Product category:
Dispensing, filling and weighing systems
News Release from: Mettler Toledo | Subject: Checkweighing, print and verification system
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 04 December 2006
Checkweigher also scans and batch/date
prints
A checkweighing, print and verification system scans, batch/date prints and checkweighs 'prescription-sized' packages of a migraine medicine.
A checkweighing, print and verification system scans, batch/date prints and checkweighs 'prescription-sized' packages of a migraine medicine UK-based checkweighing technologies specialists, Mettler Toledo Product Inspection Division, of Leicester, UK, have created a leading-edge checkweighing, print and verification solution for use on a brand new product packaging line at AstraZeneca's 100-acre site in Macclesfield, Cheshire
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 16 Jan 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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Already the preferred checkweighing technologies supplier of AstraZeneca in Macclesfield, having installed some 15 Garvens Pharma machines over recent years, Mettler Toledo Product Inspection was approached by AstraZeneca earlier this year to develop a Garvens solution that would scan, batch/date print and checkweigh 'prescription-sized' packages of their new Zomig migraine medicine.
* Highest levels of accuracy - concerned that traditional Optical Character Recognition (OCR) scan technology would prove too sensitive and, therefore, potentially deliver false readings - and aware that a 'blob detection' type density solution would not provide the necessary capability to read vital carton data such as batch number and expiry dates from the original packaging - AstraZeneca required a solution that would ensure the highest levels of scanning accuracy, cost-effective print capability and a checkweighing tolerance of +/-200mg; a level sufficient to define whether the correct dosage instructions were contained within the packaging.
* Integrated solution - in creating their solution for AstraZeneca, the Mettler Toledo Product Inspection product development team devised a 'top and bottom feed system' that embraced the capabilities of their highly proven Garvens S2 Pharma checkweigher and integrated a SICK Pattern Matching Sensor - chosen for its ability to recognise the given number of pixels in a specified print area - and a Wolke printer, chosen for its print capabilities and cost-effective replacement print heads.
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Commented Mettler Toledo Product Inspection's Steve George, sales account manager, "We were delighted to be invited to develop this highly innovative solution for AstraZeneca that required the highest levels of scanning accuracy and checkweighing technology." He said: "In developing this Garvens solution, we were able to ensure that only correctly-filled and batch/date-printed Zomig packs progress for despatch, with any packs that fail to contain dosage instructions being ejected for re-filling".
"An in-built safety protocol also ensures that should batch/date printing not occur, that package will not progress for checkweighing or despatch." * About the Garvens S2 Pharma checkweigher - specially developed for the pharmaceutical environment - and the result of ongoing development in dynamic weighing technology - the Garvens S2 Pharma model features an easy-to-use touch screen, on-screen operator prompts, digital load cell for improved accuracy and throughput, direct drive motor system, for reduced loadcell noise and improved accuracy, and the advantage of a modular design which allows specific solutions to be supplied from standard software and hardware modules.
Sorting and rejecting is provided by air jet and a considerable list of options and accessories includes: smart card technology for unique statistics and storage data, validation package capability, checkweigher networking, audit trail generation and line-monitoring solutions. Request a free brochure from Mettler Toledo ...
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