Blisterpacking technology is having to deal with the challenge of an increasing number of product and pack requirements, says Ray Kirby, general manager, pharmaceutical, at Electro-mec
As pharmaceutical products become more sophisticated and come to the market with increasing frequency they place new demands and challenges on blister packing equipment.
The variety of blisterpack layouts has continued to grow: for example, chevron shaped formats that allow more product to be packed in one blister; and packs that incorporate two or more different products, such as a "looped cycle" layout where the first dose has to be isolated and highlighted, with one blister form placed on its own at a right angle to the other lines of capsules.
The number of product shapes has also increased dramatically - from standard round bi-convex tablets to flat or elliptical and multi-faceted shapes, some of which can be brittle or fragile and prone to chipping or breaking if not handled correctly. For more and more products there is no "standard" solution to their filling requirements.
At the same time speed, accuracy and efficiency remain vital, while given the lengthy process involved in obtaining regulatory approval for a new drug, the need to maximise throughput once a drug is in production has never been more important.
Nevertheless, shorter production runs have resulted in more frequent product and pack changeovers, which need to be carried out as quickly as possible to minimise downtime and lost production.
All these factors have had a bearing on the development of new packing equipment. Electro-mec's recently launched NG blisterpack feeder incorporates a number of features and enhancements for even greater speed and accuracy. It has also been designed to be extremely compact, enabling up to three units to be placed side by side on a single standard bed length blister machine to meet the needs of multi-product blisters.
Yet perhaps one of the most significant features of the new machine is its modular design, enabling the machine to be tailored to the precise combination of web width and draw of individual customers" and products. While there has always been a customised element in blisterpacking with the creation of specific change part tooling for each blisterpack format, today a growing number of products and applications need additional features and enhancements tailored to their precise specifications.
One of the most common requirements is the simultaneous feeding of different products into one blisterpack. In addition to multiple feeders over a single blister forming machine, another solution is the creation of split hoppers to allow multi-product feeding from a single feeder.
Dusty products can affect the sealing process so special dust extraction units have been developed to remove from the surface of the blister form any particles given off by tablets during the packing process. Product orientation equipment can be used for difficult-to-control tablets to ensure they are securely placed into every blister pocket during the filling operation to minimise seal failures and blister rejects.
Interchangeable feed systems are available to provide maximum flexibility and enable a variety of different products to be handled on the same feeder with minimum changeover time. For example, easy-to-handle product shapes that can find their own way into blister forms can be filled by the traditional brush box method, but this can be replaced with an individual feed tube system for products that require more gentle handling.
Blisterpacking technology is also now being used for more specialist product and pack requirements. One recent project required Electro-mec to devise a system for the packing of single form blisterpacks into sachets. Another required the adaptation of its counting technology as part of a bespoke system that used dedicated software and an infra-red scanning system to control a filling operation and guarantee the correct number of items in pharmaceutical packs for the Japanese market.
There is also a growing requirement for the preparation of tablets for further processing. In one application, Electro-mec created a special handling system to place individual tablets accurately into a plate with a clearance of just 0.01 mm (CHECK FIGURE) per tablet in readiness for a secondary process. This was achieved using a combination of proven handling and filling methods, including brush box and pick-and-place technology.
Blisterpacking technology has developed in recent years and can now be used and adapted for a wide range of packing and processing requirements. At the same time, it has been able to meet continuing changes in blisterpack formats and requirements. In a constantly evolving market, this flexibility will remain its greatest asset.