With the speed that technology is increasing and improving, it is no wonder that change is imminent in many areas of the economic world, including the development of pharmaceutical facilities.
In the next few years, the future of pharmaceutical facilities is looking forward to an expansion of labs and buildings needed for research and development. Automation and robotic elements will no doubt come into play as well.
Richard Hansen Dean discusses more about the future of pharmaceutical facilities, and some of the interesting changes expected to roll out in the next few years.
Expansion of buildings and labs
According to an article put out by the Wall Street Journal, the demand for science labs surged during the Covid-19 pandemic. Shockingly, over 31 million square feet of space in life sciences has been under development since the fourth quarter of 2021.
New science labs will pave the way for new research to be done. These spaces will promote flexible and versatile workspaces that can adapt and change over time to account for new needs or developments. Many places are also trying to create a space for automation and robotic elements to occur.
Versatility of space
With a demand for more space, there has been a push to revamp old spaces in order to use it to its maximum potential. In many ways, companies are looking for ways to use different spaces in multiple ways, in order to make the space versatile for whatever task is needed throughout the day.
In some cases, the old spaces are simply not enough to satisfy the growing needs of the facility. In these circumstances, companies are looking for new real estate spaces that they can build out however they desire. Alternatively, some companies have demolished their old spaces and built brand new ones to suit their needs.
Automation and robotic elements
Without a doubt, new automatic and robotic technologies will soon come into play in the realm of pharmaceutical facilities. According to one source, within the next few years, more facilities will be operating with almost entirely automated features.
Warehouses are one of the main places that these features are taking place. The goal in the end is to have Automated Guided Vehicles guide and move materials, drug products, or samples from place to place. Warehouses and labs are already planning on installing wider doors, automatic door openers, and adequate flooring for these automatic processes to occur with ease.
There has also been talk of adding AI to lab spaces, which could potentially increase the safety and standardization of the facility.
Overall, the modern future of pharmaceutical facilities must be able to satisfy the needs of many minds at once. The space needs to be constructed in a versatile way in order to ensure the completion of multiple tasks, and it needs to be able to be easily modified so that different tasks can be completed at different points throughout the day.
