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

June 10, 2021, Mainz, Germany

  • 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.
Row of five red pharmaceutical glass containers standing in front of a tablet computer
Smart Skin offers in-depth analysis of filling and packaging lines, providing precise pressure management to reduce glass breakage, bruising and micro fractures and optimizing performance. Image: Smart Skin Technologies
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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.

Links:
Learn more about SCHOTT pharma services
Find out more about the second Smart Skin financing round

Pioneering – responsibly – together

These attributes characterize SCHOTT as a manufacturer of high-tech materials for specialty glass. Founder Otto Schott is considered its inventor and became the pioneer of an entire industry. Always opening up new markets and applications with a pioneering spirit and passion – this is what has driven the #glasslovers at SCHOTT for more than 130 years. Represented in 34 countries, the company is a highly skilled partner for high-tech industries: Healthcare, Home Appliances & Living, Consumer Electronics, Semiconductors & Datacom, Optics, Industry & Energy, Automotive, Astronomy, and Aerospace. In the fiscal year 2020, its 16,500 employees generated sales of of 2.24 billion euros (US$ 2.49 billion). With the best teams, supported by the best digital tools, the group intends to continue to grow. SCHOTT AG is owned by the Carl Zeiss Foundation, one of the oldest foundations in Germany. It uses the Group's dividends to promote science. As a foundation company, SCHOTT has anchored responsibility for employees, society and the environment deeply in its DNA. The goal is to become a climate-neutral company by 2030.

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Rina Della Vecchia, Senior Marketing Communication Manager
Rina Della Vecchia

Senior Marketing Communication Manager