A major pharmaceutical company needed automation to produce give away samples. The system was to accept four sided sealed pouches from a vertical form fill and seal machine at very high speeds. It was to count the pouches into a stand up dump bin with precision and have the ability to change the count at any time. It also needed to verify the bar codes on the carton prior to filling it with the pouches and have an optional by-pass mode to allow for bulk filling of cases. Finally the cartons were to be loaded into corrugated boxes and palletized. The complete system was required to be cGMP compliant.
We provided a servo driven picking arm that picked the pouches from the vertical form fill and seal machine prior to the cutting. The pouches were carried by a servo driven flight indexer to the point above the counting system. Next the cartons were closed and exited the first machine and sent on to the case packer. The cartons were case packed using robotics and then closed and inspected for proper bar codes. The bulk loading of product into cases was accomplished by using a bypass conveyor to go from the counting area of the carton loading to the case packer. The system was fully integrated and performed the FAT with no major changes prior to shipment.
Benefits of the Fargo System:
The system was integrated using all AB controls and networks for interconnects between individual machines.
The system performed and has performed for two years now at or above expectations on a 24/5 operation.
The advanced integration service provided for a single FAT and a single point of starting up the full line into production.