Flexible solutions for packing medical products

At Compamed 2018 MULTIVAC will be presenting an innovative packaging concept for medical and pharmaceutical products, which offers users a novel opening aid for easy product removal. In addition to this, MULTIVAC is also featuring at the trade fair a number of other packaging solutions, which enable medical products to be packed flexibly, efficiently and with a very high level of process reliability.

With Snapsil® MULTIVAC is showing a novel packaging concept for medical and pharmaceutical products, which is ideally suited to packing products such as syringes, tablets, plasters, injectors, catheters etc. With their integrated "snap-opening" function, Snapsil packs offer an innovative opening aid, which enables the packs to be used more easily, even by elderly or disabled persons. When it comes to the hectic activity of everyday life in hospitals and care homes, it is simple and quick to open the packs and remove the product easily in a controlled way. Depending on the type of product, the pack can be equipped with a "click-to-close" function, so that it can be opened again for multiple use and then closed securely. In addition to this, tamper-proof protection offers the maximum product safety. Snapsil packs can be produced on MULTIVAC thermoforming packaging machines and traysealers. The solution was developed in conjunction with the Snapsil Corporation.

MULTIVAC will also be presenting an automated packaging line for packing sterile medical products. The line consists of a R 245 thermoforming packaging machine with a syringe infeed system, a thermal transfer printer for printing variable production data on the packs, and a visual inspection system for inspecting the print image. The R 245 thermoforming packaging machine can be freely configured and offers a high level of flexibility as regards packaging materials and pack formats. At Compamed it is equipped with an automatic infeed system for loading prefilled glass or plastic syringes, and the system inspects the products before inserting them securely into the pack cavities. The infeed system consists of a shaft infeed system, a separating wheel, a transport conveyor and a pick & place robot. All the components of the infeed system are synchronised with the thermoforming packaging machine, and they can be operated via its control terminal in a convenient and reliable way.

The exhibits will also include a R 081 thermoforming packaging machine, a compact model for small-scale production and for those companies, which want to start on automated packaging. The machine can be used for producing both vacuum packs and modified atmosphere packs with reduced residual oxygen content. Flexible and rigid films as well as Tyvek® and paper-based packaging materials can be run with ease. The range of pack formats can be freely configured. The drawer system ensures that format change is fast and simple.

As regards the traysealer sector, MULTIVAC will be presenting the T 260, which was specially developed to meet the high demands of the medical products and pharmaceutical industries. This mobile and compact model is designed for running a wide spectrum of trays, and it offers companies packing small to medium-sized batches a high degree of process reliability, reproducibility and above all flexibility. The sealing die ensures that a controlled sealing pressure and precise temperature distribution are achieved. Critical parameters are monitored permanently by sensors.

The C 300 TC chamber machine will be on show from MULTIVAC's wide range of chamber machines. It enables sterile medical products to be packed securely in film pouches, and packs can be produced either as vacuum packs or with modified atmosphere and reduced residual oxygen content. A temperature-controlled and permanently heated sealing bar, which can be both validated and calibrated, ensures that this cleanroom-compatible machine achieves reproducible sealing quality.