How Dhanvanthri Cut Pallet Drying Time by 50% for Pfizer with an Automated, GMP-Ready Drying System
Pharmaceutical manufacturers across India are under growing pressure to modernize plant equipment in line with the Revised Schedule M and WHO-GMP compliance requirements. This case study shows how Dhanvanthri Engineers Pvt. Ltd. (DEPL), a leading pharmaceutical conveyor system manufacturer in India, engineered a fully automated pallet tilting and drying solution for Pfizer solving a manual bottleneck with a PLC-controlled, hygienic, repeatable process.
Customer | Pfizer Inc. |
Industry | Pharmaceutical Manufacturing |
Product Category | Pharma Material Handling & Process Automation Equipment |
Material Handled | Sterilized Vial Pallets |
Solution | Automated Pallet Tilting & Drying System |
Project Reference | D-1029 |
The Challenge: A Manual Drying Bottleneck in a Sterile Pharma Line
After washing and sterilization, pallets of pharmaceutical vials needed to be completely dry before moving to visual inspection and packaging. In pharmaceutical manufacturing, even trace residual moisture on vials is a quality and regulatory risk not a minor defect.
Pfizer’s existing process relied entirely on manual pallet drying:
- Pallets held in a fixed tilted position with fans circulating air from both sides
- Each pallet took 3–4 hours to dry
- Wet pallets accumulated faster than they could be processed, creating a production bottleneck
- The extended cycle time reduced overall throughput and increased work-in-progress (WIP) inventory
The Solution: Automated Pallet Tilting & Drying System
DEPL designed and supplied a fully automated pallet drying system purpose-built for pharmaceutical manufacturing environments, combining mechanical precision with PLC-based process automation.
Key Features
- Automatic pallet loading and positioning
- Programmable pallet tilting through multiple angles
- Adjustable tilt durations for optimized drying cycles
- High-capacity dual-side air blowers for uniform airflow
- Rear-mounted exhaust system for continuous moist-air extraction
- Fully automated drying sequence via PLC-based control logic
- Consistent, repeatable, audit-ready drying process with minimal operator intervention
The coordinated tilting motion ensured trapped water drained effectively, while the blower-exhaust combination rapidly removed moisture from every side of the pallet — delivering the kind of hygienic, validated, GMP-aligned equipment design that Indian pharma manufacturers now need under the Revised Schedule M framework.
Results: 50% Faster Drying, ROI in 12 Months
Parameter | Before Automation | After Automation |
Drying Time per Pallet | 3–4 Hours | 90 Minutes |
Process | Manual | Fully Automated |
Throughput | Limited by drying bottleneck | Significantly Increased |
Work-in-Progress Inventory | High | Substantially Reduced |
Drying Consistency | Operator Dependent | Repeatable & Uniform |
Return on Investment | — | ~12 Months |
Key Benefits
- Reduced drying time by up to 50%
- Increased production throughput
- Eliminated pallet accumulation and process bottlenecks
- Improved drying consistency across every pallet
- Reduced manual handling and operator dependency
- Faster movement to inspection and packaging
- ROI achieved in approximately 12 months
Technologies Used
- Automated pallet tilting mechanism
- High-efficiency industrial air blowers
- Moist air exhaust system
- PLC-based automation
- Programmable drying cycle control
- Pharmaceutical-grade material handling design
Why Pharma Manufacturers in India Choose Dhanvanthri Engineers
As India’s pharmaceutical sector moves through its largest regulatory shift in decades under the Revised Schedule M, manufacturers are prioritizing GMP-compliant conveyor systems, hygienic equipment design, and validated (IQ/OQ/PQ) material handling automation. This project reflects DEPL’s approach on every pharma engagement: engineering for compliance, throughput, and reliability not just moving material from point A to point B.
By replacing a slow, manual process with an intelligent automated drying system, DEPL helped Pfizer significantly improve production efficiency while maintaining stringent pharmaceutical quality standards cutting drying time from roughly 3 hours to just 90 minutes and delivering payback within a year.
Looking for a trusted pharma conveyor and material handling automation partner in India? Talk to DEPL’s engineering team.