Controls & Machine Components

Schneider Electric ELAU Packaging Solutions: Ethernet/ip scanner module

The new Ethernet/IP scanner module OM-NE was designed by Elau to meet the requirements of builders in the U.S. market.

June 11, 2007

Machinery: Page 686

Controls & Machine Components

Wago Corporation: Profinet bus coupler

Wago has released the 750-340 Series PROFINET Bus coupler, designed to be used as local or distributed I/O on a PROFINET industrial Ethernet network.

June 11, 2007

Controls & Machine Components

An educator's 'standard' view

Ken Ryan, director of the Center of Automation and Control at Alexandria Technical College (www.camc-online.org), Alexandria, MN, says it is finding there’s a need for upskilling in all the sectors it is involved with.

June 11, 2007

Blisters/clamshells/skin packaging

Upskilling: Is your workforce packaging technology savvy?

As packaging machinery becomes more sophisticated, training and education, or ‘upskilling,’ becomes a growing concern for managers at Pepperidge Farm and elsewhere.

June 11, 2007

Blisters/clamshells/skin packaging

Anti-counterfeiting strategies begin to take shape

From the automotive aftermarket to personal-care products to pharmaceuticals, new brand authentication and anti-counterfeiting initiatives are swimming into view.

June 11, 2007

Cartoning

Thermo Fisher Scientific: Weigh Engine is small but mighty

Measuring just 3" x 3" x 4", this little black box—better known as a Weigh Engine—can bring check-weighing functionality to a variety of packaging machines.

June 11, 2007

Controls & Machine Components

Moving to more modular programming

IEC Standard 61131-3 is aimed at bringing standardization—based on modular reusable components—to programming. Will it change how packaging machines are designed?

June 11, 2007

Sustainability

New plastics data in the U.S. LCI database

Within a matter of days, important new data sets will be available in the U.S. LCI (Life Cycle Inventory) Database. The data will include all steps from “cradle to resin” for nine common plastic resins (HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, PP, HIPS, GPPS, PVC, ABS, PET) and two polyurethane polyols. These materials are commonly used in packaging systems as well as in durable products (for example, building products such as insulation).

June 11, 2007

Blisters/clamshells/skin packaging

Cephalon's RFID pilot

Cephalon Inc. is in Phase 3 of an RFID pilot program that will involve live testing at its manufacturing facility in Salt Lake City, UT. Based out of Frazer, PA, Cephalon is a mid-sized biopharmaceutical company with $1.8 billion in sales last year. Its products include Actiq, Provigil, as well as Fentora, which is the product that is the focus of the current RFID pilot. Cephalon started its RFID pilot program in 2004.

June 11, 2007

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Irradiation again, labeling this time

My fear right now is for those of you who might not finish reading this column, but who work with irritating colleagues.

June 11, 2007

Secondary Packaging

Industry watch

CompaniesThe Bosch Group plans to acquire Pharmatec gmbh, Dresden, Germany, from Fresenius proserve gmbh. The transaction also includes the acquisition of the Pharmatec subsidiary Schoeller-Bleckmann Medizintechnik gmbh, Ternitz, Austria.

June 11, 2007

Blisters/clamshells/skin packaging

Back in the U.S.A.

Drug reimportation legislation seems likely to pass in Congress. It may jumpstart track-and-trace packaging technology.

June 11, 2007

Feeding/inserting/unscrambling

Desiccant insertion machine video

New video from Multisorb shows Active-Pak Automation equipment's precise method of automatically inserting StripPax® desiccants in pharma bottles.

June 10, 2007