Sampling in pharmaceutical manufacturing—Many opportunities to improve today’s practice through the Theory of Sampling (TOS)
Rodolfo J. Romañach
Kim H. Esbensen
Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Copehagen, Denmark. ACABS Research Group, Aalborg University, Campus Esbjerg (AAUE), Denmark Search for papers by this author
This overview discusses sampling at different stages of pharmaceutical manufacturing—and why. The pharmaceutical industry primarily uses grab sampling. In spite of the need to know exactly the status of pharmaceutical processes and products, there are only a very few pharmaceutical applications where principles in TOS has been applied so far and representative sampling solutions are consequently often lacking. But this translates into many opportunities to improve pharmaceutical manufacturing. The authors have embarked on a large-scale programme to introduce proper sampling approaches within this important industry sector.