Flat sealed pouches securely packaged by Christ Packaging

Stents and balloons are used in the invasive treatment of heart disease and are manufactured in small batches due to the large variety of products. Christ Packing Systems GmbH & Co. KG, Ottobeuren, has taken on the complex task of an automated packaging process and recently delivered a line for packaging these highly sensitive products in sealed pouches.

The use of stents and balloons can save lives during heart surgery. A variety of customised products help doctors to achieve the best possible result. The products are manufactured as individual items or in batches of a few hundred and sterile packed in sealed pouches. These are packed in flat folding boxes with various package inserts delivered to hospitals.

The line supplied by Christ stands in an environment with strict GMP requirements and must ensure that the product, packaging and product inserts are put together correctly. The packaging materials are largely neutral and maintain their Batch and product labelling first in the course of the process. The line can buffer several batches and extract the batch information from the sealed pouches supplied.

Increasing production reliability

The highlight of the new line is the Connection to the customised MES and ERP system, with which Christ Packing Systems has taken a major step towards „Industry 4.0“. Production orders can be started and the production process monitored via a master computer that communicates with both the individual machines and the database system. Among other things, the system informs the operator which consumables are to be loaded, automatically initialises systems such as cameras, scales or printers and checks critical mechanical settings on the system.

In addition to the Relief for the operator the advantage of this system lies in a clear Increasing production reliability. Incorrect components are automatically recognised and necessary changes are initiated accordingly. Production-relevant data, such as material used, is reported back to the system and is available for statistics and future planning.

Gentle processing of highly sensitive products

The start of the line is formed by a Batch buffer, into which the operator can manually insert storage containers. These boxes are filled at manual work stations with pre-labelled sealed bags and are used for gentle product transport. To prevent product mix-ups, the boxes are colour-coded and labelled with a barcode. The pouches are removed from this storage area and transferred to the cup chain of the 15” cartoner in the „BoxTeq 1500“ product group, which, with its flexible format range, offers a wide range of options. Reliable processing of the wide, yet very flat products. In addition, up to three different package inserts onto the sealed edge pouch before it is inserted into the folding box.

Control systems monitor the process

A Camera system checks the coding of the bag, the folding carton and the packaging materials and initiates an ejection if there are discrepancies in the coding. In order to save resources, neither additional leaflets nor a product are fed in as soon as an error is recognised by the camera system. After successful Weight control the folding carton is transferred to the „LabelTeq“ labelling system specially developed for the customer. In this module, both a tamper-evident label and a U-shaped label are applied. This is followed by Label check with the option of rejecting faulty products.

The Fully automatic case packers „The “CaseTeq 145" is the last link in the packaging line. This machine packs the folding cartons into outer cartons. This packaging unit is also labelled and checked and then removed by the operator for manual palletising. For quality checks or the manual outer carton packaging of smaller batches, it is also possible to output products to a separate station before the case packer.

„With the supplied packaging line for sealed pouches, Christ Packing Systems has created a solution that is precisely tailored to the customer's needs. The deep integration into MES and ERP makes it possible to maintain a permanent overview of OEE and the flow of products and consumables. A unique selling point is the Large format range of the 15” cartoner, on which very flat folding cartons, comparable to the dimensions of a college pad, are processed,“ summarises Michael Meyer, Product Manager Pharma and Medical Devices at Christ Packing Systems, summarised the project

One unit: bag, folding box, transport packaging

Thanks to the combination of proven machine technology and innovative further developments, Christ Packing Systems will also be able to react flexibly to complex packaging applications in the pharmaceutical and medical devices sectors in the future: as a reliable and competent partner in the field of end-of-line packaging, true to the motto „packing made simple“.

[infotext icon]Christ Packing Systems is a renowned German manufacturer of packaging machines for secondary and end-of-line packaging. The specialist for customised special solutions can look back on more than 65 years of experience in the development and production of complex packaging systems[/infotext].