AZO helps Nordmark set a course for the future

With continuous growth and a corresponding increase in throughput, Nordmark needed to invest in a bespoke process system to help with the resulting bottlenecks in material flow.

AZO, one of Europe's leading manufacturers of high quality automated ingredient-handling systems, was on hand to provide the solution. The first step was a master plan outlining the goals and objectives for the system, which would improve the production flow, increase safety within the working environment and guarantee best practice in the production of pharmaceuticals.

Nordmark produces coated and uncoated tablets, liquids, capsules and effervescent tablets. The company is known for the production of Heparin and Pankreatin, both of which are manufactured using a process of extracting therapeutic substances from biological material.

With the previous system, the raw-material screening and dispensing for the solid dosage products and bulk drugs had been done on the ground floor of the tableting and encapsulating plant. Only one weighing station and an area of 3,000ft² were available for a throughput of 600,000kg a year. At this level, an increase in throughput was impossible, restricting any further growth for the company. The entire system had to be redesigned in order to permit an increase in capacity from 600,000kg to 1,600 tonnes per year.

Traditionally, raw-material storage at Nordmark was quite a distance from the weighing station and the floor scales were fed manually. After weighing, the drums were manually returned to the pallets and moved to the floor above. The filling of the product into the 1,500l containers prior to transfer for granulation was also done by hand.

The first solution from AZO was to reduce the movement of raw materials by connecting the central weighing station directly to the raw-materials warehouse, eliminating any outdoor movement. Raw materials could be fed from external bins to internal containers using safety screening. Automatic dispensing of the main raw ingredients to batch containers was also introduced, together with the connection of the weighing station to the tableting and encapsulating plant via an enclosed passageway for containers and pallets. Identification and batch tracking now takes place throughout these procedures.

Dust-free operation with automatic dosing systems and sifters in a contained system have enhanced the working environment and also eliminated the risk of cross contamination. GMP requirements specify that every incoming pallet must pass through an area to be thoroughly cleaned. With the new systems, AZO has ensured clear and consistent separation of storage and production areas. This has also created space for the 1,500l batch containers.

Using a modular construction, which guarantees all functional components fit each other and are easily interchanged, AZO has given Nordmark the speed and flexibility in manufacturing that the company requires. Latest technology offers advanced cleaning by exchanging one component in the system for an already clean one, again reducing time spent on the process.

Nordmark has two feed hopper stations and each is equipped with a cyclone screener. The stations transfer powdered raw material from bags, drums and super-sacks into in-house containers. The cyclone screener automatically removes any foreign particles and gently breaks down agglomerates.

The AZO system ensures maximum reliability and is dust-free from the earliest stages of raw material handling. The transferring of materials into containers is also totally dust-free and filling can be carried out to a pre-determined quantity. The containers are managed by the Azopharm process control system, which manages, monitors and automates the following tasks: material reconfiguration, screening, and all the dispensing of active and excipient ingredients.

A PC with plain-text display controls the process. The raw materials are identified with a bar code reader and the container identified and recorded by an automatic reading device prior to the filling operation.

The Azocomponenter system is the fully automated dispensing and collecting of ingredients prior to manufacturing. The system ensures that each batch is prepared within the defined specifications. The technology of the entire system has been designed to suit Nordmark's production structure, meaning a highly flexible structure that can meet the constantly changing demands in manufacturing products.