Packaging
REFURBSIHMENT OF QUALITY NEWMAN LABELLER PROVES COST EFFECTIVE FOR MERCK
Wednesday 04. November 2009 - With the world economy suffering from recession, it pays to look at ways to save money and if you can do that without compromising on quality then you've ticked all the right boxes. Newman Labelling Systems helped pharmaceutical customer Merck & Co, Inc. do just that recently by providing a refurbishment service for a Newman VAL550 labeller.
The VAL550 – a high speed pharmaceutical labelling system – in question, had
been installed in 1999 at Merck’s West Point premises in the USA where it had
been little used so had relatively low hours and a long service life remaining.
With the closure of the line the VAL550 was on, MMDA in Australia acquired the
labeller from West Point and had it sent to Newman Labelling for refurbishment.
Matthew Bolton, Project Leader with Merck, explains the decision to go down the
refurbishment route: “The previous site in West Point, Pennsylvania were taking
down the line on which the VAL550 was installed in 2001. We were looking to
optimize the labelling process in Australia by dual processing diluents and
vaccines rather than the double handling that was currently being done. West
Point had a good option of the VAL 550 and it was more cost effective to have it
refurbished by Newman than purchasing a new machine.”
At Newman Labelling’s facilities in the UK, the VAL550 had all worn items
replaced and the specification changed to meet MMDA’s requirements. This
included adding an Acuity Vision System, changing the sensors for cap colour,
label position, and label presence, sourcing and adding a thermal transfer
system that was capable of meeting the speed requirements of the new line and
the VAL550 and changing the product format to enable the machine to run 3ml and
2ml glass vials at 300cpm. The fully refurbished machine was then re validated
by Newman.
On completion of the refurbishment, the VAL 550 was shipped to MMDA’s Sydney
premises where it is now in use for dual processing of diluents and vaccines
along side the company’s existing labeller. Both labellers are capable of
feeding the IMA Flexa cartoner for packs of 10 (5+5) and IWKA cartoner for packs
of duals (1+1). Flexlink conveyors link these systems together.
The Newman VAL550 – as with all Newman Labelling machines – proved ideal for
refurbishment as it has been designed and built to last. It has been proven in
numerous installations around the world where its combination of the latest
electronic systems with high quality mechanical engineering provide accurate and
reliable high speed labelling up to 600 c.p.m. As well as suitable for vials,
the VAL 550 can be used with ampoules, syringes, bottles and cartridges.