B Braun selects Honeywell technology for new plant

Offenbach, Germany – Healthcare products major B. Braun has selected Honeywell to provide process control systems for a new factory that will produce clinical nutrition and infusion therapy solutions. The leading infusion factory Europe (LIFE) Nutrition plant, now under construction in Melsungen, Germany, will double the company's production capacity for these products.

Honeywell's Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) will be used at the LIFE Nutrition site to control production processes, optimise production output and maintain quality control standards. The project follows the vendor's involvement in the development of B. Braun’s LIFE1 factory, four years ago.

“Honeywell’s proven technology and experience with LIFE1 made it the obvious choice for the LIFE Nutrition project, which represents an important and significant expansion of our business,” said Thomas Gaebler, vice president Global Process Engineering for B. Braun.

“The pharmaceutical and batch features within Experion PKS combined with Honeywell’s ability to execute specific applications fit our requirements perfectly. We have also had strong service in the past from Honeywell,” added Gaebler.

B. Braun will use Experion to streamlines production at the new factory by allowing plants to unify process, production and business management. The system links critical plant subsystems, including process units and safety systems, and delivers relevant information directly to operators in the control room.

In tandem with the Experion system, Honeywell’s Qualification and Version Control System will allow B. Braun’s plant operators to electronically manage and maintain the control modules. Meanwhile, Experion Batch Manager’s embedded batch functionality will allow B. Braun to execute batches at the control level rather than using a separate server.

The package also includes Honeywell’s Uniformance PHD for the collection, storage and analysis of process data.  The PHD architecture allows data to be gathered from disparate control systems into a unified database for long-term storage. B. Braun will also receive a range of project management services and system training courses.