The subject of "Advances in (Pharmaceutical) Manufacturing Techno-logy" has always been fascinating to all of us and has tremendous potential in our industry.

Technology has transformed the 20th Century and we as pharmacists and technologists must be able to utilize innovative technologies as a "strategic" tool to gain "competitive advantage" in relation to quality and cost of various dosage forms.

The presentation will capture the ''key trends'' of the last decade, process of transformation of technologies and also focus through the crystal ball to see what the future might hold for us.

Progression of the phar-maceutical manufacturing expertise through ''integration of technology'', Modifications to reduce cycle time'', On-line process controls, focus on Environment Health and Safety, Automation and reliability and advancements to make the technology more "compliant to current GMP and Regulatory requirements" will be elaborated through relevant examples.

Application of innovative concepts such as ''Enterprise Re-sources Planning (ERP)'', Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP)'', Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS)'', Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS)'', Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED)'', ''Clean in Place (CIP)'', ''Process Analytical Technologies (PAT)'', etc. will be explained.

A brief introduction to the more recent ''Machine Vision Systems'' that allow identification of defects during packaging and also par events any dangerous product mix-ups will be provided.

Some of the interesting new platforms that are being developed and which may in the next decade change the way we manufacture drugs will be explained.

These technologies include ''Extrusion process'', ''Electro statistics'', ''3-D Printers'' and Barrier Isolation Technology''.

Some examples of new technologies developed for extending the release of drug from solid oral dosage forms will also be provided which include OROS, Ringcap, Pulsincap, etc.

The presentation will thus take you through the roadmap to the future of World Class Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technologies, and provide as insight into the technolo-gical challenges in front of us in the years to come.