Pharmaceutical and Medical: Secondary Packaging
Banner Solutions for Secondary Packaging in the Pharmaceutical and Medical Industries
Secondary packaging is critical to protecting products for shipment and provides vital track and trace information. With ever increasing levels of automation, companies need systems that can process pharmaceuticals quickly and accurately without compromising staff safety. Companies around the world rely on the depth of our product offering, our capacity for innovation and customization, and the rich industry knowledge of our applications experts to support them through every phase of packaging.
From high performance photoelectric and vision sensors that verify cap position, closure and seal to light screens, emergency stop buttons and safety controllers that protect operators from high speed automated processes, the depth of product offering, capacity for innovation and customization, and the rich industry knowledge of our applications experts support companies through every phase of packaging.
Secondary packaging is critical to protecting products for shipment and provides vital track and trace information. With ever increasing levels of automation, companies need systems that can process pharmaceuticals quickly and accurately without compromising staff safety.
Banner offers high performance photoelectric and vision sensors for verifying the presence and position of a cap or closure, inspecting tamper evident seals and glue lines, confirming carton contents, detecting registration marks, monitoring roll diameter, ensuring label presence and accuracy, and reading and validating bar codes. All throughout this process, machine safety products from Banner, such as emergency stop buttons and safety controllers, protect operators from high speed automated processes, while LED lights and indicators illuminate equipment and provide at-a-glance status information.
Applications
Tracking Products through Packaging
Barcodes used to track packaged produce through the supply chain contain important product information that must be verified at multiple points during packaging. An ABR 3000 barcode reader ensures that the barcode on each package is present and correct.
High-Speed 2D Barcode Inspection
Banner’s iVu Plus BCR Gen 2 with remote display offers an easy to use solution for reading barcodes to ensure correct labels have been applied. The iVu Plus BCR Gen 2 models provide both a fine mode, for reading smaller barcodes that require full resolution, and coarse mode, for applications where speed is critical.
Plastic Roll Diameter Measurement
Banner’s LE550 is factory configured with a range of 100 to 1000 mm and can start measuring immediately. If the range needs to be adjusted, the laser sensor has an intuitive user interface with a two-line, eight-character display, making it easy to automatically or manually adjust settings. The LE550 provides repeatability and accuracy across challenging targets, from metal to black rubber, allows for reliable measurement of the shrink wrap.
Date/Lot Code Inspection
To verify each package has a date/lot code printed on it, an iVu Series sensor is configured for a Match inspection. An image of the date/lot code is captured. When the inspection is running, if the sensor detects a package without the date/lot code the sensor sends a fail output to the line, and the product is rejected.
Pharmaceutical Insert Verification
An iVu BCR sensor is mounted 8-12 inches above a conveyor of boxed pill bottles containing a medical information insert. The iVu BCR industrial bar code scanner reads a data matrix code on the insert to verify it matches the product on the packaging line. When a box containing an incorrect insert or no insert at all moves past the iVu BCR inspection area, the iVu detects this fail condition and sends an output alarm to the production line.
Box Insert Detection
To confirm that each unit includes a product information insert, an iVu Series sensor is mounted above the packaging line. The sensor is configured for a Match inspection, and checks that the product information leaflet is inserted into each package of medication. The leaflet can be placed in any orientation, but must beface up.The sensor can detect 360 degrees of rotation to find the insert.
Detecting the Positioning and Presence of Tamper Evident Bands
Banner iVu TG vision sensor with multi-point inspections is ideal for detecting and evaluating the position of tamper-evident bands. In this application, the band should be positioned around both the cap and the neck of a bottle. A seal positioned too high, too low, or completely missing would be considered unacceptable. With multi-point inspection, the iVu TG vision sensor can simultaneously detect missing and poorly positioned bands.
Detecting Registration Marks on Labels
Banner’s R58 high-speed, low-contrast expert registration sensor detects subtle registration marks on the labels as they pass at high speed—ensuring the label is cut at precisely the right moment for correct label placement. To accommodate frequent changeovers, the sensor is designed with LED color options—which automatically change depending which color best optimizes contrast.
Featured Products
Q4X Series Rugged Laser Distance Sensor
Rugged Q4X laser distance sensor solves many challenging applications and comes in a rugged IP69K rating with FDA food grade stainless steel housing.
R58 Series Registration Mark Sensor
Detects subtle color contrasts in common product and material registration applications found in printing, packaging, and pharmaceutical industries.
LP Series Full Feature Compact Type 4
The space saving, compact housing is ideal for smaller machines and constrained areas. Models available in 14 & 25 mm resolutions and up to 1810 mm (5.9 ft) lengths with no dead zone.
QS18 Series All Purpose Photoelectric Sensor
All purpose photoelectric sensor with universal housing design and 18 mm threaded barrel is an ideal replacement for hundreds of other sensor styles.
XS26 Series Expandable Safety Controllers
Expandable for complex safety applications where 3 or more safety relays are typically used. Supports up to 154 inputs and up to 68 dual channel outputs with 0.5 amps or 6 amps each using expansion modules.
30 mm Mount Emergency Stop Buttons
Patented 30 mm mounting base enables easy installation and hookup with no assembly, individual wiring or additional enclosure required.
Success Stories
Blue LED Sensor Detects Amber Bottles
A recent industry switch from polypropene (PP) to polyethylene terephthalate (PETE) bottles prompted a leading US mail-order facility to re-evaluate their fulfillment process. With over 2,000 red LED sensors to be replaced, the facility turned to Banner for a solution.
![LED Lights Used To Inspect Liquid Pharmaceuticals [Success Story]](/content/dam/banner-engineering/3d-renders/application-notes/wcc-migration/2011/WLA-IV-Bag-Manual-Inspection---Particulates.psd/jcr:content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.319.319.png)
LED Lights Used To Inspect Liquid Pharmaceuticals [Success Story]
One global provider of healthcare products had been using vision machines to detect particulates in their liquid pharmaceuticals. When the machines were no longer able to detect contaminants to the required percentage level, the company began using human visual inspections. Since many of the particulates are extremely minute, the company needed to install bright and highly uniform illumination in their work stations so operators could effectively verify the quality of products.