Blood plasma forms the basis of many life-saving therapies and is also an important building block for future active ingredients in medical research. As the general planner for Octapharma, ZETA implemented an industry-leading EPCM project resulting in the doubling of plasma throughput at the Vienna, Austria manufacturing site.
The global producer of human protein products expanded its plasma fractionation production facilities. As the manufacturer's general planner, ZETA led the major project. The plasma throughput has more than doubled in two expansion steps. In the first step an additional new manufacturing building was constructed, while in the second step, the new equipment was integrated with the existing production.
ZETA always met our schedule and used the planned shutdown times to integrate the new equipment and processes
The pharmaceutical industry relies on ZETA's many years of experience in production processes and solutions for life-saving blood plasma products. The company's extensive biopharmaceutical expertise in the areas of precipitation, centrifugation and mixing is in high demand, as is the gentle thawing of protein solutions.
Turnkey project management
Octapharma relied on ZETA's extensive planning and project management expertise and opted for implementation based on the full EPCM (Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management) model.
"We worked successfully with ZETA on other large projects and because of our positive experience, we entrusted ZETA with the general planning," said Production Manager Albin Hauler, Octapharma.
The heart of the project, the blood plasma processing plant, was planned and constructed directly by ZETA. As the general planner, ZETA was also responsible for all essential planning phases and the coordination of the trades involved. The spectrum included structural planning, construction, cleanroom, HVAC, electrical engineering, black media supply, fire protection and EMS/BMS.
As the actual builder, as well as the general planner, ZETA demonstrates unparalleled expertise for complex turnkey projects.
Scheduling to keep vital processes running
A central requirement was to keep the current plasma production running on the existing systems, while implementing and integrating the new construction site.
"As with all projects, strict adherence to the schedule is essential. ZETA always met our schedule and used the planned shutdown times to integrate the new equipment and processes into the existing production," said Gerhard Gatterwe, Project Manager for Octapharma.
ZETA's expertise could be in demand again as several important follow-up projects for further expansion are planned. "Mutual trust is high and the success of the Octapharma project is ultimately the greatest proof. We look forward to a successful future together," added Johannes Koch, Associate Director of Engineering at ZETA Group.