Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/316458
Tablets & Capsules May 2014 15 trays; the first controls product flow and feeds the second tray, which has 12 lanes and sits in front. Both trays remove with a push of a button for cleaning during product changeover; they are two of only 10 parts that require cleaning at changeover. None requires tools to remove, so change - overs are fast. Better performance, lower costs The first bottles were filled in Oc - to ber, and the line worked well until the capper began acting up 3 months later, Slaby said. Modular dispatched a technician to resolve the problem, and while he was there, he fine-tuned the counter-filler, increasing production by about 20 percent on the 30-, 50-, and 60-count fills, which Slaby called the company's "bread-and-butter" runs. "It's a simple machine. We were hoping to get some where in the neighborhood of 8,000 to 10,000 bottles in a daily single shift, but now we have the capa- bility of doing 12,000 to 15,000 over an 8-hour shift using only three em - ployees," he said. Some of the high-volume tablets that Reese packages are uncoated and fairly dusty. While that poses no problem for a slat counter, dust can interfere with the optical sensors of electronic counter-fillers like the VC- 12. To prevent that, Reese connected the unit to a dust collector, and the sensors only occasionally need atten- tion, Slaby said. "We may have one eye bank error per week and it takes about 3 minutes to take the plastic top off, undo two set screws, pull the elec- tronics out, dust it down, and put it back. After that, you're back and run- ning again." He doesn't fault the machine. "It's not the machine, it's our pill," he said. Slaby considered but rejected the idea of asking the manu- facturer to remove more dust from the tablets. "The more times they dedust it, the more times they touch it, the more it costs me," he said. Instead, Reese bought a sifter for use by the worker who loads the bottles. "Before we dump them in the hopper, we'll have that person sift the pills a couple times and between that and the dust collector, we can go sometimes a whole week without an eye bank flare-up. If you have a coated pill this isn't a problem at all." Since installing the system, the company has reduced its packaging costs by about 60 percent and the operation is running smoothly. "I stopped down there this morning, and it's running like a champ," Slaby said. "Up and running and running well." T&C Modular Packaging Systems, Randolph, NJ. Tel. 973 970 9393 Fax 973 970 9388 Website: modularpackaging.com Reese Pharmaceutical, Cleveland, OH. Tel. 800 321 7178 Fax 216 231 6444 Website: www.reesepharmaceutical.com d-Modularindapp_14-15_Masters 5/14/14 10:14 AM Page 15