Leveraging Embedded Vision in Chemical & Pharmaceutical Industries

Embedded Vision Technology Works to Widen Margins and Reduce Costs in a Tightly Regulated Environment

Embedded vision systems in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries are primarily used in inspection tasks for quality assurance, especially at high speeds and volumes, because of their accuracy and reliability. This reduces production costs without sacrificing quality, which is vitally important in these industries. While embedded vision applications currently focus on inspection tasks, the technology's efficacy to ensure quality standards are met is positioning it to solve some of the industry's biggest pain points in the future.

Driven by emerging economies and rising wages, the global pharmaceutical industry is expected to reach a market value of $1.4 Trillion by 2021¹。由于生产ramps up, the demand for embedded vision systems in inspection operations is expected to increase proportionately, especially for applications such as dosage analysis, coating thickness inspection, and analysis of crystalline structures in drugs.

Embedded vision is making headway in a variety of applications, such as robotic picking and placing of syringes. The biggest potential, however, lies in the areas of research and development (R&D). R&D is a significant cost for most pharmaceutical and chemical companies. When embedded vision is used to automate routine laboratory tasks such as mixing chemicals, it offers significant operational cost savings that make it a highly sought after technology.

In industries governed by strict regulatory standards, quality cannot be sacrificed for cost savings. As a result, embedded vision solutions are proving to be of great value to the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

Sources:
1. International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations, “The Pharmaceutical Industry and Global Health: Facts and Figures 2017”