Safety and compliance are non-negotiable in the fine chemicals industry, which produces complex, pure chemical substances such as active pharmaceutical ingredients. Fine chemicals are batch driven, with complicated, multistage processes where accuracy and efficiency are critical. 

In this industry, one of the keys to ensuring both safety and compliance is that measurements taken throughout the production process are accurate, which can be challenging to say the least with paper-based calibration. Paper-based calibration is time consuming and because it relies on manual data entry, prone to errors.

A Tale of Three Steves

Stephen Jerge, Calibration Supervisor for Lonza Biologics, a multinational chemical and biotechnology company, recently walked attendees of the Beamex Annual Calibration Exchange (ACE) through the project he headed to transition from a paper-based calibration management system (CMS) to an integrated, digital, paperless solution using Beamex CMX. Steve has over 30 years of calibration experience in the telecommunication and pharmaceutical industries.

Over the last 3 years, his primary focus has been contributing to Lonza’s global paperless SAP/CMX integrated solution through implementation, training, and supporting calibration operations and expansion projects.

Watch the presentation video recording now!

In this blog post, we’ll share The Tale of Three Steve’s as we follow his journey from 2017 Steve, a stressed-out, overworked supervisor; to 2019 Steve as he underwent the rollout of a new, automated system; to Steve 2021, whose focus is on continuous improvement.

It’s time to say goodbye to error-prone paper-based calibration!

While the pen might be mightier than the sword, in process industries pen-and-paper based calibration systems are a weak spot that is desperately in need of attention. Automating your calibration ecosystem saves time, reduces the risk of errors, and enables your organization to use calibration data for business benefits.

But what are the steps involved in implementing an automated process, and what support is on offer to help you succeed? Read on to find out.

Our modern history is defined by the advent of writing. Writing is humankind’s principal technology for collecting, manipulating, storing, retrieving, communicating, and disseminating information. Before we learned to write, we lived in an era referred to as pre-history, or prehistoric times. As humans evolved, began cultivating land, and started living a less nomadic existence, the documentation of events became more sophisticated. Cave drawings gave way to hieroglyphics; stone tablets evolved into scrolls and then into bound books; the invention of typeset documents gave more and more people access to the written word. Today, we can send emails, text messages, and a variety of other digital communication around the world in a matter of seconds. Humans have evolved and documentation has evolved, and with it the way in which we manage calibration.

Recently, Patrick Zhao, Corporate Instrument & Analyzer SME for Braskem America, spoke at the Beamex Annual Calibration Exchange. He presented on Braskem’s, the largest petrochemical company in the Americas, integration of their computerized maintenance management systems and calibration management software. The presentation was so well received that we wanted to share some of the highlights with you and also provide a link to the full video recording, found below.