It is a sunny summer day, and the past weeks have not brought much rain – the air is even drier in a climate-controlled office environment. Strained eyes that have been intently fixed on the screen for hours start to burn. So, you lift your glasses and rub your eyes. The burning subsides a bit, but only briefly. Finally, your hand reaches into the left side of the jacket slung over the chair and fumbles for a small plastic container. You twist off the cap, bend your head back slightly and put one drop into each eye – finally, there is relief!
Since 1975, Rommelag CMO site Holopack in Sulzbach-Laufen has been working to ensure, among other things, that eye drops in break-proof plastic containers are ready for use in any situation. The Blow Fill Seal technology (BFS) allows for almost unlimited possibilities in container design, individually adaptableto almost any form of usage and administration. The fully automatic manufacture, filling and closing of the units is performed in one operational process. The BFS technology offers the highest level of process and product reliability during aseptic filling.
A tight schedule
Due to rising demand, the partially automated packaging machine facility has reached its capacity limits. For their expansion project around the new Pharma 2020 building in Sulzbach-Laufen, Rommelag CMO partnered with Harro Höfliger, a supplier that offers turn-key lines from product infeed to ready-to-ship carton packaging from a single source. The packaging line was designed to fully meet Rommelag’s product requirements.
When selecting a potential partner, excellent references in the GMP environment along with the highest possible machine flexibility was a part of the criteria set forth by Marc Hofmann, Production Manager at Holopack. “With this machine, we want to produce both existing formats and products for new customers at the same time,” he explains. Fast project implementation was also one of the crucial criteria.
“After completion of the project we are very satisfied. The support provided by the Customer Service team is perfect.”Marc Hofmann, Production Manager at Rommelag CMO
“A special challenge was to coordinate and meet the tight schedule, since there were only ten months between placing the order with Harro Höfliger and putting the machine into operation,” explains Marc Hofmann. It felt just like a blink of the eye. “We were all the while focusing on interdivisional teamwork and continuous communication and information exchange. The high expertise of our contact persons and the very dedicated project management team guaranteed the success of our project.”
One of the highlights for Marc Hofmann was the new approach in machine qualification. The qualification process took place at the Harro Höfliger site and considerably shortened the assembly and start-up period at Rommelag CMO. Upon completion of the project, the individuals responsible at Holopack are extremely satisfied. “The support provided by the Customer Service team is perfect. If a spare part is missing, or if a technician is needed, help is usually onsite in about one hour, and production can be resumed as quickly as possible.” Another joint project is currently underway.
About Rommelag CMO
Rommelag CMO, Holopack site with headquarters in Sulzbach-Laufen (Baden-Württemberg) was founded in 1976 and is part of the Rommelag enterprise group, the inventor of the BFS technology. Holopack is a specialist in the aseptic filling of liquids and semi-solid substances on their bottlepack machines. Their machines are mainly used in the pharmaceutical, chemical and foodstuff industries.
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Photos: 123dartist/iStockphoto.com, Stoll von Gáti, vectorfusionart/fotolia.com, Helmar Lünig, Rommelag CMO