Vials and Ampoules packaging line

We have recently sent a line that packages a vial and an ampoule inside a tray made of card instead of a plastic tray to an Indian customer. The engineers of the customer and our technical/commercial experts met to discuss the increasing awareness in India concerning sustainable packaging and consequently to develop a line focusing on two aspects. On one hand, we developed a production line made up of a robotic station to feed the vials and ampoules, combined with our cartoner MA300 and wrapper MF910. On the other, which is the most impressive part of the project, we designed a tray and a carton tailored for this specific customer, both made of card, configuring the whole product for the retail industry.

Our customer is one of the main pharmaceutical companies in India. It produces over 150 different products registered under its own name, among which are vaccines for humans but also for animals (paediatric and anti-rabies) and exports them to over 50 countries worldwide. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic - India has the second highest number of cases in the world - our customer has decided to contribute towards financially supporting PM CARES, which is a special fund set up in India last March to guarantee its population’s healthcare system.

A customized tray made of card instead of a plastic tray: a small step towards extraordinariness 

The line consists of a robotic station with four Robocombi units, anthropomorphic arms, created in-house, which pick-up, transfer and, on request, cluster or layer the products and packages. In this specific case, the Robocombis feed the card tray, feed the vial and ampoules and transfer the product thus assembled onto the bucket chain of the cartoner.

“Every day we get customers who ask us to switch from plastic to card. We, as designers, know that plastic is still the easiest material to use, but thanks to new units and new solutions the gap between the two materials is gradually being filled”.

Andrea Grillini, MG packaging material designer

The horizontal cartoner MA300 inserts the card tray with the vial and ampoul into the carton, which is again made of card. The impressive versatility of the MA 300 machine means it can very rapidly form not only cartons to accommodate vials and ampoules, but also other products such as blister packs, syringes, tubes and sachets. The MA300 is very compact yet it is able to work with lines that reach high speeds of up to 300 pieces per minute.

The line ends with the MF910 wrapper, which is the perfect solution for wrapping single or clustered products, be they high-range cosmetics or pharmaceuticals. As well as cartons, this solution can be used to wrap boxes and other products having irregular shapes and is presently one of the best solutions available made by the Marchesini Group.