Artificial vision systems in the pharmaceutical sector

Artificial vision in the pharmaceutical sector is key to meeting its high degree of exigency. Its state-of-the-art technology, with control and automation systems, facilitates processes and reduces the likelihood of errors. 

Being the sixth most powerful industry in the world entails a great deal of responsibility. 

The pharmaceutical sector faces new technological challenges on a daily basis. It has to adapt to comply with the strict standards that guarantee the quality of such sensitive kinds of products, ones that directly affect people’s health.

Artificial vision (AV) can constitute the pharmaceutical sector’s best partner in meeting these high demands.

What is artificial vision?

Artificial vision enables computers and systems to process and extract information from images, videos and other visual inputs and act in accordance with the information obtained. It is a branch of what is known as artificial intelligence (AI).

Despite being similar to human vision, it has the advantage of being able to analyse thousands of data items per minute with a minimal margin of error. It can even detect defects that are imperceptible to the naked eye. This makes artificial vision highly reliable and agile. 

Now that you know what artificial vision consists of, let us take a look at the benefits of using these kinds of systems in the pharmaceutical sector.

Benefits of applying artificial vision to the pharmaceutical sector

Artificial vision can bring significant benefits to companies in the pharmaceutical sector. Here are just a few examples:

Quality

Artificial vision provides a high degree of accuracy and guarantees that the medicines comply with the stipulated requirements, removing any kind of error. The monitoring can rapidly resolve any problems on the production line.

For example, AV can guarantee that the medicines are in good condition on the production line, that a blister pack has the right number of tablets, that a package contains the appropriate type of medicine or insert and that the security seal of the medicine package is also in good condition.

Profitability

According to a study by Siemens Financial Services (SFS), the automation of production lines in the pharmaceutical sector can bring savings totalling 60 billion euros. 

The efficiency of artificial vision reduces the costs incurred by having to resolve errors. It can also prevent unexpected stoppages on the production line to deal with failures or perform maintenance.

Obviously, the speed of the work with artificial vision, with the possibility of checking thousands of products per minute, makes it a highly cost-effective system.

Safety

Artificial vision guarantees both job safety on the production line and product safety.

It can detect when the personnel are not wearing any PPE (personal protective equipment) and reduce accidents in the workplace. 

AV can also guarantee that the products have been manufactured in compliance with the appropriate hygienic conditions and that they are stored in keeping with the conditions stipulated by the standards within the sector.

Sustainability

The efficiency of artificial vision means that there are practically no losses. Since there are no errors, entire productions do not have to be thrown away, as the problem has been identified beforehand. 

This makes it possible to be more efficient with the resources used and, therefore, achieve a more sustainable level of production.

Applications of artificial vision in the pharmaceutical sector

Artificial vision in the pharmaceutical sector includes several systems which, according to the needs of any given company, provide for the following:

• Quality control in the packaging process
• Code verification 
• Label verification
• ISO verification
• Traceability
• Variable marking inspection
• Cross-reference control
• Filling control
• High-precision metrologies
• Robot guidance

These are just a few examples of artificial vision systems that can be applied to the pharmaceutical sector. 

At AIS Vision Systems, we can analyse your case to develop a customised turnkey project tailored to your needs and specifications.

Contact us to find the best solution.