Quality control machine upgrade

Quality control failures with blister packaging, present a significant challenge for pharmaceutical companies, as mistakes in pill count, size, or type can result in consumer complaints and order returns.

Utilizing industrial cameras for quality control purposes offers a solution by verifying the correct filling of blisters. These applications assess the pill position and condition, and if an error is detected, prompt the rejection of the faulty package.

Our client, a pharmaceutical corporation specializing in the manufacturing and global distribution of medical products, sought our assistance to enhance the quality control component of their pill blister machine.

The need

The manufacturer provided the customer’s machine with a quality control system including a camera and software, which did not yield reliable results, leading to either rejecting good products or not catching defective ones.

Additionally, the manufacturer failed to offer adequate technical support when the customer needed to enhance quality control for pill blisters.

The initial operation of the machine involved checking for the presence or absence of pills of a certain color inside the blister, while at the same time checking the size of these pills.

However, a new requirement arose for additional control to differentiate between colors in the pills (if more than one color was present in a blister).

The solution

Based on the client’s budget and application requirements, our technical department developed a proposal that included a study, programming and training on the operation of the following materials:

OMRON: FHV7H-C032-C SMART CAMERA
OMRON: PLC CP2E (discharge tuning)
RING INFRARED LIGHT

With the completion of the programming by the specialized team of KALAMARAKIS AUTOMATION, the customer was able to proceed with the installation and the final result far exceeded their expectations.

Results

The customer was highly pleased with the outcome, as their machine now includes a 5-tier quality assurance system:

Stigma on a pill
Pill loss
Broken pill or part missing (size)
Pill color recognition
Cracks on a pill

As a result in addition to satisfying the customer’s primary request, our proposal managed to offer 2 additional levels of control, completely upgrading the quality control of their machine.

Additional Benefits

The suggested solution was simple to set up, operate, and upkeep. Additionally, there is no requirement to reconfigure the system when packaging changes occur, allowing for various pill formats to be accommodated by the machine without any issues.

Furthermore, the customer can trust in KALAMARAKIS AUTOMATION expertise, ensuring immediate technical assistance in case of any problems without causing lengthy production downtimes.

You can rely on our experience and diverse product selection to upgrade your equipment.