An innovative packaging solution for life science and healthcare products will be presented by MULTIVAC at interpack 2014. The solution is based on a thermoforming packaging machine, but one in which the machine concept has been optimised for those applications, where a high degree of flexibility is required for packing challenging products.
"Life science and healthcare products are being packed today in ever smaller batch sizes, in order to fulfil regional or other specific requirements.
It is for this reason, that the producing companies set very high requirements for a quick format change, reliable line clearance and intelligent automation technologies for loading and unloading. We have optimised our packaging solution to meet these demands", says Valeska Haux, Marketing Manager at MULTIVAC.
MULTIVAC has to a large extent separated the areas for product processing and machine technology from each other in the new thermoforming packaging machine. All units installed as part of the machine technology, including hoses, cables and valves, have been moved from the interior of the machine to the rear. This minimises the risk of products getting lodged somewhere during the packaging procedure, which would then require stoppage of the machine. This also ensures that the line can be cleared quickly and reliably.
The machine is also clad with a transparent polycarbonate front, whose large doors can be easily opened. This enables the operator to have a very good view into the interior areas, which also have lighting, and to quickly detect and remove products which have got lost. The accessibility and ease of cleaning of the machine was also further improved by these design measures.
A quick and reproducible format change enables the machine to be converted for the widest range of batch sizes. Here MULTIVAC has expanded the potential use of its proven drawer system, which up to now has only been used for the user-friendly changing of tooling in the forming and sealing dies. Now MULTIVAC also offers corresponding change systems for plug-assist dies. Moreover, the changing of the cutting tool in the complete cutter has been simplified, which enables the changeover time of all components to be reduced to a minimum.
The new thermoforming packaging machine offers a high degree of flexibility with regard to the arrangement of the different modules, the packaging materials which can be run, the possible packaging formats and the batch sizes. As an example of this, both flexible and rigid films can be run on this machine. In addition to producing vacuum packs, the new thermoforming packaging machine is also designed to produce packs with modified atmosphere and reduced oxygen content. Thanks to its flexible layout, the machine concept is also ideally suited to packing a wide range of products, such as for example syringes, ampoules, vials and injectors.
MULTIVAC's user-friendly line-motion control via the HMI 2.0 operator interface, as well as the highly sensitive sensor technology of the machines, ensure that a consistently high product quality is maintained, as well as an overarching quality assurance. With its track-and-trace function, MULTIVAC meets the serialisation and marking requirements of individual countries
