Case Packer Meets Track-and-Trace Requirements

Omega Design and Brazil-based packaging-equipment provider Grupo Tecnor introduced a jointly-developed semi-automatic case packer with unit-level serialization capabilities to the North American market. The ECX-001 Case Packer uses software, cameras, and printers integrated by Omega Design to meet the more stringent track-and-trace requirements mandated by the US Drug Quality and Security Act.

The case packer's semiautomatic functionality increases production and eliminates hand-packing costs while avoiding the expensive, often time-consuming transition to fully automatic operations. The machine has a heavy-duty welded tubular construction and uses Allen-Bradley components. The serialization and packing cycle offers maximum safety precautions, such as instant emergency-stop functions, which are important in semiautomatic operating scenarios. Completed cases are automatically discharged onto a free roller table.

To operate the packer, personnel open an empty case and place it in the loading funnel, where it is held in place to receive individual units. Once the collated units are packed into the case, an integrated camera captures the codes of each individual item and associates them to their case-label code in the serialization software. As this occurs, the operator can monitor the process on a nearby panel view.

Source: Omega Design