Plant of the Year.

Recognising innovative approach to preserving HART investments while advancing digital connectivity.

FieldComm Group, the global industrial automation standards organisation defining open, interoperable standards for industrial communication, device management, and enterprise connectivity, has named Tianxin Pharmaceutical (Jiangxi) Co., Ltd. its 2026 Plant of the Year, recognising the company's innovative use of HART-IP over Ethernet-APL to modernise pharmaceutical manufacturing, improve operational efficiency and establish a scalable foundation for future growth.

Located in Leping, Jiangxi Province, China, Tianxin's modernisation project supports more than 40,000 signal points across 15 main production workshops, including over 12,000 Ethernet-APL intelligent instruments. By bringing HART-IP communications directly to the field over Ethernet-APL, Tianxin has created a more efficient digital infrastructure while preserving the HART knowledge, tools and workflows familiar to its operations and maintenance teams.

"Tianxin Pharmaceutical exemplifies what the FieldComm Group Plant of the Year Award is all about, turning technology innovation into meaningful operational results," said Ted Masters, President and CEO of FieldComm Group. "Their implementation demonstrates that manufacturers don't have to choose between protecting proven investments and advancing digitalisation. By bringing Ethernet-APL and HART-IP together, Tianxin is establishing a practical model for smarter, more connected industrial operations."

Driven by evolving production requirements and stringent safety regulations, Tianxin's modernisation delivers measurable results, including:

• Lower costs: Approximately 400 km less cabling and 80% less cable-tray space.
• Faster commissioning: 10 months in commissioning now, reduced 3~5 months compared with previous.
• Improved safety: Intrinsically safe instrument spur wiring for hazardous-area operations.
• Greater flexibility: Simplified plant modifications and future expansion.

The project brings together technologies from multiple industrial automation suppliers, with SUPCON serving as Tianxin's distributed control system (DCS) provider and supplying approximately 60% of the intelligent field instruments. The remaining instruments are sourced from other manufacturers, demonstrating the value of an interoperable, multivendor architecture.

"It is a great honor to be named FieldComm Group's 2026 Plant of the Year," said Mr. Tang Yong, Deputy Chief Engineer of Tianxin Pharmaceutical. "Our goal was to create a safer, more efficient and adaptable manufacturing environment. HART-IP over Ethernet-APL has helped us achieve this while building on our existing HART expertise. We are grateful to FieldComm Group, SUPCON and our industry partners for their contributions and look forward to continued collaboration and innovation."

Tianxin is applying lessons from its Jiangxi modernisation project to its greenfield manufacturing development in Qingtongxia, Ningxia. Its achievement reflects the purpose of FieldComm Group's annual Plant of the Year Award, which recognises industrial facilities demonstrating exceptional use of FieldComm Group technologies to improve plant operations, maintenance and asset performance.

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• See also Plant of the Year for communications and connectivity. (14 Nov 2025)

@FieldCommGroup  #Tianxin_Pharma  #PAuto #Standard 

Deep UV Raman spectroscopy.

ODIN is a new, compact, and reliable deep UV resonant Raman instrument developed by IS-Instruments (IS-I) and TOPTICA for measurement of biopharma products.

The system combines the newly developed solid state diode laser TopWave 229 and a spatial heterodyne spectrometer integrated into a single instrument with a unique all-reflective backscatter Raman collection probe. Sample damage caused by extended laser exposure has been mitigated via the introduction of a dynamic sample positioning stage.

“Deep UV resonant Raman has long been known to have the potential for being able to measure substances other spectroscopic techniques have not so far been capable of. Equally, the instruments currently available are extremely large, and expensive both to purchase and to maintain. This has made the technology accessible only to those organisations with physical space to house them and with significant budgets to operate them. Odin represents a departure from that as itis smaller and doesn't have the internal mechanisms associated with high running costs.”

Dr Michael Foster, Co-Founder & Director, IS-Instruments

The TopWave 229 is an exciting new choice for deep UV spectroscopists looking for a reliable laser that enables the user to focus on their application rather than worrying about the light source. With its short wavelength and an ultra-narrow laser linewidth (< 1 MHz ? < 4 x 10^-5 cm^-1), the TopWave 229 offers the critical features to meet a challenge such as excitation source in the field of deep UV Raman and deep UV fluorescence spectroscopy.

It was designed for a compact footprint and easy integration. Comfortable, hands-off operation is ensured by fully automated optimization routines for the internal opto-mechanics. In order to provide best reliability and consistent, diffraction limited beam quality (M² ? 1.3) the complete UV beam path is enclosed in a specially sealed compartment.

With its state-of-the-art laser controller, the TopWave 229 offers a wide range of operating options and systems integrators will appreciate the comprehensive command language that enables smooth integration with central control software.

A general description of the instrument is provided by Michael Foster, William Brooks (both IS-I) and Philipp Jahn (TOPTICA) in this white paper.

The technical report describes a new deep UV Raman instrument developed by IS-Instruments (ISI) and TOPTICA, and its first application to the measurement of biopharma products. The instrument performance is excellent acquiring spectra in a fraction of the time compared to existing systems, while its stability, compactness and ease of use are a game changer in terms of deep UV systems. In this note, a general description of the instrument is provided together with a test campaign examining products including IgG and antibody fragments.

The instrument has been demonstrated to successfully capture the Raman spectra of a range of biochemical samples, including immunoglobulin (IgG) at varying concentrations, tryptophan, and a series of domain antibody (dAb) samples. The dAb samples were extracted at different stages of a pilot bioreactor manufacturing process and at varying dilutions. To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first time an observation of this type has been made.

@CsiInstruments @TOPTICA_AG #Pharma 

Ground-breaking piezo proportional flow control valve.

The new VEMD proportional flow control valve from Festo uses the latest piezo technology to deliver highly dynamic control for numerous medical and other industrial control applications.

The VEMD is a mass flow controller integrating a flow sensor with a proportional valve and controller and is designed to proportionally control the flow of compressed air and inert gases within a small, neat and calibrated package. It compares the required signal value with the actual, sensor-measured value within its closed loop electronic controller and then adjusts the output using the piezo pilot valve. The piezo pilot valve provides a wide variety of advantages including silent operation, the absence of heat generation, a compact and lightweight design and long service life – as well as an unmatched low power consumption of only one Watt.

These characteristics make the VEMD eminently suitable for life sciences and mobile applications, ranging from ventilators and anaesthesia to operating equipment for ophtalmology and dental drills. Its small size, energy efficiency and silent operation make it ideal for patient-side operation for those who are bed bound and need rest uninterrupted by noisy solenoids. It is also very attractive for patients reliant on portable oxygen delivery systems where it is less socially intrusive than alternative designs. An additional benefit is that it is non-magnetic and so does not interfere with other medical equipment.

Other industries can also benefit for the VEMD’s unique characteristics, including applications in semiconductor / electronics manufacture (control of combustive gases), food and beverage (quality inspection, protective gas delivery) and pharma (bioreactors and fermenters). In special purpose machine building, the VEMD can be specified for a wide variety of tasks, such as mixing of air into test stations, controlling humidity, inert gas welding, 3D printing, mass spectrometry and many more.

Easy to control, precise dynamics
The VEMD is designed to control flows of up to 20 l/m at a maximum pressure of 2.5 bar. The modular design of the VEMD addresses the needs of OEM customers as well as end users.

The gas flow at the output of the valve can be adjusted very easily and controlled in linear mode by entering a setpoint between 0 and 10 V. An integrated control circuit with thermal sensor makes the VEMD precise and dynamic. It responds up to 35 times faster than comparable products to a setpoint change, and is ready for operation straight out of the box.

 #Lifesciences #Pharma @festo_global

MES for Pharma in Middle East & Pakistan.

Werum IT Solutions has announced a new partnership with Emad Trade House. Emad Trade House is a leading trading company with over 40 years of experience in providing cost effective solutions such as raw and packaging materials as well as process equipment to the pharma, cosmetics, food and beverage industry in Pakistan and the Middle East region.

LtoR: Orchun Thakral, Senior Manager of Sales & Marketing WErum; Emad Shabbir, Director Emad; David Margetts, Managing Director Werum.

Werum’s PAS-X MES enables pharmaceutical and biotech facilities to run manufacturing processes completely paperless at the highest level and to be compliant with international GMP guidelines and FDA regulations. The requirements of the pharma industry are directly addressed by Werum’s out-of-the-box PAS-X solution without any need for expensive and time-consuming customization. Based on standard functionality and best practice content, pharma and biotech manufacturers will be able to have the number one global pharma MES up and running in a very short time.

“We’re very pleased that Emad Trade House will join us as a sales partner to expand our presence in the Middle East region and to be able to support our first activities in Pakistan to grow the PAS-X user base. We look forward to working closely with their team and to learn from their excellent understanding of the market”, says David Margetts, Managing Director, Werum IT Solutions Ltd, Thailand. “Together with Emad Trade House we will be able to increase the availability and access to cutting-edge manufacturing IT that will dramatically improve the quality and efficiency of producing important medicines in Pakistan and the Middle East.”

Mr. Emad Shabbir, Director, Emad Trade House, adds “We are looking forward to this collaboration with Werum IT Solutions having no doubt that this partnership will yield great success. With Werum's technical expertise and our strong outreach in the market, surely we will achieve new milestones together."

 @Werum #PAuto #Pharma

Speeding time-to-market for pharmaceutical and biotech operations.

DeltaV™ Discovery, an automation solution for research and discovery laboratories that accelerates new product introduction for life sciences manufacturers has been introduced by Emerson. Life sciences enterprises can streamline their product lifecycle by integrating DeltaV Discovery as a common platform earlier, enabling more efficient development activity and accurate technology transfer from laboratory through production-scale operations.

Life sciences enterprises must bring safe, cost-effective drugs and therapies to patients quickly. Emerson delivers automation strategies that support rapid innovation in the fast-changing and competitive healthcare market. DeltaV Discovery expands these capabilities by providing automation technology earlier in the development cycle to support research and discovery activities.

DeltaV Discovery is a technology component of Emerson’s Operational Certainty™ programme designed to help industrial companies achieve top performance.

“With a $2.6B average cost to develop a commercially viable drug over a ten-plus year development period, companies must find ways to more efficiently scale up to commercial operations and reduce the time-consuming process of technology transfer,” says John Nita, vice president, life sciences, Emerson Automation Solutions. “DeltaV Discovery is vital in helping our life sciences customers ensure the work done in the research stage translates to a successfully operating production facility in the fastest possible time at the lowest possible cost.”

DeltaV Discovery delivers the capabilities of the DeltaV Distributed Control System (DCS) - already used widely for large-scale manufacturing - in a less complex and more compact size. This is convenient for research laboratories where a smaller footprint and easy automation integration are important. The smaller form factor and easier integration make it possible for the same automation application already used in production-scale operations to also be used in the product development pipeline.

DeltaV Discovery has a smaller footprint because it does not require physical hardware controllers or I/O cards. Automation strategies and I/O processing are all executed in a compact workstation. DeltaV Discovery interfaces to lab-scale equipment via multiple Ethernet protocols including OPC, Modbus/TCP, and Ethernet/IP.

Even with the smaller size, DeltaV Discovery delivers powerful capabilities - including batch management and integrated historians - not commonly found in a laboratory automation platform. DeltaV Discovery facilitates data integrity, 21 CFR part 11, and ISA-88 standards for batch execution and history collection. It also delivers alarms, events, and advanced batch data integration to the user in a single workstation. DeltaV Discovery delivers automation and compliance capabilities of commercial manufacturing to the lab.

@EMR_Automation #PAuto #biolife @Emerson_News #Pharma