FEATURE Coding, Marking & Labelling
Reliable drug production requires accurate and fast labelling
Steierl-Pharma from Herrsching in Bavaria, Germany, has modernised and optimised its labelling processes with inspection technology from OMRON
H
ardly any other industry is subject to such high- quality requirements and legal regulations as the
pharmaceutical sector. This applies to active ingredients, production and storage as well as labelling processes. Labels must be robust and stick reliably for the usability period of the drug of up to fi ve years. Labels carry important information such as the name of the drug, active ingredients, manufacturer and variable data including expiration date, lot number and serialisation, where applicable. Therefore, establishing a valid labelling process is crucial.
Steierl-Pharma
Steierl-Pharma is a medium-sized pharmaceutical company in the fi eld of naturopathy, producing medicines in liquid dosage form, in cylindrical glass containers. It was founded in 1949 in Munich by a pharmacist, and today makes medicines for musculoskeletal problems, blood pressure, migraines, skin diseases and viral infections. To label its pharmaceuticals with high speed and reliability, Steierl-Pharma has turned to OMRON’s new labelling system with smart camera technology. The labels are printed with variable data on batch designation, expiration date and, where required, the dispensing notice “Sample not for sale”. For fi lling and packaging the drugs, Steierl-Pharma uses a production line for around 3,600 units per hour. It consists of a fi lling and capping machine, a labeller and a packaging machine. The line ensures continuous and seamless processes, consisting of fi lling and closing the bottles with a dropper insert and a screw cap. The closed bottles then leave the cleanroom and enter the labeller, where they are labelled and then packed in a folding box, together with an information leafl et in the packaging machine.
The challenges In 2019, a project team at Steierl-Pharma
12 February 2022 | Automation
began initial considerations to introduce a replacement for an older labelling machine.
“The then labelling machine was a smart camera-based inspection system to check the identity of the label and the variable data (batch name and expiration date). However, this had two drawbacks: First, labels were repeatedly misread as bad, and, second, bad units were not rejected, but the labelling process was stopped. However, this meant that when the machine stopped, the bottles backed up into the fi lling machine, which then also stopped and the packaging machine ran empty. So, we had a bottleneck in our processes,” said reports Steff en Wegner, Managing Director of Steierl-Pharma. “We worked with the manufacturer HERMA to fi nd a suitable inspection system that met all our requirements, which can run without interruption during regular operation. One of the central criteria was that the new inspection system should work precisely: bad units such as an incorrect or illegible barcode as well as batch or expiry date errors should
OMRON FHV7 smart camera
be detected reliably, so the keyword is sensitivity.” With an output of around 60 labels per minute, the inspection system has a time window in the range of milliseconds for the complex inspection tasks. “We decided on the OMRON FHV7 smart camera after an on-site test on our label material,” said Wegner. With the FHV7, the HERMA labelling machine at Steierl-Pharma checks the identity of the label based on the pharmaceutical code and verifi es batch and expiration via OCV (Optical Character Validation) for specifi cation compliance. The smart camera provides illumination and image-processing functionality for enhanced visual inspections. Due to its world-fi rst multi-colour light and a powerful high- resolution 12-megapixel camera, only a single FHV7 camera is needed to perform high-precision visual inspections of the production line.
Another advantage of the OMRON camera is the software, which is intuitive to use and doesn’t require lengthy training. It runs on the Windows operating system and communicates directly with the FHV7 via the local network.
Its customisable user interface is well liked by Wegner and Steierl-Pharma operators. There is only one window in which the target code, batch designation and expiration date can be entered. “We are very satisfi ed with both the new labeller and especially OMRON’s inspection technology. In a highly-regulated environment such as the pharmaceutical industry, manufacturers must be able to fully rely on the technology used and be able to successfully complete the qualifi cation process. This is the case with us now,” said Wegner.
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