Case study on plant location of pharmaceutical industry.

Abstract: One of the most challenging tasks you will face as an entrepreneur, irrespective of
the type of business you plan to venture into is the problem of deciding the best site for your
business, plant or factory. Whether a business thrives or flounders is greatly dependent on the
location. It is advisable that you do an in-depth research on all the factors that might hinder the
success of your decisions before making a long term financial commitments and investing your
time, energy and resources into any location.

Why you should make the right choice of pharmaceutical plant location?
Your ability to select appropriate location is important as it partially determines your company’s
level of operating and capital costs, determines the nature of investment costs to be incurred,
fixes some of the physical factors of the overall plant designs for instance heating and ventilation
requirements, storage capacity of raw material taking into consideration their local availability,
transportation need for raw materials and finished goods, power needs ,cost of labours, taxes,
land construction, fuel, etc.
Factors you need to consider in making the choice of your pharmaceutical plant
location

1. Availability of raw materials

An ideal location for your pharmaceutical company is one where the raw materials used in the
manufacturing processes are readily available. This ensures constant supply of raw material and
reduction in the operational cost.
2. Nearness to the market
Reduction in your company’s overhead expenses and transportation cost can be achieved if your
company is located near the target market. Also, important information about your company’s
market can be easily obtained and analyzed by the management specifically for the generation
of strategies, confident decision-making and formulation of production policies with regards to
market opportunity, market development and market penetration strategy.
3. Constant Power supply
Constant power supply is a pre-requisite for the localization of pharmaceutical industries as the
need for cheap, continuous, and adequate supply of electricity are of paramount importance.
The cost of running a company using generators is usually high and this increases your company’s
overhead cost and you might find it difficult paying your workers.
4. Supply of Labour
Since labour is one of the most important inputs required to transform raw materials into
consumer goods, it is necessary that you locate your company where both skilled and unskilled
labour are readily available at cheaper rate.
5. Transportation Networks
Efficient transportation service is very important for marketing and distribution of finished
products, bringing raw materials and supplies, as well as allowing your customers to reach you
without difficulty. Good road networks, railways, water and air transport systems are considered
to be appropriate for the location of your company. Also the cost of the available means of
transportation should be put into consideration.
6. Communication
Good communication facilities, such as, internet, postal and telecommunication links are of great
importance towards the success of a business. It is very important that you open communication
channels between you and your customers. Areas with good communication system should be
given priority when it comes to making choice of a pharmaceutical plant location.
7. Water supply
The availability of constant water supply is another important require-ment for pharmaceutical
industries. Even when you drill a borehole, it is advisable to check if the water in that area is good
for manufacturing.
8. Suitability of land and climate
Most industries need flat expanses of cheap land on which they build their factories. The soil type
of a proposed location should be able to support the load likely to be placed on it. Climate on the
other hand affects the choice of a pharmaceutical plant location. Extremely hot, humid, dry or
cold climate are not much suitable for the establishment of pharmaceutical plants.
9. Integration with other group of companies
It is advisable to locate your pharmaceutical industries in an area where other factories are
already in existence. Liabilities like repairing of roads, buying of transformer etc., can be shared
among the companies whenever the need arises. Thereby reducing the amount your company
would have spent in fixing such problem assuming it was to be located in an isolated area.
10. Availability of housing, other amenities and services
Setting up your pharmaceutical plant in an area where there is good housing facility, schools,
hospitals, banking facilities, restaurants, local transport facilities, shopping malls water supply,
drainage, disposal of waste, churches/mosque, etc., can easily attract good staff especially the
skilled ones.
11. Local building and planning regulation
In some cases, there is already a plan either from the local government or from the state
government that an area has been mapped out for some projects. Proposed location should not
infringe local regulations and bye-laws. To avoid losing what you have worked for, a discussion
with survey department of the local authority is most desirable. Laws for the construction of
buildings, local taxes etc. should be taken into consideration before you finally decide where to
locate your company.
12. Environmental impact, waste disposal and Safety requirements
Full considerations should be given to the difficulty and cost of disposal of all waste products
generated during production processes. The safety of your workers and the populace is very
important and should be put into consideration especially if your industry is likely to cause
pollution or process explosion. Such industries should be located far away from residential areas.
Workers who are allergic to some substances (e.g., lactams) should not be exposed to such.
Conclusion
It is worth noting that these factors explained above influence your choice of pharmaceutical
plant location at different degrees. The extent to which they affect your choice of pharmaceutical
plant location is greatly dependent on the nature and size of the proposed business or company.
 Case study on plant layout of pharmaceutical industry

Abstract: Once you have decided on where to locate your pharmaceutical company, the next
important thing you need to do is to plan a suitable layout for your pharmaceutical plant. While
designing a pharmaceutical plant, you need to understand and follow the basic regulatory
requirements for the construction of a pharmaceutical plant.
Introduction
According to National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC), your proposed
layout and design should aim at minimizing the risk of errors and permit effective cleaning and
maintenance in other to avoid cross-contamination, build-up of dust or dirt and in general, any
adverse effect on the products. The best way to achieve this goal is to design the layout in such a
way that it follows a logical order corresponding to the steps of the operation.

What is a pharmaceutical plant layout?

Pharmaceutical plant layout/ factory layout refers to the allocation of space and the arrangement
of machines, furniture and other important administration and necessary services needed in a
production process within a factory building in other to perform the various unit operations
involved in the manufacturing process of dosage forms in a cost effective manner and with the
least amount of handling in processing the product from the receipt of raw material through the
distribution of the finished product.

Features of a good pharmaceutical plant layout

A good pharmaceutical plant layout should possess the following characteristics:

 There should be adequate floor space for machines installation and utilization
 The machines should be properly arranged to facilitate minimum material handling is
necessary for low cost processing.
 The layout should facilitate smooth and continuous flow of production process from one
point to another without any form of delay
 It must incorporate adequate health, safety and security features such as first aid box, fire
extinguisher, emergency exit and access point
 A good layout should allow effective supervision, coordination and control of the
production processes
 There should be room for adjustment and modifications whenever the need arises.
Advantages of a good pharmaceutical plant layout

The advantages of a good pharmaceutical plant layout includes but are not limited to Optimum use
of available floor space for production operations Improved quality of product due to reduced
chances of cross contamination Efficient arrangement for receipt, transportation, storage, and
delivery of raw material and finished goods.
 Low cost of material handling
 Minimized loss due to waste and spoilage
 Conducive working conditions resulting in improved efficiency.
 Increased productivity with reduced risk of human error
 Minimized risk of occupational hazards/ low incidence of occupational hazards
 Minimized cost and efforts in supervision of production processes.
 Provision of control and supervision operations at appropriate points
 Example of an actual facility layout

Factors Influencing Pharmaceutical Plant Layout

While deciding on how the layout of your pharmaceutical plant would look like, there is need to
evaluate some factors which at different degrees influence your layout design. This is because the
efficiency and how productive your company will be, depends on how well the equipment and
machines used during production processes are arranged. These factors influencing pharmaceutical
plant layout include but are not limited to
1. Location of the proposed company
The size, shape and topology of the site greatly influence the layout design of your plant. The idea
is that you optimally utilize the available space. This equally determines to a great extent the size
and nature of the building.
2. Economic consideration (Cost)
This can be viewed from two perspectives: the cost of construction and the operating cost.
Construction cost can be reduced to the barest minimum if you adopt a design that will support
minimal material handling during production processes. The maintenance cost should also be
considered to avoid spending more money maintaining the building in the long run.
3. Factory building
The shape, size and nature of the proposed factory building also influence the design of your plant
layout. The layout should be such that it follows the basic regulatory requirements for the
construction of a pharmaceutical plant. If your factory building is hired, adjustments should be
made were necessary to suit the needs of your plant and also for optimal utilization of the available
floor space.
4. Nature of product
The type of layout design to be adopted greatly depends on your line(s) of product. For instance,
the layout design of an industry that processes raw materials to create Active Pharmaceutical
Ingredient (API), excipients or ancillary substances used in pharmaceutical formulations will
definitely differ from that of a industries that processes dosage forms such as tablets, injections
etc., from raw materials or intermediate products. However, there may be similarity with respect
to quality control department, raw material quarantine, approved raw materials etc.
5. Production process
The processes that are involved in transformation of raw materials to either semi-finished or
finished products should be critically considered as it greatly affects the layout design of your
proposed company. The layout should be such that there is effective and efficient flow of
production processes to avoid mix up and cross contamination.
6. Production volume
Your choice of layout design will also depend on your company’s scale of production. If your
company engages in large scale production, definitely you will need a layout which will house the
raw materials, machinery, finished products etc. There might be reduced productivity if there is
not enough space. Too much space on the other hand may also reduce productivity and to an extent
a waste of capital which should be used in putting other things in place.
7. Nature of equipment and machines
The type of equipment used during production will also affect how the layout will look like. There
are usually differences in the requirements of each equipment and machines with respect to space;
speed and material handling process. The proposed layout should have enough space to
accommodate the machines and sufficient space should be created between machines to avoid
accident during operations.
8. Repairs and maintenance of machines and equipment
The design should be such that there is adequate space between machines access to machine parts
and components during replacement, repair and regular maintenance.
9. Employees needs and safety
While designing a layout, the safety of employees should be put into consideration. The layout
should not expose the workers to dangerous fumes/gases, excess heat etc., and the floor type should
be non-slippery and free from obstructions to avoid occupational hazards. Arrangement should
also be made for washroom, drinking water, and other employee facilities.
10. Plant environment/climate
Factors like temperature, light, noise, ventilation and other aspects should be duly considered while
designing a plant layout. The quality of raw materials and/or finished products might be
compromised when exposed to extreme climatic conditions.

Conclusion
Planning the layout of a pharmaceutical plant is an important decision as it represents long‐term
commitment. It is also a continuous process as there are always chances of making improvements
or adjustment to the existing arrangement. It should be so designed that the functioning of plant
would become very efficient by providing optimum relationship among output, floor area and
manufacturing process. Although pharmaceutical plant layout differs from plant to plant, the basic
principles governing pharmaceutical plant layout are more or less same.