Glaxo Wellcome Continues Relationship With MARKEM

Glaxo Wellcome, the world's largest pharmaceutical group, has installed a MARKEM CIMJET 300 compact on-line print and apply labeling system on two new aerosol filling lines at its manufacturing and packaging facility in Speke, Liverpool.

This installation builds on the successful partnership MARKEM has developed with the other Glaxo Wellcome UK sites. The revolutionary thermal transfer MARKEM SMARTDATE printers are being used on labels for antibiotic vials at Barnard Castle. At Speke, the CIMJET 300 machines have been specially designed to fit within the framework of an existing Europack palletizer, which is used for single asthma inhalers. The inhalers are placed into plastic trays, the CIMJET system prints number and traceability information on the labels, and then applies them directly onto the side of the plastic tray. The trays, each holding 202 asthma inhalers, are then packed onto pallets eight high and three by four across.

"On our older lines we use pre-printed labels which are applied manually onto trays, this would have been a difficult operation to transfer to the palletized lines," says Mike Breehany, Aerosols Team Manager. "When we introduced Europack, the number of trays on a pallet increased and it became difficult to label the trays in the center. It was essential to find a system that labelled automatically on-line. We prepared cost justifications and chose the CIMJET system mainly because it was compact and importantly it integrated easily with our existing palletizer."

Suitable for almost any coding and labelling applications, the CIMJET 300 labeler reduces the need for storage and potential wastage of reels of printed labels. The special ribbon-saving devices of the system also save costs by ensuring that maximum use is made of every inch of ribbon. In addition, the CIMJET 300 holds twice as many labels and foil as other competitive compact printer applicators, thereby reducing the number of times the reels need to be replaced.

The tray identification labels applied at Speke are 5cm x 15cm and contain variable information including product description, item, code, batch number, storage conditions and date. Information changes according to the strength of the asthma product in the tray.

MARKEM's CIMJET 300 range features the ability to create label templates for different products for maximum efficiency. Designed and stored on the PC, each template is saved under a specific reference and easily accessed by keying in the relevant code on the system's control pad. In addition to the standard data required, the printer can also automatically apply variable data such as incremental numbering or real time data and time codes.

The aerosol product lines at Glaxo Wellcome run at 7,500 cans an hour on double shifts. After twelve months, the CIMJET labelers have proven themselves to be maintenance free.

MARKEM Corporation is a worldwide leader in providing in-plant printing systems, supplies and services for product marking and decorating, in industries including food packaging,automotive, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals. With more than 1,500 employees, MARKEM operates from headquarters in Keene, N.H., USA, and at additional manufacturing facilities in England, Australia, and Japan. MARKEM has subsidiaries in 15 countries and agents and representatives in 25 other countries.