A Combined Feed-Forward/Feed-Back Control System for a QbD-Based Continuous Tablet Manufacturing Process

Continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing together with PAT (Process Analytical Technology) provides a suitable platform for automatic control of the end product quality as desired by QbD (quality by design)-based efficient manufacturing. The precise control of the quality of the pharmaceutical product requires corrective actions in the process/raw material variability before product quality can be influenced. In this manuscript, a combined feed-forward/feed-back control system has been developed for a direct compaction continuous tablet manufacturing process. The feed-forward controller takes into account the effect of process disturbances proactively while the feed-back control system ensures the end product quality consistently. The coupled feed-forward/feed-back control system ensures the minimum variability in the final product quality irrespective of process and raw material variations. The performance of the combined control strategy has been evaluated through process simulation and is found to be more effective in comparison with a feed-back only control strategy and, therefore, demonstrates potential to further improve pharmaceutical tablet manufacturing operations. View Full-Text