Accelerating the conceptual design of Sanofi Pasteur's new vaccine facility
News / 10.09.2020
Sanofi Pasteur accelerated the conceptual design of their new Evolutive Vaccine Facility using digital twin technologies to simulate different configurations of processes inside the space.
Sanofi Pasteur accelerates the design of its Evolutive Vaccine Facility using digital twins
- Sanofi Pasteur used digital twin technologies through HakoBio to model its new facility and democratize its concept design to internal stakeholders.
- The creation of the concept and process configurations in 3D was achieved in one month, accelerating the conceptual design phase.
- The technology allowed Sanofi Pasteur’s teams to better visualize the facility layout, reduce design risks and evaluate the feasibility of the process within the space.
Innovative tools for an innovative design
Biopharmaceutical facility design requires a meticulous process from concept, to basic and detailed design. Any error in the design can result in costly investments both in time and money. This is why companies need to tip the scales in their favor, during every step of the design, by implementing appropriate tools and solutions to secure process implementation within the facility
For the creation of their Evolutive Vaccine Facility (EVF), Sanofi Pasteur wanted to leverage the 3D model from the early phase of conceptual design using simple, visual and intuitive digital twin technologies. The team envisioned a new type of plant incorporating several production processes around a central unit for the production of 3 to 4 vaccines simultaneously. The concept fits the digital transformation initiative at Sanofi Pasteur, aiming to reduce risks, optimize production performances and costs.
To simulate the 3D digital twin of the facility, Sanofi Pasteur used HakoBio, a web 3D platform allowing the easy creation and exploitation of factory digital twins to simulate production processes across the entire factory life cycle.
Visualizing the future facility to anticipate risks
The team created 3D versions of the plant concept and various process configurations only in one month, accelerating the conceptual design phase of the project. The technology also allowed Sanofi Pasteur to anticipate risks and errors by assessing equipment sizes and their footprint inside the factory, as well as by evaluating the ergonomics of different process configurations inside the space. This was enabled by the fast onboarding of HakoBio and the intuitive user interface, designed to be accessible to everyone, regardless of the skillset or specialization.
“By leveraging visual 3D technologies and making them accessible to anyone through an intuitive interface, we empower biopharmaceutical teams to contextualize complex information and simplify their daily tasks by facilitating access to the necessary information.” said Matthieu Egloff, CEO and co-founder of OUAT!
Let's get immersed in the design!
Once the digital twin ready, Sanofi Pasteur used virtual reality to communicate internally on the design and allow stakeholders to project themselves inside the Evolutive Vaccine Facility and accelerate understanding to end-users.
“The use of the HakoBio platform enables stakeholders at all levels from Executives to shop floor end users to better visualize how processes and operations fit in the facility design at an early stage of the project.“ explained Bruno Tricoire, Head of Tech Transfer at Sanofi Pasteur.
What's next ?
Capitalizing on the digital twin, Sanofi Pasteur is evaluating continuing to use HakoBio to update the 3D model during the next steps of the project.
Globally, OUAT! is evaluating future applications for the use of HakoBio across the entire facility lifecycle:
- Process Simulation: Improve people and material flows within the operating processes and plan production-related activities chronologically.
- Augmented Operators: Minimize operator errors during operations and anticipate their entry to production areas by digitalizing operator learning experiences with virtual and mixed reality.
- Asset Management: Simplify access to real-time data with centralized information and insights by centralizing information digitally in a single visual interface.
These perspectives are key to achieve the digital transformation in the biopharmaceutical industry and to digitalize factories and production processes from planning to industrialization, offering teams user-friendly solutions to support their activities and reach operational excellence.