Robot arm eliminates the risk of contamination
Hygienic and effective
With the assistance of a collaborative robot arm, the Fyn-based plastic company MedicoPack ensures that the products they manufacture and deliver to the pharmaceutical industry worldwide meet the industry's high standards of cleanliness.
1 robot handles 12,000 items daily
Contamination risk is eliminated
Improved efficiency
Challenge
MedicoPack sought to optimise two production lines for infusion containers. It is crucial that the products they manufacture and deliver to the pharmaceutical industry worldwide meet the industry's high standards of cleanliness.
Solution
Two UR5 robots operate on two stacking systems, producing approximately 12,000 infusion containers daily. The UR robots can run unshielded side by side with an operator, without posing a safety risk.
Gain
MedicoPack has achieved hygienic and efficient handling of its finished infusion containers. The solution has replaced the packaging crates, allowing them to proactively prevent the risk of contamination.
"We decided to implement UR robots because they can operate collaboratively. Traditionally, industrial robots need to be shielded, but our UR robot can run unshielded side by side with an operator without posing a safety risk. It simply stops running if someone or something gets too close."
Kenneth Sæderup Petersen, Project Manager
This is how Project Manager Kenneth Sæderup Petersen explains why the plastic manufacturer MedicoPack in Langeskov chose the collaborative robot arms from Universal Robots when optimising the packaging process in production.
In close collaboration with pharmaceutical companies and hospitals, MedicoPack develops and manufactures plastic packaging solutions for the pharmaceutical industry both domestically and internationally. Plastic bottles for liquid medication and infusion containers for IV bags make up the majority of MedicoPack's production, with each category accounting for nearly half of the total production and revenue. Additionally, there are specially developed customised solutions, constituting a smaller part of the production.
High hygiene standards
In the spring of 2017, MedicoPack contacted BILA Robotics to optimise two production lines for infusion containers. The management had already decided to enhance production with two UR robots but needed to decide which models to choose. Therefore, the Area Manager from BILA Robotics, Steen Slabiak Jensen, visited the factory in Langeskov and talked with Kenneth Sæderup Pedersen about the production challenges and needs. Subsequently, the packaging manufacturer ordered two UR5 robots to perform the same task on two different lines: stacking finished infusion containers before packaging.
"Previously, when the items were cast and assembled, they were placed in a collection tray, where they stayed until manually inspected, stacked, and packed. We believed this process could be more efficient, both in terms of production efficiency and contamination risk," says Kenneth Sæderup Pedersen.
Kenneth refers to the fact that, as a pharmaceutical industry and healthcare supplier, MedicoPack is subject to strict requirements for its products to be immaculate and free from particles.
”We are very attentive to ensuring that the surroundings in production are immaculate, and the same applies to the items we produce. The need for a new solution arose from our proactive desire to prevent the risk of contamination with a solution that could replace the packaging crates," explains Kenneth Sæderup Pedersen.
Hygienic and effective handling
Collaborative robot arms from Universal Robots helped MedicoPack achieve this.
While one of the two UR5 robots is still awaiting implementation, the other took its new permanent place in a newly built stacking system on a line that produces approximately 12,000 infusion containers daily, starting in January of this year. Here, it ensures that the finished infusion containers are stacked correctly and ready to be packed. Once the items have been cast, assembled, and inspected, they move along a conveyor past the UR robot arm, which picks up two at a time and stacks them in piles of 10 with two OnRobot grippers.
"The packaging crate has been replaced. The finished items are stacked directly into piles, resting on two points, to prevent them from touching the surface. This effectively eliminates the risk of contamination,"
Kenneth Sæderup Pedersen, Project Manager
Kenneth adds that the efficiency of the production line has also been significantly improved after the implementation of the UR5 robot because the employee no longer has to count the items and ensure they are not turned upside down. The robot arm takes care of that.
"Not only did we eliminate the packaging crates and thereby significantly reduce an already low contamination risk, but we also saved a lot of time because the employees know in advance that the items are not turned upside down but stacked in the right quantity for packaging."
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