Boehringer Ingelheim - New Fast Track OSD Facility

Project Overview

The pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim am Rhein needed a partner to design and build an OSD production facility within just 18 months—from the first sketch to the start of commercial production. High flexibility and modularity were further requirements, as commercial production would run for a limited time before the facility was remodeled for other purposes. In addition to time and flexibility, simplification was the third design driver, with lessons learned to be applied in future projects.

Project Approach

Exyte* began with a three-week feasibility study, translating the given process into a facility concept and developing the overall project execution strategy for the ultra fast-track schedule.

The facility concept separated—both in design and construction—“a column-free building shell” from all “interior finishes, technical systems, and process equipment.” This approach, combined with the agile interlacing of design, tender, and construction activities, delivered a weatherproof building shell only nine months after the feasibility study began. This allowed contractors to work simultaneously on three floors and temporarily in up to three shifts. Mechanical completion of most systems was achieved 13 months after project start, and commercial production began after a total of 18 months.

*This work was completed by Pharmaplan, now part of Exyte