About Pharma Aldenhoven
The company, based in North Rhine-Westphalia, is part of the Maxim Group and supplies well-known drugstore and discount chains with various drugs in liquid, semi-solid and solid form.
In addition to over-the-counter medicines, Pharma Aldenhoven manufactures an extensive range of different dietary supplements and medical products according to DIN ISO certification. Herbal medicines, such as buckhorn cough syrup V, lemon balm spirit E, Japanese medicinal plant oil, vein active cream and zinc ointment, are particularly well-known here.
The Maxim Group has been relying on groninger’s proven technology since 2004.
A wide variety of products are now also being processed on the groninger filling and sealing systems at the Aldenhoven site - to be more precise - on two FLEXCARE 100 lines.
The project
The degree of customization for OTC pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements and medical devices has been increasing continuously for several years. This trend can also be observed in the food discounter and drugstore chain market, both of which are customers of Pharma Aldenhoven. Pharma Aldenhoven responds to the increasing demand for more and more customized products by opting for two groninger filling and sealing machines. These highly modern and flexible FLEXCARE 100 lines, are able to process all required formats in the future. Together with the customer, we decided to install a puck transport system on both lines. This way we fulfill the high degree of customization of the various items and the changeover times can be kept short. As a result, the many different formats that are filled on the lines can be produced flexibly and quickly.
The filling area of the two FLEXCARE 100 lines is equipped with several servo drives. This has the advantage that the filling speed and the filling curve can be set individually depending on the product and the maximum possible machine output is achieved with every product - regardless of whether it is low or high viscosity.
Since Pharma Aldenhoven changes the formats several times a day, focus was on providing a changeover that is as quick and easy as possible. As a result, each format part is designed as a plug-in system in such a way that the machine operator is able to change the format part quickly and without tools. In order to be able to change the product quickly and efficiently, the filling station was equipped with an additional wet set.
Another special feature of the two FLEXCARE 100 lines is that visual in-process control stations have been installed using line sensors, which means that the filled products no longer require manual quality control.
The two highly flexible FLEXCARE 100 filling and closing systems with their slim, LF-friendly machine design are suitable for medium to high output quantities and meet the very important requirements for Pharma Aldenhoven: maximum flexibility, short changeover times and the consistent implementation of GMP requirements for products of the highest quality.
