Metal detectors improve accuracy for pharma packaging manufacturer
Sixty injection-moulding machines for the production of inhalators, eye drop dispensers, and nasal spray containers have been equipped with Sesotec metal detectors
Quality is paramount to a manufacturer of pharmaceutical packaging. And this is true in all phases of the production processes – from product design to production sequences and through to 100% inline testing. The high quality of the products is the result of sophisticated processes and efficient systems.
A reduction in customer complaints is the most important indicator for how the company views quality standards. Other criteria also are considered with the aim of remedying defects, reducing the number of errors and increasing customer satisfaction.
Protection of injection moulds
One of the packaging manufacturer's plants almost exclusively produces articles for the pharmaceutical industry. About 25 different products are made with a variety of hot runner moulds, with quantities of almost one million per year. Each of these products in turn can comprise up to 27 individual parts that are all injected in the same plant. Some of the large moulds have 48 cavities. All the injection-moulding machines operate in hygienically closed halls.
Since 2011 the company has equipped its injection moulding machines with Protector Primus Sesotec metal detectors to remove metal contaminations from the plastic granulate.
There were three reasons for the purchasing of metal detectors:
1. They avoid machine damage caused by metal particles which eg choke cavities and lead to expensive repair work.
2. There are no longer production losses due to machine downtimes.
3. That there are no more customer complaints due to contaminated or underinjected products.
How Protector metal detectors work
Protector metal detectors were installed directly above the material inlet of injection moulding machines, where they remove metallic contaminations from the slowly descending material column. Apart from outstanding properties such as high sensitivity and space-saving, compact design, Protector metal detectors boast a ‘quick-valve’ reject unit. When a metal particle is detected a pneumatically-controlled piston in this reject unit moves into its reject position and the rejected material is completely sucked into a collecting container using a Venturi nozzle. The piston then moves back to its pass-through position. A negligible amount of good material is lost in this process and clogging is claimed to be impossible.
The project manager of the pharmaceutical packaging manufacturer is highly satisfied with the Sesotec Protector metal detectors: "We are particularly convinced by the high detection accuracy and the high reliability of the systems, and by the ease of operation provided by the Primus control unit."