The UK Motion Control provider Quin Systems deploys a new automation system in a worldwide leading pharmaceutical company plant using LinMot linear drive system

February 2005

The pharmaceutical industry, just like all the other segments in the processing industry, is faced with major challenges in development and production. The current demands for faster, more efficient and more cost-effective production methods are challenged by the regulatory compliance of high security and accuracy standards which are mandatory in this industry. Companies operating in the Pharmaceutical and Health sector deal with highly sensitive, very expensive materials which have to be treated accordingly. Automation solutions play a very prominent role in harmonising productivity demands with security requirements. The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, Inc. has built a new machine using the linear drive system LinMot from the British machine automation manufacturer Quin Systems. This machine meets the high standards with regards to the handling of sensitive materials and, at the same time, delivers high production efficiency.

Pfizer, Inc. is currently the biggest pharmaceutical producer in the world, with an annual turnover of approximately 45 Billion US-Dollars and 122,000 employees worldwide. The company is No. 1 in the market of prescribed drugs. Furthermore, Pfizer is a market leader in Consumer Healthcare and Animal Drugs.

In Germany the consumer healthcare sector constitutes more than 90 percent of the total revenue. With its headquarters based in Karlsruhe, Pfizer has several centres in Germany where various employees work in research, development and manufacturing to maintain and increase the high quality and effectiveness of their pharmaceutical products. To meet these requirements, Pfizer utilises the latest automation and information technology within their plants. To remain No. 1 worldwide, Pfizer invests significantly in research, development and technology.

Increasing efficiency is important not only within the pharmaceutical sector but also in the broader manufacturing industry. There is constant testing and implementation of many new technologies to achieve a higher degree of performance whilst concurrently achieving a rapid return on investment. Automation makes a very important contribution in this. It is possible to tightly link the various production steps to achieve higher efficiency over a complete production line using modern automation solutions.

The "end of the production line" is an especially important area with regards to security requirements in the pharmaceutical industry. At the end of production sensitive pharmaceutical products have to be filled in their respective containers and sealed correctly.

Pfizer needed to automate the sealing and laser etching of tubes for a liquid sampling bank. They had looked at various robotic pick and place systems, but these were found to be expensive and over-complex for this type of application. Pfizer decided to build their own machine, and selected the LinMot linear drive system from Quin Systems, a leading developer and manufacturer of motion control solutions in the UK.

The main aim was to design and build an in-house machine that could cut out silicone bungs and place them in sample tubes. The machine had to cut out the silicone bungs from a matrix of 96 and then insert the bungs into 96 tubes arranged in an 8 x 12 matrix. A rotational action was needed for both actions.

Accuracy plays a major role during this process. Both these processes had to be accurate to +/- 0.1 mm since the shoulder on each bung was less than 0.5 mm and the tubes needed to be properly sealed. Repetition was another target. Pfizer were also looking for 100 % success rate for sealing each of the 96 tubes. Even the slightest imprecision would not be accepted. Not only were the chemicals expensive but if one tube was not sealed properly, the whole tray of 96 would be rejected.

Productivity was a further aim. Over 1 million tubes in 3 months needed to be sealed to meet production targets.

Pfizer selected the linear drive system LinMot from the British company Quin Systems. LinMot servo controllers are normally used as drive controllers. Using signals from a supervisory control system, the motors drive the motion to the positions required. This action can be combined with the use of integrated motion profile curve functions. This was found to be especially useful for tailoring the motion when inserting the bung into the tube. This allows changes in set points to be carried out in an optimised, smooth and gentle manner. Customised functions, complete sequential control and PLC functions can be integrated with the servo controller using application software.

Quin sized and supplied the linear servo system, comprising motors and multi-axis control units. A PLC co-ordinates the pre-stored moves in the LinMot control units. A great advantage was that the motion programming was simple and capable of being undertaken in-house. The stored profiled motions saved time and helped with accurate tube sealing. Finally, a simple support structure was also engineered in-house, using standard parts (linear bearings, etc) with advice from Quin.

The success of the new system is directly measurable: With the help of the drives from Quin Systems Pfizer was able to significantly increase the throughput of the machine. Now it cuts and bungs 96 tubes in 13 minutes, is used 24 hours/day 7 days a week and achieves a record of 100% reliability.

Modular motion systems combined with fast distributed control has provided Pfizer with a filling and sealing facility that will ensure that they stay as No.1.