Company insight
Automating production of pre-filled syringes
Growth in demand for vials requires a quicker production process, especially following the Covid-19 crisis. There is a need for faster inspection and packing without a negative impact to quality, especially for Schott Kaisha, a leading manufacturer of premium pharmaceutical containers made of neutral glass tubing such as vials, syringes, ampoules and cartridges. Thankfully, automated solutions provided by Stäubli will help them to continue to meet demand.
ince the beginning of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, Schott Kaisha has been providing pharmaceutical glass for primary packaging to fill billions of vaccines worldwide. The value of the Indian pharmaceutical packaging market reached €1.76bn in 2017 and has been expected to rise to €3bn by the end of 2023. As a provider of high-quality pharma products for customers Schott Kaisha prepared its facilities for the increase. In order to stay ahead of the anticipated growth in demand, Schott Kaisha has implemented a fully automated process with GMP Standard along with a clean and hygienic environment at its Umarsadi plant for the inspection and packing of its vial nest products. After comparing the speed of manual inspection and packing to an automated process, Schott Kaisha chose to render its Umarsadi plant fully automated.
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Stäubli halves time of inspections and packing Stäubli Robotics has contributed to the production line by doubling the speed of
inspections and packing at the Schott Kaisha Umarsadi Gujarat plant. Manual production at the plant equated to the speed of one tub per minute; with Stäubli Robotics automation, it is done with a speed of 2 tubs per minute. Three types of Cleanroom robot models – TS2-60, TX2-60 and TX2-90L – are used to pre-fill syringes, vials and ampoules. Stäubli Robotics Suite eases the programming time as well as modification time in offline activity. First, SCARA robots pick and place vials from a conveyor. Next, 6-axis robots nest the vials. Afterward, the robots handle and inspect the vial’s nest, then place QC-approved nests in the tub. This is followed by packing of the nest and tub by placing inner and outer tyvek in the tub. Lastly, the robots carry out the heat sealing of the tub and bagging of the products. The surface of these robots has a special coating. The entire robot is fully sealed and specially designed for a pharma environment. Therefore, these robots can be cleaned with IPA, an agent to disinfect the equipment used in the cell. Alcohol is used
as a medium of disinfecting the cell; the diluted alcohol also coagulates the protein, but at a slower rate, so that it penetrates all the way through the cell before coagulation can block it. Then the entire cell is coagulated and the organism dies. Following a six-point process, the robots provide clean and consistent performance of packaging and inspection of vials, maintaining the quality of the products. Schott Kaisha concluded the Stäubli robots provided a consistent day-to-day, batch-to- batch production with a clean and hygienic operation. The fully automated setting with the robots also offers the company the flexibility to produce new variants.
Enhancing patient safety Schott Kaisha’s reputation for quality- focused products and implementing the latest technologies has led it to be among the first in the world to introduce new products like nested sterile vials and cartridges, over and above their existing portfolio for sterile nested syringes. With quality as the central point for Schott, the integration of an automated process needed to meet demanding standards to ensure end-user safety. The robots fit the GMP Standard and contribute to a clean and hygienic environment, the number one reason it chose Stäubli.
Overall, the robots provide a clean and consistent performance of packaging and inspection of vials, maintaining the quality of the products and speeding up the process. This allows Schott to remain committed to international quality standards, quality assurance methods and fully automated inspection systems. ●
Stäubli Robotics’ additions to the Schott Kaisha plant carrying out automated medical device production. 62
www.staubli.com
www.schott-poonawalla.com
Medical Device Developments /
www.nsmedicaldevices.com
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