MG2 tops the lot

Flexibility and ease of use are distinctive features of the Universal Tablet Unit designed for use with MG2 Planeta capsule fillers.

The new unit is designed for r&d laboratories and pharmaceutical companies who are filling capsules with a wide variety of tablet formats.The Universal Tablet Unit offers speed and versatility in size change operations and enables higher production speeds than similar units currently on the market.

The Universal Tablet Unit is versatile, unit functions can be varied to match production needs. The unit will fill hard gelatine capsules with tablets of all sizes, capsules and similar solid products in a variety of quantities and combinations. All this with just a few simple adjustments and without having to change size parts.

The unit has two dosing stations each fitted with its own feed hopper and vibrating container. This means that the unit can dose two identical or two different tablet types in different quantities. Users can therefore choose to concentrate on production speed or the number of combinations. To obtain the maximum production speed, the two stations must dose identical tablets. On the other hand, if to maximise the number of combinations, the two stations can be used to dose two different tablet types.

A brief description of the operating cycle highlights the advanced engineering design features incorporated in the Universal Tablet Unit. The tablets are gravity fed down from hoppers and through ducts to the inside of vibrating containers where they are randomly distributed on the container floor. The vibrating motion of the containers orders the tablets along an internal spiral creating an orderly line of tablets moving in a upward spiral.

When the tablets reach the end of the spiral they drop onto a continuously rotating feed drum. Here, a fibre optic barrier checks the number of tablets dropping onto the drum. When the required number is reached, the feed of further tablets is stopped by a recirculating blower which returns any additional tablets to the bottom of the vibrating container. The dosed tablets are held in place by a blade and are then fed down a parabolic chute into the capsule body. The unit is fitted with a control system which checks capsule dosing and automatically rejects any capsules containing the incorrect number of tablets, without stopping the machine.

The machine is controlled from the filling machine control panel. From here the user can set the following parameters: the number of tablets to be dosed at each station; the dosing combinations; production speed optimisation; the functioning mode of the second dosing station.

The tablet unit offers high dosing versatility and very simple, rapid size changeover management. Production speeds have been increased and can reach 16,000 capsules per hour depending on the quantity, shape and combination of the solid product being dosed. This continuous motion unit enables r&d laboratory results to be directly scaled up to production requirements. Fitting two Universal Tablet Units alongside each other makes it possible to increase speed even further and to dose up to four different tablet types in a various quantities.

Planeta is a capsule filling machine capable of production speeds of 6,000, 12,000, 25,000 and 50,000 capsules/hour. Upgrading from one production speed to another is easy - just add the necessary elements to the machine main units. Planeta 100 reaches speeds of up to 100,000 capsules/hour. It has a modular design and can be fitted with a range of dosing units for powders, pellets, microtablets, tablets and liquids in a wide variety of combinations. Machine capsule fillers fitted with the new Universal Tablet Unit can be equipped with a powder unit, a pellet unit or a second Universal Tablet Unit, so the new unit offers the ideal mix of flexibility and high production capacity.

Planeta, like all MG2 machines, offers advanced technology, quality and reliability. These are all features derived directly from the company's integrated manufacturing system, itself the result of an ongoing improvement and development programme. The MG2 manufacturing system employs the very latest automated/computerised machining centre and equipment to produce complex, critical components. Components are subject to stringent quality testing using sophisticated three-dimensional tools and analytical test methods. MG2 does everything in-house including software development and machining. It owns the largest Japanese-made Mazak computerised machining system in Italy, the newest of four Mazak machines at the facility. MG2 uses the machines to turn large aluminum ingots, for example, into custom-made components. After cutting the ingots they are left to condition for a period of time to allow the worked metal to relax prior to tooling. Marcello Militello, MG2's area manager, said: 'If we tooled immediately, the tolerances we work to could not be met because after working the metal must b allowed to conform to its new shape.'

The company is the first maker worldwide to equip its machines with an integrated system for checking the net weight of all the capsules produced. The system, known as NETT, meets the latest quality control specifications of pharmaceutical companies. NETT checks each and every filled capsule, rejects capsules with out-of-range weights and automatically corrects the adjustment of the dosing chambers in real time. During a standard operating cycle, two capacitive sensors check the capsules before and after filling to obtain the net weight of the product dosed. The system computer, using dedicated software, checks and processes the data received from the sensors and the balance and, where necessary, automatically corrects machine settings.

To guarantee the highest technological innovation for its products, MG2 Group in 2003 has invested 6% of the company's turnover for the r&d department which employs 12 skilled technicians. The company, which in 2003 produced 69 machines has been the first company in this specific field to obtain in 1995 the quality certification in respect of the ISO 9001-94. The actual quality standard is in line with the Vision 2000 requirements.

MG2 is also capable of offering to the market the G250, a capsule filler with an output of 200,000 capsules/hour, which represent the maximum speed achievable with today's technology. MG2 was founded in 1966 by Ernesto Gamberini, Cesare Grandi and Ivana Cocchi, and the group expects to close the 2003 operating period with a consolidated turnover of Euro 20.5m. Exports account for 90% of turnover. Today, the company is the leading manufacturer of automatic machines for filling hard-gelatine and tamper-evident capsules (000 to 5 size) with pharmaceutical products. The MG2 Group has 194 employees working at 3 production facilities (at Pian di Macma di Pianoro, Rastignano di Pianoro and Funo di Argelato, all in the province of Bologna, Italy) covering an area of 6,500m². In addition to the hard-gelatine capsule fillers and fillers for small containers, the company also manufactures production quality control equipment and automatic packaging machinery for the pharmaceutical industry. MG2 is widely present on the international market with three branches in USA, France and UK and a world-wide sales network of agents. The company exports mainly to USA, Germany and Switzerland.