The iPad's ability to probe the fine details of operational data and make them comprehensible to those who might not otherwise understand their implications is among the biggest drivers of the device to the pharma factory floor. Its use in tactical functions in an efficiency-tweaker compared with what VP/GM Andy Amalfitano of software supplier Solarsoft Business Systems, sees.
"It can be even more powerful in the hands of management, looking at every strategic advantage that could boost the bottom line. That's where manufacturing intelligence comes into play," he gushes in PharmaPro.
Some might see this as a good thing while others might not. But at this point, there's no stopping the iPad's march into the pharma plant.
Last week we reported Pfizer's use of the device to bring data not normally available on the plant floor to ops personnel. Amalfitano marries the iPad to lean manufacturing, where he believes the device can help cut down on "massive amounts of red tape."
The marriage of ops data and the iPad has already helped manufacturing companies "transformed the way they do business, says the 20-year manufacturing veteran. "I've never seen executives so interested in and eager to manipulate detailed data" according to the article. "We now have CEOs and division presidents making decisions based on what's happening on the factory floor right now."
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