A smart production solution in 5 weeks!

Our customer is a listed company with its headquarters in the US. They are working in the pharmacy market. The companies in the Netherlands are divided into 3 divisions. Two divisions are engaged in medical support for caregivers and patients and the development and production of medicines. The third division is involved in the development and production of veterinary medicines.

Delivery times 3/4 years no exception

Part of the division for the production of various medicines for pharmacists and hospitals is engaged in the production and packaging of these drugs. Where previously the drug market was very conservative and the same drugs were produced for many years, here too, developments have been accelerated and competition is severe. Consequence, scale expansion and more flexible production and packaging. Unfortunately, the suppliers of these standard packaging streets are not yet fully equipped for this new challenge, and delivery times are completely unavailable. The basic components for these modular packaging streets are often available, but for customer-specific adjustments, delivery times of 3/4 years are no exception. This results in huge production delays and perhaps even worse losing a customer.

Provides customer strategic lead to competitor

The need of our client involves a quick, if necessary temporary solution to insert auxiliaries in the insert unit of a packaging street. Up to now, the leaflets are added manually. In the start-up, a capacity of approximately 17 million axles (recurring capacity on an annual basis) must be achieved and subsequently scaled up to about 20 million a year. As a result, it is possible to market the production of a new drug without delay. This takes our client a major strategic edge on her competition.

Z tech has been asked to design and build a system for inserting the leaflet into the insert unit. The condition was that the production could be started within 4 to 5 weeks. Our client was well aware that this was a very ambitious goal and more wishful thinking than a real option.

Standard systems no solution

Our client has informed us of the available solutions that are usually used for this. These are standard systems that are used in high-speed Continuous Motion applications. However, these solutions are based on years of experience with many ‘Fingerspitzengefühl’. Do over building is unethical, takes a lot of time to measure and more time to work well. For us, this was not an option, also a customize solution with a relatively long engineering range did not fit in the very short lead time.

Unconventional, but logical solution

Our proposal in this application was very unconventional, but the most logical step. Create a dis-connectable rigid frame with a standard small 6-axis robot. We only need to measure the obstacles of the packaging street and to determine the operating area globally. Subsequently we have modulated it all in 3D and simulated with a simulation program. The model and wishes / requirements of the client regarding ergonomics and logistics provided a few possible configurations. In consultation with the client we have chosen and elaborated the most economical and ergonomic layout. The engineering involved only the frame, the robot gripper and the interfacing with the enclosure feed and the packaging street. The bargains, such as the robot, could already be ordered almost immediately. The intensive relationship with Fanuc has contributed to a very fast delivery of the robot, which prompted us to carry out a few tests. The engineering has not taken place for a week and the make and buy items were all in the warehouse with about 2 weeks. Construction and testing in our factory also took about a week. The construction and testing with our client was completed within a few days.

A true Z-tech solution

Our client, who now had to accept delivery times of almost a year, had been stupid. Such an action they had never experienced and, frankly, we are not so often! All in all, a good example of how Z-Tech has deployed the flexibility of servos and robots, in combination with a highly motivated team, in its own way.