Equipment and Support from Glenvale Packaging Help Dietary Food Manufacturer Meet Growing Demand

The Schaefer and MultiPharma facilities are supplemented at Metabolics by a new Wick cream filling station and a separate liquid filling unit, both also supplied by Glenvale Packaging and both of which function via peristaltic operation.

3/28/2011 --- A significant enhancement of throughput speed and production versatility, as a result of purpose-built systems installed by Glenvale Packaging, is now being enjoyed by one of the UK’s leading independent dietary food supplement and product manufacturers. A series of stand-alone units, installed for Metabolics at its Devizes premises, makes the most of Schaefer Technologies’ capsule filling machines and an automated counting and bottling unit from MultiPharma. Both systems are part of the range of packaging and associated equipment available from Glenvale Packaging which is developing a growing reputation for blending proven equipment from leading suppliers with dedicated service and support.

“The increasing success of our products clearly pointed to the need to enhance our throughput capability,” comments Linda Porter, Production Manager at Metabolics, who produce a range of specialist pure fill products, primarily for distribution through health practitioners.

“We had already gained from the use of a Schaefer Technologies’ STI 10 unit from Glenvale Packaging and took the decision to replace that unit and add a second facility to increase our capsule filling capability. A MultiPharma Sav 2 counting, capping and labelling machine is now located alongside and automatically handles products, via stock, to meet a wide range of sizes and batch run needs.”

Linda Porter explains that Metabolics can now economically handle between 5,000 and 100,000 capsule fills per run and can package them into bottles holding as few as 30 or as many as 250 individual capsules. “This allows us to respond both to regular and ad-hoc orders which, in turn, is a key part of our service capability to our customers,” she adds.

Each of the Schaefer Technologies’ STI 10 systems at Metabolics is a stand-alone, semi-automatic capsule-filling machine that can handle a wide range of product sizes in volumes of up to 420 per operation. Capsules are rectified, filled and then pneumatically closed via a process that is designed to eliminate the risk of contamination and which also allows the operator to change capsule size and fill requirements very quickly when needed.

“The entire process is handled from the single work station – which occupies a footprint of just 3.34 sq.m. – via a simple, user-friendly control system,” says Garry Coleman, Partner at Glenvale Packaging. He explains that allied to each Schaefer machine at the site is a capsule polishing unit, which helps to ensure the risk of excess product on the outside of capsules is removed. “This allows the capsules to be put straight into stockholding for onward bottling and despatch as required,” he points out.

Filled capsules are then taken from stock as needed to be bottled via the dedicated MultiPharma Sav 2 facility. The two part configuration – an electronic counting machine allied to an automatic capping and filling unit – can be set up to handle bottles and volumes in varying sizes to match precise order requirements.

“Again the process – including bottle closure and the addition of pre-printed labels – is automatic,” adds Garry Coleman. “Although the MultiPharma facility can be installed in an L-shape configuration, its flexibility allowed it to be located in a single line run in Devizes to accommodate the requirements of the available working space. Indeed, it is significant that the full range of filling, bottling and labelling operations can be contained within a relatively small footprint – a key benefit for the customer in this case,” adds Garry Coleman.

The Schaefer and MultiPharma facilities are supplemented at Metabolics by a new Wick cream filling station and a separate liquid filling unit, both also supplied by Glenvale Packaging and both of which function via peristaltic operation. Metabolics points out that this has allowed it to focus more directly on specific elements of its marketplace, which it is targeting for significant growth in the future.

“The combination of equipment reliability and proven performance at the heart of the machines that are now fully operational is clearly significant, but our decision to work again with Glenvale Packaging strongly reflects on the company’s installation, service and support capability,” continues Linda Porter – a comprehensive service contract has also been established alongside the equipment supply.

“We operate in a marketplace that requires us to be very flexible and responsive to demand, so the selection of the most appropriate equipment and its ongoing reliability are clearly critical. The use of the units specified by Glenvale Packaging, allied to the service back up from the company, add an important degree of confidence – both from our point of view and, of course, that of our customers,” concludes Linda Porter.