Packaging of medicinal products contains important information that can be read by most patients, but providing this information for blind and partially sighted people is a costly and time-consuming process. An embossing solution has been produced that is revolutionising the pharma packaging industry.
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| Alfred Kälin, technical manager, and Markus Staub, CEO Rondo (above). Instructions are embossed on the package (left). |
Few packaging sectors require as much recourse to technology and expertise as the pharmaceutical industry. This is why Rondo SA, of the Körber Medipak Group, offers specific concepts at each packaging stage – from development to delivery of the packs – and its ISO 9001:2000 certification ensures
high-quality standards.
Braille challenge
The European directive requiring the name and dosage of medicines to be carried in Braille on packaging presents a challenge. Where and how should the Braille dots be placed – on the labels? This is a slow and costly process. Printing is an additional and expensive process that increases run time.
Embossing in the printing line is a costly solution
since one embossing tool
is needed per exposure
and this increases printer setting times. Moreover,
the quality is poor since there are no counterparts and, with blanks that are already embossed, the folder-gluer’s feeder performance is limited.
Through the Marburg Medium specification, Rondo has acquired substantial knowledge in Braille embossing on pharmaceutical packaging. The company contacted Bobst, its supplier of die-cutters and folder-gluers,
to come up with a solution. Bobst’s experts came to the same conclusion as Alfred Kälin, Rondo’s technical manager: to Braille
emboss on the folder-
gluer. The Bobst team
put all its expertise into
the development of an original solution, the AccuBraille module.
The quality of the embossing carried out after the gluer feed process is so good that Rondo’s customers now want their cartons produced with AccuBraille. Markus Staub, Rondo’s CEO, is so convinced of this quality that he has ordered another full specification Mistral for Rondo’s Swiss plant and a third module will be installed in its plant in the Czech Republic.
 According to studies carried out by the University of Birmingham in the UK, the absolute height of the dot ranges from 0.18mm to 0.23mm. ‘It is difficult to obtain consistency of
the embossing height, readability, accuracy
and profile clarity with
a platen press ,’saysKälin.,’ says Kälin.� ‘The AccuBraille module achieves this.’
Another advantage is that AccuBrailleisflexible is flexible enough to allow the dots to be placed at 5mm from cut, folded or perforated edges, which is impossible with other methods. Also, the embossing can be applied on any of the four panels
of the blank.
Pharma pledge
To further emphasise its commitment to the pharma packaging market, Bobst has embarked on a new project to develop a high speed pharma leaflet inserter in line in the folding and gluing process with Longford International. The target is to develop a solution that can insert at speeds up to 70,000 cartons per hour
with high precision.
Driven by its desire for innovation, Bobst has proved to be a reliable partner for its customers.
Company profile
Based in the Swiss region of Basel, Rondo also has subsidiaries in the Czech
Republic and in the US. It has
300 employees and a turnover
of €40 million, 90% of which is
in the pharmaceutical industry. The quality of its packaging makes it an uncontested leader in the field. For more information, visit: www.bobstgroup.com
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