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Turnkey System Automates Combi-Kit Packaging

Automated assembly and quality control of individual components increases productivity while decreasing labor costs at a pharmaceutical company’s Switzerland facility.

An F4 pick-and-place robot takes the suspended piston rods from the starwheel. With a horizontal tilting motion, the robot places the piston rods. (Photo provided by Schubert-Pharma.)
An F4 pick-and-place robot takes the suspended piston rods from the starwheel. With a horizontal tilting motion, the robot places the piston rods. (Photo provided by Schubert-Pharma.)

Kit packaging requires that its various components be precisely compiled, aligned and packaged. For an Italian pharmaceutical company—that prefers to remain unidentified—a turnkey packaging system is doing just that at its facility in Switzerland.

Nicknamed the “Mustang” by the company for its tenacity, adaptability, intelligence and spirit, the turnkey system from Schubert-Pharma provides a high-level communication system that integrates barcode scanners and cameras that check data on various product labels to ensure they are correct before loading them into clamshell trays. The Mustang system has increased the company’s capacity, allowing it to reduce labor costs while safeguarding its validated processes.

The pharmaceutical company employs approximately 3,300 people globally and annually invests about 10% of its sales in medical product research. The products are mainly used for diagnostic purposes in ultrasound, CT and MRI scans.

The combi-kits compiled and packaged on the Schubert-Pharma system include a contrast agent that is used in ultrasonic examinations. When the agent is administered, structures in the liver, pancreas and kidneys can be detected during scans. This permits identification of any differences or irregularities, which is particularly important in cancer diagnoses.

Two-year project completion

The entire project, from the customer request to the installation of the machine, took about two years. Previously, all other secondary packaging processes were done manually, with the exception of labeling primary products, syringes and vials.

Major benefits of the Mustang system include the precision with which the components are positioned and held in place, ensuring the product is well protected, and the communication system, which ensures that the product can be tracked in order to prevent possible batch mixups. A single-sourced system enables, for example, the infeed of the various individual components to be efficiently integrated into the machine design.

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LAST CHANCE TO SAVE! New Tech for Life Sciences at PACK EXPO Southeast