The role of the automation development group in analytical research and development at Dupont Merck

Laboratory robotics has been firmly established in many non-QC laboratories as a valuable tool for automating pharmaceutical dosage form analysis. Often a single project or product line is used to justify an initial robot purchase thus introducing robotics to the laboratory for the first time. However, to gain widespread acceptance within the laboratory and to justify further investment in robotics, existing robots must be used to develop analyses for existing manual methods as well as new projects beyond the scope off the original purchase justification. The Automation Development Group in Analytical Research and Development is a team of analysts primarily devoted to developing new methods and adapting existing methods for the robot. This team approach developed the expertise and synergy necessary to significantly expand the contribution of robotics to automation in the authors' laboratory.