The Challenge of Quality Controlling of Non-Standing Articles

At our Neuhaus am Rennweg site, containers for pharmaceutical and diagnostic applications are manufactured using extrusion blow molding.

The fully automated production facilities required for this – consisting of an extrusion blow molder including removal system, a conveyor belt line and a camera system – guarantee consistently excellent quality. However, these lines are optimized for standing containers with flat bottoms. The challenge is to guarantee this same exceptionally high quality for non-standing diagnostic containers with bulbous or pointed bottoms.

Our Solution: A Novel Workpiece Carrier System

Röchling Medical has developed a workpiece carrier system that enables seamless inline automated quality control for non-standing containers.

Articles are placed in workpiece carriers immediately after the manufacturing process and transported to a downstream leak testing station and camera system. To enable a complete visual inspection of the item, the camera inspection consists of two stages:
First, the upper half of the containers is inspected, then the containers are then removed from the workpiece carriers by means of a handling system for the lower-half inspection.

A RFID system is used for comprehensive defect tracking on a cavity-by-cavity basis. The system notifies the machine operator when it detects a defect trend, to ensure fast intervention times and minimize scrap rates.

Uncompromising Process Innovation

A solution had to be developed that would enable 100 percent in-line visual inspection of non-standing containers without compromising the flexibility and cycle times of the production lines.

Another crucial aspect was the exceedingly careful handling of the container: Any risk of damage or particles resulting from the use of the workpiece carrier systems had to be avoided. Likewise, complete traceability and packaging compliant with the specifications had to be ensured.

A New Standard in Automated Quality Control

With the carrier system, Röchling Medical sets a new standard in automated quality control:

Automated 100% in-line visual quality controls for containers without a standing base
Very gentle transport and handling of the containers
No compromises regarding process efficiency
Statistical defect evaluation for fast intervention times to maintain excellent quality

Röchling Medical Competences

Our Expertise, Your Benefit

Our customers benefit from our extensive expertise in plastics and metal processing, but also from our many years of experience in medical device and pharma. As your solution partner, we are familiar with both the regulatory and practical requirements of creating components and products for the healthcare sector tailored to your needs. We meet the highest quality and hygiene standards and operate in strict compliance with relevant regulations, such as the Medical Device Regulation (MDR).