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11 Ways to Increase OEE and Productivity by Automating Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Production Lines
Introduction Companies in all industries seek ways to increase their “Sustainability Advantage” as today's eco-aware consumers more often base their purchasing decisions on considerations such as a company's efforts to reduce their carbon footprint, incorporate re-usable or recyclable packaging and increase the use of renewable energy sources. Any sustainability initiative should include the evaluation of a production line's overall equipment effectiveness or OEE, which describes, as a percentage, the performance, availability, and quality of a machine, a production line or an entire production plant. Growing competition in the pharmaceutical and medical device markets has caused manufacturers to rethink their assembly and packaging processes to reduce cost, increase productivity and increase OEE. Many manufacturers have turned to robotics integration to accomplish these goals. Robots have experienced considerable cost reduction in the recent past, and they provide high speed efficiency and manual dexterity for machine loading and unloading, product collation, product assembly, product packaging, case packing and palletizing. By robotically automating one or more elements of the assembly or packaging line, manufacturers can increase productivity and OEE while enjoying a low total cost of operation (TCO) and quick return on investment (ROI). Turnkey Robotic Integration The right turnkey robotic system integrator can assure the success of automating a packaging line. Manufacturers should work with an integrator who has a thorough understanding of the pharmaceutical and medical device markets and the types of packaging equipment most commonly used in these industries. Ideally, the system integrator would also provide some components of the line and have strong business FANUC M-430i Robot Unloading Diagnostic relationships with their suppliers. This gives the system integrator the Test Kits onto a Moving Conveyor Infeed on a Thermoform Blister Packing Machine expertise and experience to oversee the complete planning, manufacturing, integration and setup of new packaging and assembly lines. They can also offer full turnkey service for upgrading existing lines. Once a robotic system integrator has been selected, the integrator should audit the line in order to identify the areas where automation will improve overall OEE and the flow of the manufacturing or packaging process. Automation through robotics integration offers many advantages. Below are eleven ways pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufactures can increase OEE and productivity by automating pharmaceutical and medical device production lines.
1) Increase efficiency throughout the production or packaging line. Integrated robotics increase production efficiency at the beginning of a production line, throughout the production process, and at the secondary packaging station where the product is packed in cases and palletized. At © 2008 by ESS Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3160 State Street, Blacksburg, VA 24060 1 (540) 961-5716 · Fax (540) 961-5721
11 Ways to Increase OEE and Productivity by Automating Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Production Lines
the beginning of the line, robots can be used to load products into pucks, onto conveyors, into infeed buckets, and/or into filling equipment, such as cartoners or thermoform blister packing machines. Robotic loading increases speed and efficiency and allows valuable human resources to be redeployed to more demanding parts of the process. Robots can be used to move the product from one station of the process to the next, to streamline production flow. At the end of the line, robots are ideal for packing and palletizing cases. Robotic case packing and palletizing/depalletizing systems offer a smaller footprint and greater precision than conventional case packers, allowing these systems to address end-of-line needs for flexibility and versatility.
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