Successful implementation of DeltaV at Sicor
 Sicor
Italy is one of the most important pharmaceutical companies
in that country and is a world leader in bulk steroid production,
although it is now also focusing on the production of potent
drugs. With headquarters at Rho, close to Milan, the company
is now investing heavily at their site 100 km north west from
there at Santhia, which was originally acquired in 1994.
Enlargement of the Santhia site commenced in 1996 and has
recently included the refurbishing of the original buildings,
QC laboratory and R&D department, followed by the creation
of a new department producing highly toxic molecules with
high containment levels. In this department, particular features
are the reduced plant scale, the high product value and the
need for manual operations and automatic sequences at the
same time.
 Sicor
needed to maximise product quality and be able to introduce
a process automation system that could easily be expanded
in future, in line with the operation itself. The DeltaV digital automation
system from Emerson Process Management was chosen and was developed
as a plant supervision structure that is able to satisfy Quality
Control requirements through process data reading. Designed
by Emerson Process Management Italy, the new system includes three workstations;
two in supervision rooms, with the third in the engineering
area.
Sicor are already benefiting from the drag and drop tools
and the plant supervision that allows the real time situation
to be controlled using the friendly graphic interface. Operators
find the DeltaV system easy to operate and are able to solve
any problems as they arise.
The availability of real time data for Control Quality analysis
is particularly valuable for FDA validation purposes. The
flexibility of the software allows Sicor to manage the process
either in automatic mode, or in manual mode for some operations
that require manual intervention. All of this has led to the DeltaV
system simplifying management operations and also being used to assist
with the development of new product strategies.
 Instrumentation
in the new plant uses the HART protocol and includes Rosemount
temperature transmitters, pressure transmitters and vortex
meters plus Micro Motion mass flow meters. In the future, FOUNDATION
fieldbus technology will be seamlessly introduced to improve
plant performance and simplify plant control still further.
This will not require any additional training for the staff
at Santhia, due to the versatility and scaleability of the
DeltaV system.
Over the years, the name of Sicor (Societa Italiana Corticosteroidi
S.p.A.) has become synonymous with the highest quality standards,
reliability and technical skill. They are regarded as one
of the world's most reliable suppliers of anticancer drugs,
steroids and muscle relaxants, and the installation of the
DeltaV system at Santhia will ensure that their high standards
are maintained as the company continues to expand in line
with ever-growing market requirements.
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