Bringing together pre-filled syringes, pack inserts, labels and carton blanks in defined combinations at ultra-high speed is a complex packaging challenge. Pharmaceutical manufacturer Solvay solves this task with numerous packaging robot units. The compact packaging system installed at the Solvay factory comprises six TLM machine frames commissioned at the company’s Dutch production location in Olst.
In terms of functionality, this is one of the most extensive packaging lines ever implemented by Gerhard Schubert: four TLM-F44 picker stations and downstream F2 robot units handle up to 330 unsorted syringes per minute. The syringes are identified, checked and sorted, deposited in carriers and then further processed up to the final packaging stage internally in the system.
The first step is to transfer the filled syr-inges from the filling machine. The unsorted syringes are picked from the continuous infeed belt at four TLM-F44 picker stations by means of a vacuum tool and positioned precisely at determined locations in erect cartons. The syringes are then identified by a scanner and assigned, depending on their length or the relevant filling volume, to a specific package – either single packs or packs of ten. At the same time, as part of a quality control process, the scanner checks whether the pre-filled syringes are undamaged and complete.
Under continuous surveillance
In a parallel process, packs are created from flat blanks and fed into the system in the opposite direction. Three TLM-F2 robots fitted with erecting tools guide flat box blanks past glue nozzles, press them through these tools and place them onto vacuum transport pushers for subsequent filling. Erection of the single packs calls for high-speed operation. Schubert found a solution by developing a special hotmelt application system. The packs of ten comprise three sections: a tray, an inlet and a lid. By gluing the tray tabs onto the separating webs of the inlet, every syringe in the multi-pack is individually protected against unidentified access.
Once the packaging boxes have been automatically filled with syringes and pack inserts in the filling section of the compact system, two downstream TLM-F2 robots fitted with closing tools fold down the dust tongues of the single packs and glue the attached box lid onto the longitudinal side of the packaging boxes. A different process is used for the packs of ten, where closure is achieved by positioning a separate lid section that is glued down on all four sides. This ensures that packaging requirements relating to tamper evidence are adhered to for both pack types – it is thus immediately apparent whether the product has reached the end user safely without being tampered with along the way. The remaining steps performed on the Schubert line include labelling and printing the packs using laser technology prior to their arrival at the final packaging station, where they are packed by two additional F2 arms into automatically erected dispatch cartons and discharged from the system.
This high-performance machine concept – involving the use of around 180 servo motors – is supplemented by particularly generous storage magazines. Twelve magazines containing blanks, for instance, allow the system to work largely independently. The pack insert magazines offer a similarly high capacity. The packaging system at Solvay can consequently be staffed by just two operators, who also work at the upstream machine and in the palletising area. The system moreover has a significant side-effect: the reliable, product-protecting packs can now be manufactured from mono material. Solvay has reported annual savings of 50 tons of plastics as a direct result of introducing the new packaging technology.
Future-proof control
In combination with the toploading concept, the VMS machine control system opens up enormous flexibility. Solvay currently processes both Hypack and readyfill syringes, whereby each syringe type is stored in a control program. If syringes with or without needles, new syringe sizes or different syringe types need to be processed in the future, the system can be adapted or programmed accordingly using the VMS control system. The same applies to different types of packaging: here too, both single and multiple packs can be implemented, provided they are configured according to the same design principle. A particular benefit offered by top-loading is that the pack layout, i.e. the arrangement of products within the packs, can be variably configured.
After a delivery period of ten months, the compact system was installed by Schubert on site within just four weeks. After a further four weeks spent commissioning this complex but easily manageable and accessible packaging line, the final acceptance certificate was confirmed and signed by the customer. Parallel to this, Schubert carried out validation of the complete system – including the integrated printers and labellers – on its own premises. Working hand in hand with the customer and suppliers, the packaging procedure was supported by trained experts over a period of several months up to its final approval.
Optimum efficiency
The packaging system demonstrates outstanding levels of efficiency. The values of the individual machines at Solvay are currently being recorded in order to subsequently determine the overall figure for the packaging line. Irrespective of the final outcome, it is already evident today that system characteristics such as quality control, product protection, packaging in mono material, storage autonomy and process reliability linked to an output of 330 packaged syringes per minute can rightly claim to be supreme technological achieve-ments in what can only be termed a highly successful project.
Hall 3.1, Booth D38
cpp 462
The Schubert-Homepage
Solvay Pharmaceutical
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