 100%<\/strong>\u201d<\/em>. Both among those who responded and among those companies that didn't decide to do so. But that is not all.<\/p>\n