Enabling optimized fill & finish performance: SCHOTT increases equity share in Smart Skin Technologies

SCHOTT, a leading supplier of primary pharmaceutical packaging, is investing another single-digit million-euro amount into Canadian big data expert Smart Skin as part of their second financing round. Smart Skin offers a monitoring system that helps pharma companies identify weak spots on their production lines. As a result, the pharmaceutical containers run smoothly on the lines, saving the pharma companies time and money. The Smart Skin solution is part of a comprehensive package that SCHOTT offers to improve productivity and increase yield.

At the heart of Smart Skin’s solution are packaging drones that mimic the shape of vials, syringes, or cartridges. They are equipped with hundreds of sensors. As they traverse the filling line with pharmaceutical containers, they measure where they encounter adverse forces, including pressure, spin, tilt and shock. The real-time analysis helps the pharma companies adjust the filling lines to increase their performance and efficiency significantly while reducing wastage.  

“Working closely with SCHOTT has helped us gain deeper insights into pharmaceutical glass packaging,” states Evan Justason, CEO of Smart Skin Technologies. “This has enabled us to support pharmaceutical companies with an even better basis to minimize the downtime in production and optimize the yield.“   

Fabian Stöcker, VP Global Strategy & Innovation for SCHOTT’s pharma business, adds, “Our close cooperation with Smart Skin has been an important enhancement to our portfolio for a number of years. The solution is a powerful lever for our customers to boost productivity. We are more than happy to increase our share with Smart Skin.” 

Complete portfolio to enhance fill & finish
To tackle the challenges that occur on fill & finish lines, SCHOTT further offers mechanical strength testing to identify the root cause of glass breakage. Moreover, SCHOTT’s portfolio features vials that come with an improved geometry (SCHOTT EVERIC® strong) to better withstand pressure, as well as vials with an outer coating that reduces friction (SCHOTT EVERIC® smooth). This allows the containers to run smoothly through the production line. Pharma companies can also combine these features to meet the needs of their individual production setup.