The event was put together by IDMA-GSB and Clean India Journal
The Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association – Gujarat State Board (IDMA-GSB) successfully concluded its 43rd AGM on 26th February, 2022 with a Virtual Discussion on Cleaning Technologies and Solutions for the Pharma Industry, organised by Clean India Journal. It was attended by scores of participants who avidly participated in the interactive session.
This year’s AGM was kicked off with a welcome speech by Jay Patel, Director, Astral SteriTech Pvt Ltd. The outgoing Chairman Milan R Patel and the incoming Chairman Dr Shrenik Shah shared their thoughts and insights on the important role the association played in the past two years.
The national president of IDMA Viranchi Shah spoke briefly about the association making it through the pandemic and congratulated the members for their commitment and determination in manufacturing essential medications required by the general public during this difficult phase.
With the helpful guidance of Milan R Patel, Clean India Journal designed a webinar to understand the requirements of the pharma sector, and how the facility management industry can fulfill them. Its editor Mohana M announced a special issue only for the pharma industry, that will feature the various technologies available in India pertaining to pharma FM. These pointers will assist pharma companies in maintaining their units in a clean, hygienic, safe and sustainable manner.
In his inaugural speech, Dr Shrenik K Shah emphasised the importance of cleaning in the pharma industry, which he said was becoming important and challenging. He underlined the criticality of cleaning validation, and stressed on the need for better technology and cleaning methods, which in turn help to maintain stringent pharmaceutical production protocols. According to him, the growth of the pharma sector was stimulating the growth of the cleaning market as well. Dr Shah added: “It is very important to remove all traces of ingredients from the production equipment to prevent the transfer of ingredients from one product to the next. We need to comply with local and international regulation standards to ensure consumer safety.”
In his keynote address, Milan R Patel said that the same kind of focus, concern and weightage that is given to the production process has to be given to facility management, since it encompasses everything. Patel continued: “There are several areas that need to be cleaned at different levels with different products and different operations.”
M K Srinivas, Country Manager – IVS (India & Bangladesh) & Head – Centre of Excellence (Global Emerging Markets), Nilfisk opened his talk by mentioning that cleaning technology is meant not only to ensure that floors and surroundings were clean; it has to do with air quality and machinery maintenance as well. Investing in good machines will serve its purpose in the long run.
Cdr Vinod Nair, Head – Business Transformation, ISS Facility Services India Pvt. Ltd. pointed out that housekeeping staff need to be aware of much more than just basic cleaning and sanitary procedures. They need to be specially trained in energy conservation, waste management, pest control and many other such protocols as well.
Subhash Baidya, Vice President – Operations Unit 1, Mankind Pharma shared that general area cleaning was outsourced by his organisation, but where core and critical areas were concerned, they had specifically trained employees who took ownership of the maintenance of areas and machineries.
The webinar concluded with a vote of thanks to the core committee members and all the members of IDMA-GSB. A special note of gratitude was conveyed to the team at Clean India Journal for organising an informative and insightful session.
