Fermion Oy Automates with Help from Honeywell

PharmaManufacturing.com
06/23/2005

Honeywell on June 23 announced it will supply an extensive automation solution to Fermion Oy's pharmaceutical factory in Oulu, Finland. The order covers the entire plant automation system including all process control, recipe handling, production monitoring and reporting requirements of the plant. The system is scheduled for start-up in the fall of 2006.

"We needed an automation solution that would do more than just ensure product quality," said Kari Koivisto, director of the Fermion factory in Oulu. "Honeywell solutions are designed to meet the exacting production requirements of the pharmaceutical industry. We knew we could count on Honeywell to deliver a comprehensive solution to help us control and monitor every aspect of the production process, and stay on top of all industry standards and regulations."

The order includes an Experion Process Knowledge System, basic planning including process functional descriptions, application engineering plus commissioning and startup. The new system will exploit the plant's existing process interface units, to which the system connects via Profibus. In addition, the Experion solution will be integrated with the Orion ERP system.

"The various process industries impose different requirements on automation," said Timo Saarelainen, managing director of Honeywell Finland. "We have made a conscious choice in developing our systems, solutions, applications and project activities to focus on serving our diverse customer base in accordance with their specific business requirements. We're very happy to provide Experion technology solutions to Fermion and help the factory in Finland optimize operations."

A subsidiary of Orion Pharma, Fermion Oy develops, manufactures and markets active pharmaceutical ingredients to Orion Pharma and other companies in the generic and proprietary pharmaceutical business. Fermion produces the active ingredients of all Orion Pharma's proprietary pharmaceuticals.