Line Integration Adds Up to Success

After noticing an increased demand for unit-dose packages, Anderson Packaging (Rockford, IL), a 31-year-old contract packaging company, decided to update its blister thermoforming and cartoning system. Anderson also wanted to increase its packaging capacity as well as use its lines for multiple projects. It had been using a thermoformer from Uhlmann Packaging Systems with an off-line cartoner. Pleased with the thermoformer, the firm needed a flexible cartoning system that could be changed over quickly. "We were looking for new technology that was flexible and reliable to provide an effective packaging solution to help us achieve our aggressive productivity goals," says Ed Hancock, president of Anderson's pharmaceutical division. Anderson offers complete packaging services from blister packaging and cartoning to shrink-wrapping and storage.

Already familiar with cartoners from Jones, a BWI Co. (Cincinnati), Anderson decided to purchase a Legacy small-center cartoner and combine it with a product-transfer system from Aylward Enterprises (New Bern, NC) and the existing thermoformer. This integration demanded that the project be developed, mapped out, and controlled from the beginning with detailed input from both Jones and Aylward. "We were dealing with multiple machines talking to one another. That meant we had to do our homework up front to be successful," says John Aylward, president of Aylward.

Jones sent a section of the cartoner's bucket cover to Aylward so the system could be tested at Aylward before the machine was sent to Anderson. Everything was then shipped to Anderson for final integration. With the help of engineers from Anderson, Aylward, and Jones, the equipment was integrated in less than one day and completely installed over one weekend. The line was launched on Monday; by Wednesday, the system was producing marketable product.

The pharmaceutical line now in place at Anderson can handle cartons with a 6-in. center and can produce 50 cartons a minute using 10 blister strips and more than 300 cartons a minute using single blister strips. The new system reduces packaging labor by 50%, and, because operators do not handle product as much as they did with the previous system, product quality has improved and scrap is reduced. One technician can change the machine's operation from continuous to intermittent motion in a matter of minutes. The machine can handle a variety of packaging sizes.

In addition to providing the equipment and integration ser-vices, Aylward and Jones have also guaranteed to provide after-sales service and 24-hour support. If needed, their engineers will be on-site in 24 hours or less. "The Aylward and Jones engineers did not let us down," says Ricky Evans, Anderson's vice president of engineering. "In fact, they helped boost us up to the next level of packaging efficiency."