FMRG: Eco: Cyber Enabled Transformation to Circular Supply Chains for Sustainable Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Networks

Current pharmaceutical manufacturing systems follow the linear model of “take, make, and dispose”. This model is neither economically nor environmentally sustainable. To enable future manufacturing to transition to a circular economy, making more efficient use of materials through recycling and repurposing, there is a growing emphasis on moving towards circular supply chains (CSCs).

Many industries have begun to convert from centralized batch manufacturing to automation-driven continuous manufacturing that is based on actual, rather than predicted, levels of demand. Yet, while this reduces waste at the single-plant scale, it is not sufficient for the creation of a complete zero waste CSC integrated industrial ecosystem. Models do not exist that connect single-scale plants to the larger network, making it impossible to account for feedback interactions between single-scale process innovations and existing processes across the manufacturing network to optimize resource utilization.

The goal of this project is to enable the design of zero waste future pharmaceutical manufacturing networks at a macroscale using an integrative, multidisciplinary approach focused on novel process chemistry and separation methods, macroscale modeling of manufacturing networks to integrate new processes at scale, and pricing optimization for collaborative decision making through dedicated cyberinfrastructure development. The cyberinfrastructure developed will aid in understanding the feedback loops between plant-scale automated manufacturing and macroscale manufacturing networks in making optimal decisions for adoption of recycling processes at scale and redesign of material flows towards CSCs.

Targeted key contributions of the project are: 1) creating novel modular recycling processes for waste medicines to enable CSCs and digital twin models for the facilities, 2) automating the integration of novel processes in an existing network by advancing algorithms for multi- scale integration and advancing cyberinfrastructure, and 3) creating a dual pricing mechanism and econometric model to transition the whole system to a CSC by facilitating waste exchange and use of recycled active ingredients. These advancements will provide a framework to drive innovations in manufacturing processes at the single scale in convergence with macroscale manufacturing networks to create a zero-waste future manufacturing system.

The approach of integrating modular manufacturing processes at the right scale in the overall network for zero waste pharmaceutical manufacturing will be generalizable to other future manufacturing networks. Graduate education in engineering will be enhanced to include convergence thinking by developing a “Computational Lab” to train interdisciplinary students in process design through macroscale network interactions for economic and environmental sustainability.

Undergraduates and minority students will be engaged in research through Purdue's SURF program and existing Purdue partnerships with HBCUs and Purdue’s Women in Engineering program. For future workforce development in pharmaceutical manufacturing, the project team will partner with Purdue’s existing Biotechnology Innovation and Regulatory Science program and Office of Professional Practice to translate the research outcomes into industrial practice training through workshops for industrial stakeholders, student internships, and partnerships with Ivy Tech Community College.

Integration through a web-based Hub of citizen data for use in driving network decisions will facilitate participation of citizens in sustainable future manufacturing.

This Future Manufacturing award is supported by the following NSF divisions/directorates: CBET/ENG, CMMI/ENG, CHE/MPS, and SBE.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.