Valves & Fluid Control: Drifting Toward Simplicity, Flexibility

By Paul Thomas, Senior Editor

AS PHARMA and biopharma ride the preventive and predictive maintenance wave, understanding and controlling specific pieces of equipment becomes critical. “The  industry continues to expand its requirements for valve control, diagnostics and automation, says Rick Zinkowski, BioPharm Segment Manager for Bürkert Fluid Control  Systems. “Be it de-centralized or centralized automation, clients are looking for cost effective multi-component solutions.”

Bürkert and other process valve and instrument manufacturers are taking into account the impact of trends such as single-use applications and modulebased system  solutions, he says. It’s all about flexibility, modularity, and multiple solutions, he says. “It’s not just a single component any longer.” Bürkert, for instance, is combining  process valves with pneumatics, sensing devices and controllers to provide both centralized and decentralized solutions.