Contact Supplier

Contact Supplier

To get in touch with Körber Pharma Packaging, simply fill out the form below.

    Subscribe to Supplier

    Subscribe to Supplier

    .

    Case Study: Fast tracking NTx TopLoading concept into action in South Korea

    products-servicesKörber Pharma Packaging
    March 22nd 2015

    Dividella’s TopLoading NeoTOPx (NTx) concept has provided a convincing solution for a South Korean vaccine laboratory that needed to combine high product protection with small batch production on a cGMP packaging line.

    The Dividella project team convinced the customer of the benefits of the TopLoading solution for packaging vials in boxes, with implementation achieved in record time. Contact was made shortly before Interpack 2014 in May, with Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) successfully carried out in mid-December.

    CAVAC’s requirement

    Choong Ang Vaccines Laboratories (CAVAC) is based in Daejeon, South Korea. This producer of bio-pharmaceutical veterinary products is a Southeast Asian market leader in vaccines for livestock.

    The veterinary sector shares the overall pharma trend towards shrinking lot sizes and more customer specific pack variants. Therefore CAVAC needed a packaging solution for its products, including the Suishot vaccine for pigs, which would ensure comprehensive product protection across low volume batches for cost-efficient cold-chain distribution. In addition, CAVAC needed to produce a variety of different pack sizes to cGMP standards on a packaging line that had capacity of up to 450 vials per minute.

    NTx solution:

    Dividella was able to apply its NeoTOPx TopLoading format to rapid development of an integrated packaging and machine concept for a total of four different CAVAC pack formats, all of which can be packaged on NTx machines equipped with feeds for different vial formats and leaflets.

    Reduced TCP and TCO

    Compared with CAVAC’s previous packaging in blister trays in a side-load box, the Dividella (NeoTOP) packaging solution significantly reduces costs for cold-chain distribution thanks to the much lower volume. The use of monomaterial in turn lowers the TCP (Total Cost per Package) and hence the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).

    The NTx ability to make fast format changes without tools allows CAVAC to package different formats on one machine and to respond quickly to the requirements of the market.

    In addition to processing limited and highly targeted customer-specific orders more efficiently, the NTx concept allows the production of large quantities – a decisive competitive advantage, especially in the case of vaccines.

    Choosing Dividella

    The Dividella project team was headed by Wolfgang Nimmerfroh, Area Sales Manager, with Andreas Summer, Project Manager Engineering, leading the design and consultation phase.

    “CAVAC’s initial customer enquiry was very much targeted at Dividella specifically because of our high reputation in the market. The information and details that we were able to supply in response to initial request were so convincing that CAVAC sent an additional representative from South Korea to meet us at Interpack in Düsseldorf, where our latest TopLoading NTx cartoner could be seen working on our stand.
    “CAVAC places their order about two weeks after Interpack, after which things began to move very quickly,” said Andreas Summer.

    “We created the initial 3-D packaging concepts based on product photos and vial dimensions and sent them to the customer.Modern engineering tools with 3D templates and interactive drawings, in which the customer himself can make adjustments, greatly supported coordination.
    “We established a very professional and open relationship with all decisions taken very promptly. Following quick feedback to our initial concepts, we were able to jointly adapt the packaging to the customer’s specific needs, ranging from a cardboard box optimised for volume to a pack that combined low volume with best protection for the product, to provide the customer with an optimal combination,” said Mr. Summer.

    “I think the quality of our advice and the speed with which we were able to present different designs to the customer and implement his requirements were decisive,” said Mr. Nimmerfroh.

    Fast roll-out

    Wolfgang Nimmerfroh added: “Our colleagues from Engineering have done a lot of work in adapting the NTx concept to this specific customer need. In the final analysis, CAVAC was not merely buying a machine but choosing an integrated packaging concept.

    “Our project manager was on site with the customer by the end of July to discuss the technical details and the timely provision of materials for operating trials. We adopted an implementation schedule that provided for the FATby mid-December 2014, a little over six months from initial order,” said Mr. Nimmerfroh.

    About Dividella

    Swiss-based parenteral packaging specialist Dividella has built up an impressive reputation across the global pharmaceutical industry for the quality and effectiveness of its TopLoad cartoning machines. This success has been established on a holistic approach that recognizes that machine and pack design go hand in hand.

    Dividella’s production units at Grabs in Switzerland exclusively design and manufacture machines for packaging pharmaceutical products, with total focus on the specific requirements of parenteral pack products, i.e. liquid pharmaceuticals that are packaged in syringes, flasks, vials, auto-injectors and the like. These are highly sensitive products that demand thoroughly developed solutions.

    Dividella works in close consultation with its customers to develop optimal specific packaging concepts.

    Top-Load / Top-Opening concept

    Dividella’s TopLoading/ TopOpening concept recognizes that the best way to pack parenterals is to load medicine packs into the carton from above, which subjects the packs to less stress and also means that they can then be accessed more easily by the consumer from the top of the carton.

    The TopLoading concept also recognizes that pack design, construction and appearance form significant added values for manufacturers, meaning that each pack deserves to be treated as a unique entity supported by optimized handling and a complete packaging design.

    Therefore Dividella’s packaging designers are accustomed to working in close co-operation with the customer’s marketing departments to determine detailed specifications for individual packs and carton loading.

    Total development approach

    All products to be packaged are defined precisely at the beginning of each project. The aim is to package as many medicines as possible using the same design and therefore on the same machine. To make the packaging process as efficient as possible, Dividella’s packaging specialists can provide solutions for harmonization of packaging across an entire product portfolio.

    After the products for which new packs are required are clarified, Dividella packaging designers can create initial concepts, supported by physical prototypes or 3-D virtual designs.

    Based in feedback to initial presentations, physical samples can be produced; using blanks provided by Dividella’s sister company Rondo AG in Allschwil, Switzerland. Testing of samples for correct TopLoad functioning then takes place, again at Dividella.

    The joint production approach recognizes that Rondo is one of the leading folding-box manufacturers in Europe for the pharmaceutical industry. Involving Rondo at an early stage ensures that the designs not only meet customer needs and are compatible with NeoTop machinery, but also meet technical requirements of the folding box manufacturer, with particular attention given to the grades of paperboard used, perforation schemes and stamping details. A highly detailed and integrated approach to total solution design from the outset helps ensure that production subsequently functions smoothly.

    Testing regime

    Once selected samples are produced, they must undergo various tests before the optimum packaging solution can be finalized. One of these tests is the so-called Handling Test: checking how the end-user will encounter the product. Can the user open the pack correctly and intuitively, including any tamper-evident protection that is present? Where the pack contains products intended for people with motor or other disabilities, how easily can they open this pack and remove the drug?

    A further series of Transport Tests must verify that the boxes and packaged products can be transported safely, including specimen dispatch to illustrative worldwide destinations, combined with punishing vibration and drop tests in the laboratory to check that medicines remain undamaged.

    Volume savings

    Dividella folding boxes are constructed of pure monomaterial, i.e. the folding box is made from 100% recyclable cardboard material. This distinguishes it from other conventional Top-Load packs. For customers in the pharmaceutical industry, this means that by using a single standardized packaging material, storage and transport costs can be significantly reduced. Dividella reports volume savings of 25% to 50% compared with traditional blister packs.

    Volume savings are enhanced by integrated design approach that treats pack and carton as a whole system. This includes placing customized “flutes”, specially adapted to the product, inside the box, with products loaded crosswise between them. This allows multiple products to be packaged close together without touching each other or the outside of the carton. This provides much greater security and impact resistance.

    In Dividella’s Combipacks, not only the syringes but also the accompanying vials and accessories, such as needles, filters and the like can be inserted at fixed points.

    These savings are also important for cold-chain logistics, in which products must be cooled continuously from production until end use. With refrigerator space at a premium, the less space these products take up the better.

    Resources

    Click on Case Study: Fast tracking NTx TopLoading concept into action in South Korea for other information.

    TRENDING ARTICLE

    Monomaterial Packaging Machines


    FREE DOWNLOAD
    Case Study: Fast tracking NTx TopLoading concept into action in South Korea

    CAVAC needed to package vaccines in different vial formats on a single packaging line

    Case Study: Fast tracking NTx TopLoading concept into action in South Korea

    Dividella NeoTOP x – adaptable solution

    Case Study: Fast tracking NTx TopLoading concept into action in South Korea

    From 3-D virtual packs…

    Case Study: Fast tracking NTx TopLoading concept into action in South Korea

    ..to actual samples within weeks

    Case Study: Fast tracking NTx TopLoading concept into action in South Korea

    Flutes retain product securely and ensure physical separation

    Contact Körber Pharma Packaging

    Simply fill out the form below to contact Körber Pharma Packaging now.

    Send Körber Pharma Packaging a Message