‘Our solutions save up to 30 per cent of energy costs and reduce carbon footprint’

Tell us about your contribution to the pharma sector as a company. What areas do you contribute to?

Michael Sullivan

Pharma is a key vertical for Schneider Electric and the business has seen a double digit CAGR over past few years. Pharma is a growing sector in India and the India market contributes significantly towards the overall pharma business for Schneider Electric. Within the pharma business, we have pharmaceutical manufacturing, biotech and laboratories. All these verticals are growing in double digits. Biotech is experiencing the largest growth, followed by generics and pharma manufacturing. Biotech growth is driven by the market need to combat rare diseases by harnessing cellular and biomolecular processes. Generics growth is driven by payers’ pressure to make healthcare affordable.

What solutions do you offer to the pharma industry? What needs does it meet?

Pharma customers prioritise improved efficiency; reduced operating costs; information technology; preventing revenue lost to expiration; increased R&D productivity; and protecting intellectual property, materials, finished goods, and employees. Such goals demand flawless performance from every organisational facet while adhering to strict regulatory expectations. Rising energy costs and energy efficiency measures have become key drivers for sustainable development and corporate responsibility concerns.

Schneider Electric delivers unparalleled building performance by creating a sustainable business which meets regulatory requirements, reduces time to market, and enhances the safety and security of employees and assets. Efficient and green, our solutions save up to 30 per cent of energy costs and reduce carbon footprint. With our EcoStruxure system architecture, companies benefit from one fully integrated system, while reducing CapEx by up to 15 percent. Our life sciences solutions enable customers to protect the health and improve the quality of life for the world’s population.

Our laboratory solutions include building automation and control, HVAC control, lighting control, energy monitoring and control. Our security management systems help maximise the safety of employees, assets, and data by complying with security regulations, reducing risk, protecting revenue streams, and reducing operating costs. We help companies reduce energy costs through metering, monitoring, and management of energy thus avoiding power outages and quality variances with reliable energy.

Novartis, the world’s third-largest pharma company, has set a leading example of how energy management and conservation are key components to a sustainable business model. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in their goal of reducing greenhouse gas emission by 25 per cent. In their new Singapore facility, we have helped them reduce energy costs by 25 per cent, engineering costs by 50 per cent and save 10 per cent on the overall cost of the facility

Are the needs and requirements of pharma companies in India, the EU and the US same? What are the differences and similarities?

The growth of Indian pharma companies is mainly driven by exports to the US and the EU as these companies help meet the patient needs by providing them with high-quality medicines at affordable prices. This necessitates the companies to meet regulatory compliance requirements of US FDA (US Food & Drug Administration) and EMA (European Medicines Agency); which in turn makes the needs and requirements of pharma companies across the world pretty much similar. However, Indian companies focused only on domestic market are not required to fulfill US FDA’s stringent regulatory compliance requirements.

What are the infrastructure challenges that Indian pharma companies are struggling with? How do you help them navigate these better?

• Time to market(on time, on budget, to specification): Our automation solutions comprising of safe and reliable power availability, state-of-the-art building automation and monitoring, best in class automation software and controllers help increase plant reliability, efficiency and product quality.
• Facility performance to protect the bottom line: Our software solutions help in real-time optimisation of critical production processes, by empowering production personnel to make the right decisions, thereby reducing wastage while improving productivity.
• Regulatory requirements and consequences: We have a team of 20 experts in life sciences FDA compliance services (e.g. 21CFR11), who provide expert services in meeting regulatory requirements.
• Energy costs: Our energy and sustainability services help reduce energy consumption by upto 30 per cent
• Worker safety: When integrated with security, “Total Environment Management” ensures that workers are safe and that required access controls and environmental data are available on-demand, enabling quality assurance personnel to quickly prove compliance with manufacturing processes/products/research integrity
• Improve the environment with our expertise and sustainability solutions: Design, construct, and operate life sciences facilities and equipment with the aim to optimise performance and minimise energy consumption

Tell us about the acquisition of Invensys and how has it helped you change the game in the pharma space? What capabilities does it bring?

With the acquisition of Invensys, Schneider Electric is significantly enhancing its position as a provider of efficiency solutions, integrating power and automation. The acquisition will allow us to have a unique position in industrial and infrastructure end-markets and create substantial value for our customers, shareholders and employees. It will further complement our offerings in software, MES batch control, asset management, inventory management, predictive maintenance, HMI / SCADA, compliance services, validation services, cyber security services, systems, DCS, PAC and controllers and recorders.

Pharma manufacturing in India is catching up with the long-term benefits of green processes to improve corporate image, reduce costs and achieving compliance at the same time. Your comments.

Absolutely correct. Indian pharma companies are already among the most respected ones globally because of their strong commitment to quality and efficiency. As a natural adjacency to further strengthen their brand-image, they have started appreciating the benefits of moving up the sustainability index by reducing carbon foot-print. This not only helps them improve their image, but also supports their positioning among global customers, especially because most of those companies are export oriented.

Are Indian companies also looking at such solutions or only MNCs? By how much is the division growing in India?

Export-oriented Indian companies are at par with MNCs and are striving to establish themselves in the same league as ‘big pharma.’ Growth in India is also in double digits, expected to accelerate more than the global average in years to come, driven by further investments in export-oriented generic pharma manufacturing plants.

With pharma companies worldwide looking at cost effectiveness, what remains the challenge for companies such as yours? Does it spell growth or shrinking revenues?

Our solutions in fact help them lower their production costs by reducing wastage, increasing efficiency, availability and reliability of critical production processes. More and more companies have started appreciating the benefits of automation, which in turn is leading to increased demand for our reliable power, process and building automation and software solutions; leading to strong growth in revenues.

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