As a long-time manufacturer of a wide variety of packaging equipment for the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries, Modular Packaging Systems, Inc. (MPS) has a 50-year history as a full-service systems integrator offering turnkey packaging systems design and support from initial conception to final validation. The Randolph, N.J.-based company has a diverse customer portfolio ranging from aspiring start-ups to name-brand global corporations.
Several years ago, after experiencing reliability problems with other brands of gearmotors on some of its machines, MPS knew a switch was required.
“Any reliable machine needs a reliable engine,” says Clifford Smith, president of MPS. “We had noticed some issues with the gearmotors we’d been using, such as leaks and certain avoidable defects.” Sourcing from a variety of domestic and overseas suppliers, “it was a constant battle to stock products, due to a variety of failures.”
After a thorough gearmotors market vetting, MPS decided upon Brother Gearmotors to outfit its equipment. A division of Bridgewater, N.J.-based Brother International Corporation, Brother Gearmotors sells a wide range of high-quality, sub-fractional AC gearmotors and reducers in demanding industries such as packaging, food and beverage, and unit handling.
The result has been a noticeable difference. “The reliability quotient of the machines has vastly improved. We literally have zero failure rates on everyone one of our slat fillers on the main drive and top brush motors.” MPS uses Brother gearmotors on many of its conveyors as well.
According to MPS, gearmotors from Brother are compact, energy-efficient, and sealed for life. Each comes with a long-lasting protective paint coating applied using an electrostatic process that creates a consistently tough, chemically-resistant layer designed to withstand especially harsh production environments.
As a result of the switch, MPS machines have acquired a reputation in the eyes of customers for quality, especially where durability is concerned. “Many of our customers run double or triple shifts, often six days a week,” says Smith. “That could end up being 100+ hours per week on motors used in conveyors.”
The Brother product line also offers durability and reliability, as all gearmotors carry a high-grade grease standard, meaning they are lubricated for the life of the product. This helps eliminate costly downtime for lubrication changes—an attractive selling point to MPS’s increasingly demanding customer set.
The transition to Brother gearmotors was hassle-free. Modular’s engineering team began using Brother products and found them easy to install due to their user-friendly shaft construction and flexible mounting styles.
MPS has come to depend on Brother to provide gearmotors that are high in quality and compact in size. Smith says that Brother aided MPS’s conveyor systems by providing a “simpler and faster way to build and install systems.”
Smith attributes rising sales in no small part due to the reputation for the machines’ reliability, which is at least partially made possible by the Brother gearmotors. Brother continues to be hands-on when it comes to new applications.
“The team at Brother has always been extremely responsive with our needs,” Smith says. “Even when we need a gearmotor that is out of scope with a different gear ratio or horsepower, they are always willing and able to help with new applications.”
