The P 91 intermittent motion cartoner from Promatic has been in use at Galderma for over a year. In the French factory at Alby-sur-Chéran, the Swiss manufacturer of dermatological products declared itself as very pleased with its work with Romaco.
“The cartoner is running very reliably, has a compact design and is easy to operate,” reported Stéphane Serre, project manager of Galderma. “Format changes occur frequently and are quick and easy to do, which very much suits our conditions of production.”
The P 91 cartoner is used for secondary packaging processes on Galderma’s vial line. In addition to the main product in the Cetaphil care range, 12 other products are packed into folding cartons on the same line, which is why smooth handling of format changes takes top priority. The P 91 cartoner is designed so that format changes can be carried out directly by the shift personnel. This speeds up the order of events and allows a constant production flow, which crucially increases the effectiveness of the plant.
Effective secondary packaging using the P 91 cartoner
With an annual turnover of about €735 million, Galderma, the Swiss pharmaceutical company, is the market leader in dermatological products. This international company, based in Lausanne, was founded in 1981 as a joint venture between Nestlé and L’Oréal. The manufacturer has offered an extensive product range of medicines and care products for treating diseases of skin, hair and nails for over 25 years.
Galderma has three production locations around the world in France, Canada and Brazil. In Alby-sur-Chéran in the Rhône-Alpes region, the pharmaceutical company employs 120 people in its research and development centre, and a further 160 in production. Liquid and semi-liquid substances for seven product lines with numerous different applications are produced in the factory and processed into end products. All primary and secondary packaging processes are therefore handled internally.
For Galderma, the P 91 intermittent cartoner was specially oriented towards the secondary packaging requirements of the vial range and integrated into the existing line. The plant runs at medium speed here, with an output of 60 folded cartons per minute (the maximum packaging speed of the P 91 series is 140 cartons per minute). The plant operation is controlled centrally. A touch-screen provides fast access even to current production and allows individual operations to be tailored flexibly.
The P 91 cartoner impresses with its ergonomic design
Ergonomic aspects also played a large part in deciding on Romaco technology. The balcony design of the machine allows good access to all machine components and makes it easier to load the folding cartons. The servo drives the use of a Venturi vacuum unit for picking up and opening the folding cartons, and adding the package insert have led to a significant reduction in noise exposure for employees. The whole product transfer runs over toothed pulleys, which is why there is absolutely no need to use chains or mechanical gearwheels. This significantly reduces noise emissions.
“Collaboration with Romaco was extremely professional,” said Olivier Lidurain, responsible for production optimization of Galderma, in praise of the service provided by the packaging specialists. “Individual support by the Romaco technicians responsible was viewed very positively by our employees, primarily because any questions that came up could be clarified in French.”
Targeted training on the machine for employees provided smooth workflows during production and increased the productivity of the whole plant.