SIX HUNDRED MILLION REASONS FOR A PAL LINE

(Left to right) John Adamson and Mark Heron of Decorpart pore over the plans for the new line with PAL’s Tony Evans

PAL Europe has received an order from Decorpart of Nelson, Lancashire for a fully automatic anodising line. The line is described by PAL Europe’s Managing Director, Bruce Norsworthy as having a "huge output" for anodising pharmaceutical cans, and ferrules for the production of nebulisers. It will also have the capability to anodise dispenser shrouds and actuator covers for perfume bottles and dispensers for creams.

"And when I say ‘huge output?I really mean it," he says. "The machine will be processing, for starters, a staggering 600,000,000 pieces every year! There are almost certainly examples of Decorpart’s work in your bathroom or on a dressing table in your home."

Decorpart is the world’s largest independent producer of its specialist component products and supply the world’s leading pharmaceutical, cosmetic and perfumery markets," explains Mark Heron of Decorpart. "Dispenser shrouds and actuator covers are one of the fastest growing sectors globally. The dispenser market has developed rapidly due to the increasing importance placed on skincare and personal hygiene. We remain focused on being at the leading edge of design by working on new ideas for ‘encapsulating?the dispenser and adding that all important finishing touch of creativity. Whether a perfume bottle or dispenser for cream, our products are designed to add both functionality and aesthetics.

"The tremendous growth and importance of the pharmaceutical industry has created challenges for all suppliers when it comes to the integrity of packaging. We have embraced this opportunity and developed as the major European manufacturer of pharmaceutical ferrules and cans. We’ve both created and enhanced primary packaging for active substances and formulations. As you can imagine a rigorous quality assurance system ensure compliance with product and regulatory standards.

"At Decorpart we place great importance in products that manage, and come into contact with, patient dosage. Our anodising process is designed to create a suitably superior protective barrier, with very stable formulation, a high breakage-protection factor, and a chemically tight barrier.

"Our expansion plan takes into consideration the fact that an increasing number of drugs will be administered using nebulisers in the coming years.

"Technology plays an ever-increasing role in the maximisation of quality and value and we are constantly investing in new technology to stay head of the pack. Our investment extends to include a ?million new purpose-built pharmaceutical production facility, which, by releasing existing capacity will effectively also double our capacity in both the dispensers and cosmetic sectors of the business. Our new PAL machine will be housed within this new pharmaceutical building.

"There were several reasons that we opted for a PAL line. We wanted a new concept and not just another anodising line. We felt that with PAL’s background in electronics, their understanding of the needs of this line for pharmaceutical products was very good. We reviewed reference sites and were impressed with the quality of the lines already supplied. In addition, and very importantly, the value for money offered was very competitive."

The machine comprises a complex arrangement of the actual main 35 metre long, 6.3 metre wide, and 5.5 metre high, Anodising line, a similar length parallel storage line, with loading and unloading shuttles that move the flight bars in and out of the Anodising line. An automatic jigging machine feeds, and loads, the individual trays that hold the parts. The operator then manually loads these filled trays onto the cassettes. Each cassette can hold up to 3300 parts, and each flight bar holds three cassettes. A shuttle mechanism automatically brings the flight bars to the load positions, of which there are ten. Similarly the unload shuttle takes the completed work to a similar number of work stations for unloading the parts. As these parts must not be mixed, strict rules apply to the relationship between the loading and unloading positions. Each flight bar is tagged to ensure correct disposition in the line and traceability. The unload area is also in a clean- room, so the passage of the shuttles and the storage line transporters in and out of that area presents an interesting engineering challenge.

Just five of the six hundred million parts that will be put through the PAL line

Due to the requirements of pharmaceutical validation, any out of range parameter is flagged up and as the parts are unloaded an indicator will show the operator that the parts are good, or need a decision on their acceptability based on the nature of the out of range incident.

The machine will have two dye stages for the parts that need colour for identification or cosmetic reasons.

A specially designed transporter will handle the work around the aggressive chemical polish, which runs at over 100oC. Two further transporters handle the rest of the process, of anodising and seal, and maybe dye. Drying on line require three gas fired indirect drying units.

The machine is enclosed to protect the new factory environment and operators from any fumes and this supplements the lip exhaust system in place within the body of the line. A novel method of treatment will be employed to handle the fumes arising from the brightener, and the level of emission will be far lower than the present standard of emissions requires. Future space is included in the main line too, with allowance for further expansion when production needs determine it.

Further information on Decorpart at www.decorpart.co.uk