®

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014

VOLUME 22, ISSUE 5

New Vial Line Moves Forward, p. 14

FLEXIBLE PACKAGING:

Increasing Strength and More, p. 24

SOURCING GUIDE:

Packaging Equipment, p. 42

BLISTERS:

Monitoring Forming, p. 28

Examining Inspection, p. 34

Pack Expo International and Pharma Expo, p. 50

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pmpnews.com • Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News September/October 201414

for under- or over-counts, high-cotton

placement, missing desiccants, missing

or skewed caps, and missing induction-

seal foil.

Jarrow Industries selected the IBC

along with a three-head Cremer vibra-

tory counter and filler with a tablet

elevator, a cottoner, and a three-head

servo/torque controlled capper. (While

the IBC can also support a desiccant

inserter, Jarrow Industries inserts desic-

cant pouches in empty bottles before

they enter the IBC.) After filling and

capping, bottles exit the monoblock for

subsequent labeling.

Jarrow Industries had used Cremer’s

infrared-based counting technology

on previous lines, so the fact that the

IBC could work with a Cremer system

was good news. “There is no room for

undercounts—we consider that a major

defect,” says Brabon.

Changeover in terms of size and clo-

sure type is also seamless, given the use

of tool-less quick-change parts. And

“there is not much QA/QC to do dur-

ing line clearance,” says Brabon.

Uhlmann reports that bottle size

changeover takes 30 minutes plus clean-

ing time. Such clean up is expected to

be less than typically required, given the

fully enclosed filling area.

The IBC’s cleanliness may also be

credited to its lack of a traditional con-

veyor. Instead, the rake moves across a

flat surface where no tablets or capsules

can be trapped.

Seventy SKUs are currently running

on the IBC. While the IBC can handle

”up to” 150 bottles per minute, Jar-

row Industries is currently running it at

90-100 per minute. “Our current speed

depends upon downstream equipment,”

says Brabon. “We have a lot of room to

grow, and we may look at upgrading

labelers, banders, or other systems to

increase our line speed.”

The IBC requires fewer line person-

nel than Jarrow Industries’s other bot-

tling line. “The IBC is all enclosed, and

the bottles that exit are complete. From

a quality standpoint, the IBC covers it,”

says Brabon. “It follows recipes, and

requires only minor adjustments, if any.

It basically could run unattended, but

we have an operator in place. And if the

door opens, it shuts down.”

Uhlmann can connect remotely

to Jarrow Industries’s IBC if neces-

sary to run machine diagnostics,

explains Gurrola. “Uhlmann can log

in remotely if we are experiencing a

specific issue.”

Today, the team sees little risk when

running the IBC, says Brabon. “The

IBC has satisfied our demand for bottle

production, but we are not even close to

the machine’s potential.”

Jones has installed an end-to-end solid-dose vial line

at its Contract Packaging Services facility. PMP News

asked Vladimir Spehar, director, strategic business devel-

opment, to answer a few questions about the project.

Please describe the vials, in terms of how they

are formed, filled, and sealed, and how they will

be integrated with carding and blistering.

Spehar: Our fully automated solid-dose plastic vial filling

line is composed of seven principal components—unscram-

bler, filler, capper, labeler, laser printer, vision system, and

checkweigher—with an independent sealing unit to card

and blister the vials. The line can accommodate plastic

vials ranging from 10–20 ml (0.34–0.68 oz) in size, and we

outsource these containers on behalf of our customers.

In the primary packaging area consisting of 18 clean-

rooms designed to Class 100,000, vials are manually load-

ed into the hopper of the vial unscrambler and oriented

onto a conveyor on which they travel to the filler. They

are held in position in the filling station until completion

of the fill cycle. The fill cycle is determined by the recipe

selected within the filler program. Bulk product is loaded in

the filler hopper and transferred to individual lanes of the

filler via vibration trays to a predetermined count. These

Contract Packager Adds End-to-End Vial Line

Continued from page 12

Continued on page 16See us at MDM Minneapolis Booth #540

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pmpnews.com • Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News September/October 201416

are then released to a gravity-fed drop

that is held until completion of count is

reached. The vials leave the filling sta-

tion via conveyor, and they enter the

capper where they are placed into a star

wheel that advances individual vials to

be capped. The cap is applied by a ver-

tical rotating drop-holding chuck and

its presence is detected by sensors that

check for high or missing caps.

At this point, the filled and capped

vials transition to the secondary pack-

aging area on the conveyor via an

air-lock pass-through where they are

labeled using a special prism roller sys-

tem to ensure application accuracy.

The in-line laser printer then marks

the label with a lot number and expi-

ry date. The integrated vision system

uses a camera to monitor the qual-

ity of codes as they pass in front of the

inspection stations. Any with unread-

able, poor print quality, missing

patterns, or incorrect placement char-

acters will be conveyed out to the rejec-

tion bin. The remaining vials continue

to move along the conveyor for weight

verification, automatically ejecting the

out-of-specification product.

The completed vials are then moved in

bulk to the sealing unit at the end of the

vial line where they are packaged with a

blister and card, the last step in producing

a convenient market-ready product.

Can you explain what compa-

nies provided the equipment,

how and why the equipment was

selected, and the capabilities of

the equipment?

Spehar: We already owned the seal-

ing unit used to card and blister the vials

in the secondary packaging process, so

we were looking for an integrated and

fully automated line that offered the

ability to provide an end-to-end vial

packaging solution. The system we

selected features the following branded

components:

- NEM Vial Unscrambler Model

NEHCPECL-36

- Marchesini Vial Filler Model

FTC 12

- Marchesini Capper Model MLT55

- Eco Wrap Labeling Unit

- Domino D300+7 Laser Printer

- OP538 Optel Vision Inspection

System

- Loma Checkweigher

This turnkey solution met our

requirements for quality, reliability, and

engineering—all crucial to ensuring we

meet the high standard of service our

customers have come to expect.

What types of products will be

packaged in the vials? What prod-

uct volumes, sizes, and quantities

are possible?

Spehar: The travel-size plastic vials

can be filled with most solid-dosage

forms, including tablets, caplets, cap-

sules, and gel caps, with each vial

holding between five and 20 doses

depending on their size. The line’s

maximum production capacity is 12

million vials annually with a three-shift

operation to meet customer needs.

Did a specific customer or

market trend prompt the invest-

ment? Can you explain in detail?

Spehar: We initially undertook this

major investment as part of a supply

agreement with a key customer, which

has allowed us to respond to the greater

and growing market demand for con-

venience packaging as more consumers

turn to smaller products that can be

easily stored in travel bags, purses, or

even gym bags. In addition to provid-

ing a travel-size solid-dose packaging

solution for consumers on the go, our

vial line also provides a cost-effective

and reliable initial market entry con-

venience packaging solution as patents

expire and Rx drug products transition

to OTCs over the coming years. While

the vial would not likely serve as the

primary form of packaging, it would

certainly ofer a complementary solu-

tion to increase a brand’s overall market

presence.

Please explain the options for

the card and label components.

Spehar: Unique integration with our

Printed Packaging division afords our

clients the benefit of access to full in-

house package graphics and design

support. This means we can design

and manufacture the card and label

components ourselves for tighter con-

trol over timelines, costs, and quality.

This full turnkey approach to packag-

ing simplifies the process for our cus-

tomers, creating an overall seamless

experience.

What other packaging formats

are produced in the 76,000-sq-ft

facility?

Spehar: Our unique 76,000-sq-ft

facility features production and ware-

housing capacity of 40,658 sq ft and

28,500 sq ft, respectively. The primary

packaging area, in particular, includes

18 cleanrooms designed to Class

100,000 of which five are expandable

and ofer the flexibility to accommo-

date special projects. In addition to our

annual vial filling capacity of 12 mil-

lion units, each year we fill up to one

billion pouches with liquids, creams,

tablets, gel-caps, and granular pow-

ders, as well as up to 90 million child-

resistant and senior-tolerant blisters

with tablets, caplets, capsules, and gel

caps. We also provide cold-chain stor-

age and extensive secondary packaging

services in the secondary part of our

production area.

Continued from page 14

Vials by Jones Contract Packaging Services.

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17September/October 2014 Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News • pmpnews.com

What are the biggest challenges

facing your customers, and how

can you help address them?

Spehar: One of the biggest market

challenges is maintaining a reliable

and consistent supply of product. As

a dependable and long-time supply

chain partner to a wide range of com-

panies for more than 50 years—from

small businesses looking to break into

the market, to some of the most rec-

ognized global pharmaceutical and

consumer brands—we consistent-

ly meet turnaround expectations to

ensure speed to market for our cus-

tomers and deliver unwavering quality

thanks to strict production and control

standards. In addition, we eliminate

complexity for our customers with

an integrated product offering that

includes primary and secondary pack-

aging services, as well as the produc-

tion of printed packaging materials.

What will the next year hold for

Jones Packaging next year?

Spehar: There are many exciting

opportunities on the horizon. It has

been just over a year since we moved

our Contract Packaging Services to

the new facility. The additional capac-

ity has already generated new business

opportunities, and we are now in pro-

cess of implementing a five-year plan

that will drive continued and significant

growth. Part of that strategy includes

important capital investment in new

packaging formats that will allow us to

expand our business, with both exist-

ing and new customers. We expect this

will likely happen within the next 18

months and would be pleased to share

details as our investments take shape.

Over the next year, anti-counter-

feiting technologies will also provide

a great deal of opportunity for com-

panies like Jones. Our Technology &

Innovation team is already producing

industry leading packaging designs and

anti-counterfeiting capabilities for print-

ed packaging materials. ePedigree/

track and trace is another key area of

focus for contract packagers, so it’s

imperative for us to be at the forefront

of technology and compliance in order

to produce products that meet FDA

requirements beyond 2014. In addition

to recent investment to increase secu-

rity within our facility to protect our

customers’ products, we will be partner-

ing with a service provider that has an

established history in serialization and

database management.

In terms of medication safety and

adherence, Jones has assumed a key

partnership role as a “tier one” consor-

tium member in the National Research

Council’s (NRC) Printable Electronics

program. The consortium is develop-

ing interactive products for consumers

by adding electronic intelligence capa-

bilities to printed materials. While the

program will develop cutting edge

technologies and lightweight electron-

ic devices for a variety of sectors, our

Printed Packaging division is specifically

focused on the advancement of smart

drug packaging to track dosage history

and ultimately augment patient compli-

ance—this will enhance our offering

to our pharmacy customers through

our Healthcare division. We are also

looking at new technology drivers and

integrating smart phone apps into

our customers’ packaging materials to

authenticate consumer products. 0

Vials move along Jones’s new line.

www.packrite.com

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