A Strategic Sector, a Growing Responsibility
Seventy thousand people, over 700 companies spread across the country, and one of the most advanced production chains in the world. This is the portrait of the Italian pharmaceutical industry painted by the iCRIBIS Observatory: a complex ecosystem where technology, specialized skills, and rigorous processes coexist every day to ensure quality and innovation.
In such a dynamic and advanced context — one of the driving forces of the national economy — safety cannot be considered a secondary requirement. It is a strategic investment. Protecting human capital means safeguarding the individual first and foremost, but also ensuring operational continuity, preserving corporate know-how, and maintaining the overall value of a sector that generates both economic prosperity and public health.
The Italian pharmaceutical sector continues to demonstrate remarkable vitality: national production approaches €52 billion per year, supported by steady growth and a strong export orientation. At the same time, companies in the sector are accelerating investments in innovation, research and development, and new technologies, allocating over €3.6 billion to these strategic activities (source ANSA.it).
To consolidate and strengthen this growth, production momentum must be accompanied by an equally advanced industrial safety model, one that prioritizes the protection of people and know-how while ensuring operational continuity and stability.
According to INAIL, workplaces involved in the manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations still report a significant number of work-related injuries. The situation becomes even more critical when considering the most severe incidents: each year, the sector records fatal accidents — relatively few, but still unacceptable in an industry operating with some of the highest global standards in terms of control, quality, and innovation.
These figures highlight that, despite strict regulation, real risks remain, particularly in high human-machine interaction areas typical of this type of industry, such as production departments and logistics warehouses.
A clear urgency emerges: investing in productivity alone is not enough. A transformation of the safety model is needed — one capable of preventing accidents before they occur and anticipating risk, not just managing it. Intelligent, dynamic safety that protects people while maintaining, and even enhancing, production efficiency and continuity.
AME: 25 Years of Innovation in Industrial Safety
In this scenario, AME comes into play. For over 25 years, AME has been a leader in developing advanced industrial safety technologies, operating in high-risk environments ranging from industrial plants and logistics facilities to large infrastructures and complex projects.
Our mission is clear: to ensure every person has the right to return home safe and sound.
To make this commitment tangible, we developed AMESPHERE, an integrated digital ecosystem where hardware and software communicate in real-time, enabling operators, vehicles, and infrastructure to interact continuously. The result is a significant improvement in safety standards and a tangible enhancement of production processes.
Key goals of our system include:
• Preventing accidents through LPS sensors, AI cameras, tablets, and active TAGs that monitor people and vehicles in real-time.
• Measuring the risk level of interactions between operators and vehicles/machinery, intervening immediately and only when necessary through alerts, automatic vehicle slowdown, or selective access restrictions to hazardous areas — without compromising productivity.
• Transforming data into actionable insights through objective KPIs, automated reports, and trend analysis that support operational and managerial decisions based on concrete evidence.
AMESPHERE integrates various solutions: collision avoidance, access control, fleet monitoring, management of external personnel, and protection from hazardous machinery, creating a proactive, measurable, and adaptable safety model suitable for any industrial context.
In doing so, it not only protects people but also improves operational efficiency, reduces risks, and strengthens production continuity — turning safety into a genuine competitive advantage.
Solutions That Make a Difference: AMESPHERE in the Pharmaceutical Industry
AMESPHERE can be applied in all high-risk contexts typical of pharmaceutical plants, with particular attention to warehouses and production departments, where human-machine interaction represents the highest risk.
➢ In warehouses, often characterized by narrow aisles, high shelving, and limited visibility, the system provides vehicle-operator and vehicle-vehicle collision prevention solutions, thanks to the integration of advanced sensors, AI cameras, tablets installed on forklifts, AGVs or cranes, and active TAGs worn by operators. This enables:
- Real-time detection of people and moving vehicles;
- Calculation of the actual risk level in each situation;
- Immediate alerts and automatic vehicle slowdown only when real risks are present, avoiding false alarms and unnecessary interruptions.
In many pharmaceutical companies, these solutions are already operational on trilateral forklifts, ensuring safety even during entry and exit maneuvers in the aisles.
➢ In production departments, complexity increases: narrow corridors and moving machinery are often close to laboratories and offices, creating potential hazards for personnel moving between areas. To address this, AMESPHERE allows the creation of custom safe areas, configurable according to plant layout and operational needs.
AMESPHERE Safe Area Applications in Pharmaceutical Production Departments:
When a moving industrial vehicle enters a safe area, the system automatically regulates its speed and priority, reducing collision risks with operators;
Doors and access points can be temporarily locked until vehicles pass through corridors, protecting workers moving between offices and labs without interrupting normal production flow;
Advanced access control can also be integrated, allowing real-time monitoring of who is present in sensitive areas, managing authorizations via RFID, UHF, biometrics, or license plate recognition. Unauthorized access triggers immediate alerts, enabling rapid intervention.
AMESPHERE also protects external personnel — such as doctors, consultants, or visitors — who often move through pharmaceutical plant corridors for visits to production or laboratory areas without fully understanding safety procedures. By equipping them with active TAGs, the system makes them immediately visible to moving vehicles, significantly reducing accident risk and ensuring protection even for inexperienced external staff.
Concrete Benefits of AME Solutions in the Pharmaceutical Sector
All pharmaceutical companies that have adopted AMESPHERE recognize five main advantages:
- Total adaptability – The system adjusts to the specific needs of each plant and vehicle type, ensuring maximum operational flexibility.
- Real risk assessment – AMESPHERE quantifies the actual risk of every event, preventing unnecessary slowdowns and false alarms, and providing objective data for strategic decisions.
- Ease of use – Quick installation, intuitive interfaces, and natural integration into daily processes make the system immediately operational.
- Continuous support – Training, assistance, and constant updates make AME a true operational partner, not just a supplier.
- Advanced analytics and cloud computing – Automated reports, real-time notifications, and trend analysis allow data-driven strategies to optimize both safety and operational efficiency.
Conclusion: Human Safety as a Pillar of Industrial Sustainability
In a sector where innovation, precision, and automation drive every process, safety cannot be just a regulatory obligation: it must become a strategic pillar. AMESPHERE allows pharmaceutical companies to protect people, optimize processes, and safeguard know-how, turning safety into a genuine competitive advantage.
As Stefano Minari, Plant Operations Head Parma Site – Chiesi Group and AME partner, notes:
“As a benefit corporation, we focus on sustainability, and one of the fundamental pillars of sustainability is people. Taking care of people requires ensuring their safety in daily work environments.”
Investing in intelligent solutions like AMESPHERE means building a safer, more efficient, and resilient production environment, where every worker — internal or external — can operate with confidence, feeling valued and protected, and where safety becomes a true driver of sustainability and competitiveness.
