Canada / English
México / Español28 November 2022 //
Global Pharmaceutical Company Standardizes Unscramblers Across Production Lines, Plants, & Continents
The Challenge
Determined to find a bottle unscrambler with quick changeovers, ease of maintenance, flexible with standard and customized options, offered a small footprint and high efficiency, a global pharmaceutical company resolved to arm its facilities with standardized equipment across all plants.
They came to NEM for a one-machine solution to Unscramble aluminum cans and offer the customization needed to meet strict URS requirements. The footprint and ease of cleaning was extremely important as space was tight in all locations and many were to be placed in a clean room environment.
The Solution
To provide the best solution for our customer, we selected NEM’s Compact Unscrambler. It is versatile, has a small footprint, offers ease of cleaning, and met all URS requirements with minor modifications to the standard model.
The Compact Unscrambler’s unique design allows for its small footprint. It is engineered to encompass the hopper bin and feeder within the body of the sorter. The machine is further reduced in size by allowing the belt assemblies to be “wrapped” around an orienter wheel which cuts the overall belt assemblies’ lenght in half. The machine is fully enclosed for safety and clean room purposes.
To meet the customer’s URS, all contact surfaces were made of FDA compliant materials, were built with minimal horizontal surfaces, were CE rated for use in Europe, and built to Category 4 requirements. The customer requested we use Siemens controls to integrate with their current network and provide higher levels of communication across their plants.
The machine also had to meet noise level requirements as we were running aluminum canisters. By using approved insulating materials, we were able to dampen the noise and easily meet the decibel requirements.
Custom features were also added to the machine to increase visibility. Stainless steel guarding in key areas was swapped for clear polycarbonate guarding and mirrors were added to help ensure product clearance at the end of every batch.
The Results
The customer is most satisfied with their machine and has ordered several more since building the first one. They are extremely appreciate we were open to partnering with them to make the perfect machine specific to their needs. We helped develop line clearing procedures, machine clearing procedures, and changeover procedures. The validation process is much quicker, training is easier, and changeovers are a breeze.
If you have a unique packaging challenge, contact the experts at NEM. Our packaging machinery solutions, running from simple to complex are the reasons NEM is a world renowned leader in the packaging industry.