Many suppliers in the pharmaceutical production industry want to move away from individual machines and towards complete systems, even though the turnkey segment is just as competitive. In this interview by PROCESS PharmaTEC, Thomas Fricke, Commercial Director at Ima Pharma, reveals the company’s competitive positioning, where he sees the company’s strengths and why he needs to keep a close eye on Chinese competitors.

Siemens has introduced a new 4.0 version of the web-based process control system Simatic PCS which can be used for process plants of any size. It has also launched a new hardware platform for the process control system – the Simatic S7-4100 controller generation and the Simatic CN 4100 communication node.

Natron Energy and Arxada have announced the world’s first large-scale production of battery grade prussian blue materials at Arxada’s plant in Visp, Switzerland. The plant will supply the materials to Natron Energy in order to develop a battery capacity of up to 600 MW every year.

Enablers of production – Same old in the “pump halls”? Not this time! If the production of tomorrow wants to truly unleash its efficiency potentials, pump experts are challenged. In fact, the largest exhibitor group at Achema is more innovative and digital than ever before.

Neste, Idemitsu Kosan, Chimei and Mitsubishi Corporation have come together to develop a unique renewable plastics supply chain which will make use of bio-based hydrocarbons (Neste Re) for the production of styrene monomer (bio-SM), and its mass balanced renewable plastics derivatives including acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (bio-ABS) for the production of renewable plastics.

Air Liquide has sold its Industrial Merchant Business in Saudi Arabia to Abdullah Hashim Industrial Gases & Equipment. With this deal, the company plans to focus on large industries and emerging new opportunities in clean hydrogen and energy transition in the GCC region especially Saudi Arabia.

Under a MOU signed between Ineos and Plastic Energy, both the companies will produce 100,000 tonnes of recycled raw materials from plastic waste and create virgin-quality polymers. The partners will also explore the construction of a commercial-scale plant.

Nuberg EPC has secured an engineering, procurement, and construction management service contract for developing Chemfab Alkalis’ 250 TPD Chlor-Alkali plant project in Karaikal, Puducherry, India. The EPC firm has plans to use the latest bi-polar membrane-based electrolysis system technology for the project.

Loading arms for LNG are almost as unique as a fingerprint. No two are exactly the same. Luvra Hydraulik and R. Stahl work together to ensure that these crane-like structures can move and are safe to operate. Luvra is responsible for planning the industrial hydraulic system, including the electrical engineering. Following this, R. Stahl constructs the explosion-protected electrical control systems — tailored to each individual project.

Rare-earth magnets are claimed to be strong permanent magnets made from alloys of rare-earth elements which produce significantly stronger magnetic fields than other types of magnets. Solvay has plan to develop a ‘rare earth magnet hub’ in Europe to cater to the fast-growing electric vehicles, wind power, and electronics markets.