Submission deadline of 23 September 2013 is fast approaching
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA (29 August 2013) — The Program Committee of the 2014 ISA Food and Pharmaceutical Industries Division (FPID) Symposium has issued a Call for Papers inviting authors, innovators, thought leaders and leading automation and control professionals to submit abstracts for presentation consideration at the conference, which will be held 5-7 March 2014 in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA.
The 2014 FPID symposium will bring together experts, vendors and end users in a two-day symposium to cover the critical challenges and issues in automation and serialization and how they are affecting food and pharmaceutical supply chains. Recent legislation and incidents of contamination and tampering have raised the importance of automation to reduce errors and implement enhanced serialization controls to improve tracking and tracing throughout distribution channels.
Serialization—the assigning and marking each product or product component with unique identifiers—in both the food and pharmaceutical industries is regarded as essential to protect consumers and to reduce risk exposure for food and pharmaceutical manufacturers, says Dennis Brandl, President of BR&L Consulting, Inc., who, along with Alex Habib, co-chairs the 2014 FPID Symposium.
“Upcoming product serialization requirements in the pharmaceutical industry, notably in California, are driving major projects and changes in the life science industries,” reports Brandl, whose company specializes in helping companies leverage manufacturing IT to improve their production and logistics processes. “In pharmaceuticals, it’s essential that counterfeit or tampered drugs are not introduced into the supply chain and end up with customers. That can obviously lead to some very dangerous situations.
“At the same time, a greater emphasis on tracking and tracing food products in order to prevent the sale and distribution of contaminated food is also prompting serialization in the food industry,” Brandl explains. “Food serialization helps pinpoint the distribution and location of specific food products and lots, which is particularly valuable during recalls of contaminated foods. And because you can target in on specific lots of food, you don’t have to disrupt the flow of other, unaffected food supplies.”
Serialization, he points out, requires a highly coordinated, multi-faceted approach that integrates automation, supply chain management and information security.
“Effective serialization involves changes on the shop floor, in corporate business systems and with multiple supply chain partners outside of the company. For instance, printers and verification systems must be added to existing production and packaging lines. Information security is essential to safeguard the integrity of the data. And serialization information must be maintained in corporate ERP systems, and must be available on a 24/7 basis to production and supply chain partners.”
In addition to serialization, other abstract topics to be covered at the 2014 FPID symposium include, but are not limited to:
- Track & Trace
- Validation
- Cybersecurity
- Radio-frequency identification (RFID)
- Process analytical technology (PAT)
- Quality by Design (QBD)
- Virtualization
- Batch controls
- Manufacturing Execution System (MES)
- Automation and serialization project management
Prospective authors are invited to submit original contributions by 23 September 2013. Other important Call for Papers dates for the 2014 FPID symposium are:
- 14 October 2013 – Notification of abstract acceptance/denial
- 12 December 2013 – Draft papers and presentations due
- 7 February 2014 – Final papers and presentations due
Click here to download a pdf on the 2014 FPID Call for Papers. For complete submission information, visit www.isafpidsymposium.com/call-for-abstracts
More about the 2014 FPID Symposium co-chairs
For more than 25 years, Brandl has been involved in automation, MES and batch system design and implementation across a wide range of applications, including those for biotech, pharmaceutical, chemical plants and oil refineries, food manufacturing, consumer packaged goods and aerospace systems.
He has written numerous papers and articles on business-to-manufacturing integration and flexible manufacturing solutions, and writes a regular column on manufacturing IT issues in control engineering. He authored the book, Design Patterns for Flexible Manufacturing, and co-authored the book, Plant IT, Integrating Information Technology into Automated Manufacturing.
Brandl is an active member of the ISA95 Enterprise/Control System Integration committee, a co-author of the MESA B2MML standards and a member of the ISA99 standards development committee. He has served as the chairman of the ISA88 Batch System control committee, and has participated in the development of OPC and other industrial standards.
In February 2013, Brandl was inducted into the Control Magazine’s Process Automation Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was listed as one of the leading thinkers in manufacturing technology by Managing Automation.
Alex Habib, the other co-chair of the 2014 ISA Food and Pharmaceutical Industries Division (FPID) Symposium, is an automation and validation engineering consultant with nearly 20 years of experience automating and modernizing specialty chemicals, food, flavors and pharmaceutical plants and research facilities. Among the companies he has worked with on automation and control projects include Hoffmann La Roche, Givaudan Flavors, IFF, Merck, Invensys, Pfizer, Rhone-Poulenc, Olin Chemicals, Aventis and Jacobs Engineering.
About the ISA Food and Pharmaceutical Industries Division (FPID)
The Food and Pharmaceutical Industries Division (also known as FPID) is organized within the Industry and Sciences Department of the International Society of Automation (ISA). FPID expands awareness and understanding about the latest technologies in automation, sensors, instruments, other equipment, computer systems and software application for the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) and Pharmaceutical Supply Chains (PSC).
The FPID retains a knowledge base of design, engineering, system, software, process automation, validation, quality, research, and scientific professionals. Division members: share and enhance their personal expertise in CPG product manufacturing and packaging, pharmaceutical R&D, clinical trials, and the manufacturing of tablet formulations, parenteral and biotech products; help provide global leadership at the US Food and Drug Administration and other international regulatory bodies; and furnish valuable knowledge and input on controversial issues regarding instrumentation, analysis automation, equipment and system validation, and testing for regulatory compliance.
For more information, visit ISA Food & Pharmaceutical Division.
About ISA
Founded in 1945, the International Society of Automation (www.isa.org) is a leading, global, nonprofit organization that is setting the standard for automation by helping over 30,000 worldwide members and other professionals solve difficult technical problems, while enhancing their leadership and personal career capabilities. Based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, ISA develops standards; certifies industry professionals; provides education and training; publishes books and technical articles; and hosts conferences and exhibitions for automation professionals. ISA is the founding sponsor of The Automation Federation (www.automationfederation.org).
Contact:
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