Size and speed count

Counting machines are deployed in a number of industries, for counting anything from tulip bulbs to sweets and dishwasher tablets. The most demanding user, though, is the pharmaceutical manufacturer. As Roger Wayte, sales engineer with Cremer Speciaalmachines, puts it: “In some markets, companies don’t mind if there’s a slight under or over-count. In our marketplace, which is supplying the major pharmaceutical companies, an under or over-count is not acceptable.” A requirement for 100% accuracy is, therefore, a given.

Fast moving business

Increasingly, there are other demands for electronic tablet and capsule counting machine suppliers to contend with, too. “The trend in pharmaceutical counting has been to faster machines in a smaller floor area and less operator involvement,” notes Wayte. He says Cremer’s new CFS-622 modular tablet and capsule counter addresses this trend in that “it is fast, it is only 3,076mm long overall and there are no operator adjustments to be made”.

The CFS-622, which was previewed at this year’s Achema in Frankfurt, is a development of the Netherlands-based company’s CF-622 fully servo driven counting modules. It is a lower capacity machine than the high speed, in-line CF-622 – a multi-module system for up to 300 containers/min – and essentially consists of between one and three modules with a scroll to transport and separate the containers accurately at speed.

“It is already well established that the modules can run faster with fewer products and this system can run up to 150 containers/min, depending on the container-product-count combination,” says Wayte. “This means a higher speed than the comparable typical tablet counter in much less space.”

The main difference between the CFS-622 and the higher cost, higher capacity CF-622 is the container handling system. A conveying system was designed and patented for the CF-622, to move the empty container and fill it while in motion, allowing maximum time for filling.

“This enabled not only the highest speeds, but with more filling time there is greater filling consistency for the widest range of different tablet and capsule shapes and sizes, as well as very dusty and flat ones, too,” explains Wayte.

On the CFS-622, containers are separated and conveyed to the filling nozzles by a scroll, which has a shorter indexing length. “You wouldn’t use a scroll on the length of the filling area on a very high speed machine because it wouldn’t give the required filling time,” says Wayte.

The scroll is a change part for different container sizes, as is the filling nozzle for different container heights and neck openings, but Wayte says these snap into place and do not need the operator to adjust anything.

Changeover costs

However, Keith Gooch, MD at Logic TPS, warns that cost of change parts for container handling on some counting equipment can be rather pricey – running into six figures for some lines.

“There have been many attempts by the various tablet counting machine builders to produce a flexible, high speed electronic counting system, most of which tend to be heavily dependent on complicated and expensive container handling systems such as scroll drives and walking beam indexing units, all of which require costly change parts and long changeover times,” he says.

He claims the Korean built Countec DMC 200 system addresses this issue through a guide rail gantry system which is fully adjustable for different sizes of bottles, requiring no change parts. “It’s totally flexible for any pack size of up to 100mm in diameter,” says Gooch. Running a standard, round eight or 10 millimetre diameter tablet with a 100 count, the system will operate comfortably at 200 bottles/min.

Overall efficiency

Among European blister packaging equipment designers, the focus for innovation appears to be on increasing overall operating efficiency (OEE), whether through faster line speeds or shorter changeover times.

Achema in June was the first outing for Romaco’s QuickTransfer system, which connects the Noack 960R blister line to the Promatic PC 4250 continuous horizontal cartoner to form a single, integrated line. As a result, Romaco says the robotic transfer system now conveys each individual blister even more securely from the diecutting unit directly to the cartoner.

Romaco’s QuickFeed interchangeable product feed unit, QuickAdjust automatic station control system, QuickAdmin ergonomic HMI panel and QuickClean design principles are all said to further enhance the overall operating efficiency of the production process. The company says quick product changes, short cleaning times and increased line availability are the hallmarks of the blister line, which, due to the roller sealing principle, can achieve outputs of up to 600 blisters/min.

The 960R blister line handles all standard foil types with a maximum width of 235mm when installed in an in-line configuration. Cavities 25mm long or more can be processed using the rotary sealing system, making the technology suitable for blistering products of any shape or size.

This could make the machine particularly appealing to contract packaging companies who have to respond flexibly to customer requirements – indeed the first 960R blister line was purchased by German contract manufacturer Aenova.

As the name suggests Marchesini’s Fast line is the company’s fastest-ever blister line – capable of packaging more than 720 blisters/min. Designed for manufacturers who produce large runs at high speeds, the 100% PC-managed, continuous motion thermoformer incorporates a number of performance enhancing features, including patented high speed loaders and a new, larger carton magazine.

With the Fast line, Marchesini has given users the flexibility to switch the configuration from two to three channels and vice versa, and halved the number of size changeover parts versus previous models. The unit that connects the blister machine to the cartoner can be replaced in less than 30min, using just a trolley. Once the connection unit has been replaced, the line is ready to start again without any other size adjustments.

Rather than targeting long, high speed production runs, rival MediSeal is concentrating its efforts on economic production of smaller runs, on the basis that small lot sizes of up to 20,000 blisters have been growing in importance.

The German firm says one obstacle to making small runs more profitable is that every format change, partial changeover or fault necessitates a total shutdown of the line. For this reason, MediSeal has introduced a concept called Late Stage Customisation (LSC) which is based on partially decoupled processes; in other words, enabling the settings for each process stage (blister forming, filling and packing, cartoning, printing) to be implemented independently of one another.

This concept can be seen in action on the company’s White-Line, which is designed for runs of between one and 2,000 blisters, and comprises a CP400 blister machine with an integrated P1600 cartoner, weighing system and table for manual packing.

The White-Line concept is based on ‘white’ (blank or unprinted) materials. Both lidding films and boxes and inserts are printed with country-specific information only once they are in the packaging line. With this concept, many small lots, which on a traditional production line would mean very long changeover times, can be combined into one large lot. The switch to a different language is controlled automatically by a line management system and is completed within 10-12min.

PAP counts on active UK market

Holland & Barrett, the UK’s leading retailer of vitamins, minerals and herbal supplements, has just placed an order for a new tablet counting machine from PPS (Pharma Packaging Systems) for its factory in Burton-on-Trent. PAP Services, which acts as sales agent for PPS in the UK, clinched the deal with the retailer, which was looking for a multi-lane tablet counter to replace an old line. The Twin Vitacount 12-lane machine purchased is capable of up to 120 bottles/min.

Earlier this year, PAP supplied a fully automatic deep draw blister machine from Italian manufacturer Farmores to pharmaceutical giant Pfizer’s site in Havant, where the Prima K7-400 thermoforming machine works in conjunction with an IMA cartoner to package pharmaceutical products such as syringes, vials and ampoules. Thanks to its large forming area and flexibility, the blister machine can reach speeds of up to 600 syringes, and up to 1,200 ampoules or vials/min. With a maximum forming width of 400mm, the machine can form containers with a depth of up to 40mm.

Earlier this year, PAP, supplied pharmaceutical contract manufacturer Aesica with a B300 blister packer from Tien Tuan Pharmaceutical Machinery (TTP), capable of packing a range of pharmaceutical products, from tablets to capsules, vials and ampoules, and offering quick changeovers thanks to a small number of change parts. With dedicated tablet feeders in a fully enclosed line, it is used for packing seven types of tablets so potent that the dust coming off them cannot be inhaled.

Cremer’s new CFS-622 counter is said to be fast, only 3,076mm long, and requiring no operator adjustments Cremer The Korean built Countec DMC 200 system requires no change parts for container handling Countec Marchesini’s ‘Fast’ line is the company’s fastest ever blister line –capable of packaging over 720 blisters/min Marchesini MediSeal’s White-Line is touted as the ideal solution for small lots with market-specific text MediSeal The PPS Twin Vitacount 12-lane machine purchased by Holland & Barrett can run up to 120 bottles/min PPS