Why India's Pharma Manufacturing Boom Needs More Women in Core Plant Operations

Automation Can Make the Factory Floor More Inclusive

The easiest way to make a manufacturing workplace more inclusive is often to make it better designed for everyone.

Consider raw material handling. A worker may need to move drums, containers or equipment parts. Instead of asking whether an employee is physically strong enough to move them manually, manufacturers can ask whether manual movement is necessary at all.

Hoists can help. Lift-assist systems can help. Conveyors can help. Automated material-transfer systems can also reduce the need for manual handling where the process allows it.

These technologies are useful for the entire workforce. More importantly, they can reduce fatigue and injury risk while making more manufacturing roles accessible to a wider range of trained workers.

This is where automation ergonomics becomes relevant to women in core plant operations. The objective is not to create a separate manufacturing system for women. It is to create a better manufacturing system.

Packaging Is Another Opportunity

High-speed packaging operations require accuracy, concentration and process control. At the same time, Modern packaging lines increasingly use automated inspection, vision systems and integrated controls. A woman trained to operate these systems should be judged on the same production and quality standards as any other operator.

Companies can also redesign workstations around reach, posture, visibility and repetitive movements. These changes can improve the working environment for everyone while reducing unnecessary physical strain.

This approach is particularly relevant as pharmaceutical manufacturers move toward more automated and digitally connected facilities.

Night Shifts Need Safety, Not Exclusion

Pharmaceutical plants often operate around the clock. API production cannot always stop at the end of a normal office shift, while formulation, sterile manufacturing, packaging and utilities may also require multiple shifts.

India's Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 provides for women to work in establishments and types of work, including before 6 a.m. and after 7 p.m., with their consent and subject to prescribed safeguards.

For pharmaceutical manufacturers, that means the discussion should move from exclusion to safe operations. Companies need appropriate transportation, adequate lighting, security, emergency response systems and suitable workplace facilities. Proper shift planning is equally important, particularly for plants handling hazardous materials or operating continuously.

The exact requirements can vary by jurisdiction and type of establishment. Companies operating in Gujarat, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh or Maharashtra should therefore verify the rules that apply to their individual facilities.

The objective should be straightforward: if a plant requires night shifts, it should create a safe working environment for every qualified employee who works them.