Marchesini Group releases its new Vial Track & Trace Line- Marchesini Group, SEA Vision, and Track&Trace
Marchesini Group releases its new Vial Track & Trace LineMarchesini Group, SEA Vision, and Track&Trace
Marchesini Group once again offers proof of its skills in creating complete track and trace solutions for pharmaceutical products in the name of flexibility and reliability through the new and unique line for vials produced for a renowned multinational enterprise of the Pharma industry.
The line is capable of serializing pill containers packaged directly in cases without first putting them into cartons, and is comprised of rotary labeller model RE 302 and a top-loading casepacker model MCPV 850. Both machines have their own traceability system that continuously monitors the products throughout the entire packaging process.
This line has special camera vision systems, installed on the vial labeller and on the casepacker, which monitor the products from the initial coding phase of the individual bare vials, through to the palletization phase of the filled and sealed cases. The machines operate with “Fail Safe” logic to ensure zero errors.
The vials fed in from the machine upstream are already filled and capped and are transferred onto a conveyance system made up of two vertical belts with adjustable opening width on the inlet of the labeling machine; these belts hold the vials by their sides while an inkjet marker prints a unique 2D service code on their bottom, which is also verified immediately by the first camera.
On the inlet of the main vial carousel, the second camera acquires the 2D service code printed previously on the bottom and sends the start signal to the shift register, which acquires the position of each vial on the carousel.
The label, still on its film, is printed by the labeling unit and the unique 2D code is verified immediately by the third camera. The code comprises a product identification code, batch number, expiry date, and unique serialized number, and all these data are also repeated in readable digits. The camera grades the print quality of the serialized 2D code and scans the readable digits with an OCR/OCV system. The fourth optional camera reads the Pharmacode on the labels to identify them accordingly.
Subsequently, once the label has been applied on the vial, the fifth camera scans its unique serialized 2D code and, by means of the aforementioned shift register, associates it with the unique 2D service code printed on the bottom. This operation is ensured thanks to the fact that the machine is able to turn the vial conveyance devices so that the 2D code on the previously applied label appears in front of the camera lens. This is an essential feature of the RE machine series. Each unique serialized code printed on the label, graded and correctly applied, is consequently associated with the service code, printed on the bottom of the containers. By matching the two 2D codes, it is possible to trace the vials in the casepacker downstream.
All the compliant vials outlet from the RE302 1T continue through to the infeed into the casepacker MCPV 850. Here, they are grouped into layers on a glass surface where the control station is located, with the sixth camera; this unit simultaneously reads all the unique 2D service codes printed on the bottom of the containers of each layer. The unique 2D service codes provide an exact match with the unique serialized 2D codes associated with them on each vial so that they can be acquired. A pick & place unit picks up the layers of containers and places them inside the case, which is subsequently sealed with adhesive tape. At this stage, the full and exact identification of the vials inside each case is known. A label is then applied on the corner of each case, on which a unique serialized code is printed in real time, which is associated with all the unique serialized codes of the vials inside the case. The seventh camera verifies this code printed on the label of the case. This operation starts the aggregation of the individual products inside the cases.
To end, each compliant case is picked up by the pick-up arm of the Gigacombi unit, which places it on the pallet according to the pattern set and saved on the machine’s PC.
At this stage, the aggregation of the individual cases on the pallet continues, applying another label on the corner, which is verified by another camera, and on which a unique code will be printed in real time that is associated with all the unique codes of the labels of the cases.
This line is able to win the demands of the marketplace by integrating traceability systems right along the whole production process, as explained above, but also thanks to the use of groundbreaking machines. All the machinery involved is reliable, flexible and user friendly.
The labeller RE302 does indeed not only have the “track and trace” system but it guarantees all the advantages of the Neri RE range of machines: meaning that they are all totally accessible and the entire production process is perfectly visible; size changeover is quick and straightforward thanks to special digital indicators; label application is precise and any non-compliant products are rejected automatically. Other bonuses are versatility and speed: the line is able to process an extensive range of containers with round or rectangular bottoms and is able to process up to 200 containers a minute.
What makes the top-loading casepacker so versatile and reliable, on the other hand, are the robotic solutions that Marchesini has developed for the end-of-line part: the Pick & Place head that places the vials in the case and the Gigacombi, a custom-built robot for the palletization zone.
Thanks to the special serialization solutions exploited, from start to finish, and to the winning features of the machines making up the line, it has everything it takes to become greatly successful on the pharmaceutical marketplace: a market that now strongly demands ever-reliable and efficient tamperproof systems.
