Achieving process understanding and improved operations

Paul Boughton

GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms, a unit of GE Enterprise Solutions, has announced the launch of Proficy RX 2.0, a component of the company’s Proficy software suite for production management.

Proficy RX 2.0 is a key application for Process Analytical Technology (PAT) deployments that can help Life Sciences companies gain a better understanding of their processes and the variability that affects them.

“Proficy RX 2.0 integrates many types of devices, hardware and software, to collect, consolidate and analyse data for a holistic view of the manufacturing process,“ said Bernard Cubizolles, Product Manager Software for GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms Europe.  “It helps companies gain the insight they need to improve their overall operations, including increased capacity utilisation, reduced manufacturing cycle times and improved product quality.”
 
Supporting the FDA’s PAT initiative, which was designed to enable drug manufacturers to adapt to changing trends and embrace new technologies and methodologies, Proficy RX is a comprehensive, integrated solution that can be applied in many applications, including crystallisation, reaction monitoring, drying and blending — delivering rapid time to solution for manufacturing operational improvement.

“Proficy RX is designed with a PAT-specific user interface and command structure to work in a PAT- enabled environment,” continued Cubizolles. “The combined functionality of SQL and Proficy Historian allow for efficient and secure storage capability, including configuration, process and spectral data — allowing for one true system of record.”

New features of Proficy RX 2.0 include:

* Visual Script Wizard — Provides an easy, user-friendly way to develop, test, and implement Proficy RX without in-depth programming knowledge, therefore reducing ownership costs.
* Proficy RX OPC Server DA 3.0 — Enables Proficy RX runtime data to interact with third-party applications as a client or server, providing a real-time feedback loop into the control system to drive tighter quality and reduce processing time.
* SQL Server Express Database — Provides an integrated database on a standard technology that reduces customers’ support burden over the life of the application.
* Advanced Process Analytics — Allows customers to develop the process logic needed to control their process, using capabilities such as mean centre and unit scale variance, baseline correction, multipoint baseline correction, auto-subtract correction, cubic spline interpolation, transmittance, and absorbance.

Integration with Proficy Change Management — Offers systematic management of sample systems design and method development, tracking when and who made changes, to support compliance requirements.

“The new release of Proficy RX incorporates a great deal of customer feedback on features that they identified as important,” said Cubizolles. “For example, users can now save Proficy RX configuration files on the Proficy Change Management Server and perform Save, Delete and Open on any or all Proficy RX configuration files to and from the server. Proficy Change Management maintains versioning of configuration, which enables Life Sciences customers the tools needed to support regulatory compliance.”
With robust data collection and data analysis capabilities, Proficy RX enables a large amount of critical production data to be processed quickly and accurately. Furthermore, the ability to interface to third-party Multivariate Analysis (MVA) applications enables Proficy RX to be deployed in existing applications already using MVA software, or as a component in a comprehensive PAT deployment.

“We are committed to helping our customers improve their operations through advanced process analytics, and Proficy RX 2.0 enables that goal. Providing powerful tools and manufacturing intelligence needed to make improvements, it can help Life Sciences companies gain a sustainable competitive advantage,” concluded Cubizolles.

Proficy RX 2.0

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