Wallet packs are the trend

Höfliger supplies modular system solutions for the pharmaceutical and packaging industry

Swabians are regarded as being genuine tinkerers. Particularly so when it comes to mechanical engineering. Nowhere else in Europe are so many patents applied for in this industry. And nowhere in Germany are so many high-tech companies located away from the economic centers.

Provincial Swabia appears to provide the ideal breeding ground for creativity and innovation. It's no wonder then that many a small town can tell the dream story of how a small local family company developed into a global player, a hidden champion, that has conquered the markets of the world with innovative technology.

One such company is Harro Höfliger Verpackungsmaschinen GmbH, one of the leading manufacturers in the world of high-quality packaging lines. This medium-sized company specializes in system solutions with a strong concentration on custom-built machines for the pharmaceutical industry.

At present one of the main product segments of the company is wallet packs. The background to this is the increasingly intense competition on the pharmaceutical market. Due to Internet trading, an increase in self-therapy and distribution via drugstore chains of medicaments that were formerly available on prescription only, the classic customer profile of the pharmaceutical industry is increasingly shifting from hospitals and medical practitioners to the consumer.

It is the consumer himself who is deciding ever more frequently which products it selects for healing, health and well-being. In addition in the wake of the fitness and well-being boom customer-specific pharmaceutical products are being increasingly developed that compete with each other. The consequence: the secondary functions of packaging, such as attractiveness, consumer friendliness, additional benefits, standing-out against the competition and plagiarism protection are gaining in importance. At the same these products should also satisfy the primary functions such as transport, storability, protection, information and economy, i.e. requirements that are made of traditional packaging and that the consumer presumes to be self-evident.

Höfliger has about 20 years of experience with wallet packs and has the corresponding know-how at its disposal. A classic example of this type of packaging is the contraceptive pill. From the very beginning a considerable amount of work went into ensuring that the pill was taken reliably. The inscription, allocation and dosage all had to be clear. Easy handling was demanded just as much as maximum security. In this case Höfliger created the basis for developing new technologies in this segment. For a whole range of pharmaceuticals and lifestyle products all over the world the wallet pack is being increasingly accepted as the ideal platform for consumer-oriented products.

In terms of handling and additional benefits wallet packs address the consumer more directly. Wallet packs are far superior to pure blister packs in terms of information variety and customer benefit. Due to the additional display surfaces more detailed information can be applied for the user in comparison to small bottles or folding cartons. They allow the integration without difficulty of analysis aids, scales, tables and even diagnostics, test facilities and sample packs. Inserts such as booklets and more detailed information can also be integrated as well as guide systems for administering help or brief usage instructions.

Applications for self-diagnosis and even chip cards can also be included. But that's not all: additional info flaps for mail cards provide the possibility of surveying consumers, increasing turnover by way of prize competitions or other additional benefits. Not to mention that the entire pack is easy and clean to handle for the consumer. With targeted use this opens up lucrative markets – with good prospects for increasing turnovers and revenues. This alternative packaging solution is therefore the trend. For example the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has changed over its main products to wallet packs.

The decisive factor for the pharmaceutical industry is dependable production, tailored to the relevant product and guaranteeing a high degree of efficiency. Only in this way can the unit costs per pack be kept low. This is where the Höfliger's strength lies. The packaging specialist from Allmersbach is a partner that meets exactly the profile required by the pharmaceutical industry.

Höfliger wallet technology

To be able to serve the wallet market with a lasting effect Höfliger has developed a modular wallet line, which makes possible a wide range of variants. The development costs are minimized with a modular line concept as the standard technology platform and the time needed to market the product has been significantly shortened. Due to the integrated size range varying sizes and shapes can be realized, enabling size changeovers at low cost. All upline and downline systems can be seamlessly integrated into the overall production process.

The wallet machines can be linked to any blister machine and end packing technique, either intermittently or continuously. The individual components are fed by the toploading process, glued in place and enclosed in the pack during the folding process. Processes such as the following take place: imprinting, gluing, folding, labeling, closing, sorting, grouping, end packing through to the palletization ready for shipping.

The heart of all this is the wallet unit. Interlinked frame modules with function stations are combined by a modular system. The basic equipment consists of the feed modules for the wallet, booklet, blister and modules for the folding, closing and outfeed of the finished packs. Conveyance of the products remains independent of the rest of the line's configuration. If the line is modified, although the functions are expanded, this does not affect conveyance. The modules are expandable at any time, for example, by a laser system, a camera system or an additional wallet magazine.

A special feature of the line is that, if there are product changes, e.g. provision of the wallet blank with an additional flap, only individual modules are modified – or additional modules have to be added on or replaced. The Höfliger wallet line processes wallets with 5 panels transversely to passage direction and 2 panels in passage direction. Alternatively the closure variants tamper-evident, glue spot or reclosable labels are available.

The line's possibilities are virtually inexhaustible. Several completely different product components can be brought together and packaged in a consumer friendly way. A diagnostic strip here, a weekly or monthly preparation there, a few informative user instructions there, underneath a data carrier with brief instructions on usage, next to it a guide system for administering help and finally a reply card with a prize competition and customer feedback – in Höfliger's high-performance machine all these different components are brought together, positioned exactly, integrated into the pack and processed further.

Perfected end packing technology at the end of the chain provides for smooth transport. Sensory and optical controls are performed along the entire line. The presence and positioning precision of the pack components is documented throughout. In addition each pack passes through an imprinting and coding station. Each wallet is given a batch number and other product-specific data. Nothing is left to chance here either, the print image also being checked. In a nutshell: defective products don't stand a chance at Höfliger.

Höfliger has taken new paths in the fundamental design of wallet packs. In the heat-sealing lacquer process wallet card blanks usually operate with two layers of cardboard sealed onto one another. On the Höfliger wallet line the wallet card is provided with an additional panel. Due to this, for example, the tablet blister is enclosed by an envelope fold and heat-sealed. This saves costs in the manufacture of the blank and equipment of the line with a feed unit for wallet cards. Only the sealing station for heat-sealing lacquer requires a high technical effort. Areas of the pack may have to be cooled during the sealing process to avoid overheating and the pack deformations associated with it.

Opinions differ widely as to the basic question of hotmelt glue or heat sealing. On the one hand it is a question of costs, on the other product security. Low-cost hotmelt glue processes are preferred in Europe and on the Asian market. In contrast in the USA product-secure childproof packs are manufactured both by the heat-sealing process and by the hotmelt glue process. Höfliger offers perfected modular technology for both of these processes.

Particularly for manufacturers that would like to get into the production of childproof packs, it is of the greatest importance that the highest possible requirements are made of the pack. A pack is regarded as being "childproof", if a maximum of two out of 100 children under the age of three years manage to open a pack within five minutes.

The most commonly available packs are provided with pre-punched breakthrough openings. Tablets can easily be broken out of the pack in a user-friendly manner by pressing or bending it – this is often no problem for small children either. Undesired access is much more difficult with childproof packs. They are appropriately reinforced and glued more strongly - i.e. they are double safeguarded. With childproof wallets the blank is thus reinforced in the decisive places with perforated additional cards while it is being processed into a pack. As a rule the outside of the blister is provided with a tear-open line for each and every tablet.

Under this a perforated piece of cardboard provides further protection against improper use. It is almost impossible for children under three years of age to break into blisters that are double-safeguarded in this way. Wallets of this type are very often imprinted with all-over lacquered surfaces. The joins of surfaces that lie up against one another are heat sealed, the lacquer becoming adhesive and the two surfaces joining together to form a seamless unit. The pack is seal-tight – and the manufacturer is extensively safeguarded against liability claims arising from improper use of the pack.

In the case of hotmelt glue processes the surfaces are sprayed with a hotmelt glue and joined together. This process makes considerably faster production possible. During printing the blank is upgraded with a surface lacquer only. The pack is glued by means of reciprocating nozzles, which place several tracks of glue. In the next operation the corresponding panel is folded and pressed on. Components such as booklets and blisters are positioned in the same way.

Packs glued with sealing lacquer are much more expensive to produce than packs manufactured conventionally by the hotmelt glue process. The first few steps are identical. The print sheets are printed by sheet-fed offset printing and then provided with a protective lacquer in the same machine. For use in the sealing lacquer process the dried-through print sheets are then provided once again with a sealing lacquer applied by the gravure printing process. Despite the price advantage of conventionally imprinted packs many manufacturers of wallet packs are fixated on the sealing lacquer process. In the USA in particular, almost only this process manufactures childproof wallet packs. Höfliger supplies production modules for both these processes, which underlines its capability.

The efficiency of the Höfliger wallet line is impressive. It is possible to manufacture up to 350 packs per minute. The suction and gripper system, also developed by Höfliger, conveys the wallet blanks and even thin booklets exactly to the right place. At the beginning of the process chain a laser printer with integrated camera control deals quickly and precisely with the coding of the flat blanks. Mechanical drivers and lateral guides guarantee dependable positioning of the pack during conveyance. Camera systems monitor each individual production step. The packs are gently folded in the folding station.

All succeeding subassemblies are arranged ergonomically and easily accessible. Digital displays ensue short changeover times. A major feature of the line is that it runs extremely quietly and that the servo-controlled toothed-belt drive provides for continuous sequencing. An escorting turning lug turns a reclosable label and at the same time checks its position. The finished packs are then grouped in stacks of 2, 4, 7 or 10 and if required packed on a Höfliger cartoner.

Höfligerer peripheral systems

Höfliger also supplies all the complementary systems to the wallet unit – for product conveyance, handling of the product components, exact-positional feeding, placement and fixing, integration of control units for the monitoring and documentation of critical parameters for laser coding or printing. Cartoning machines with specially developed feeds for stacking and turning over the wallet packs are just as must part of the range as are basic modules for the pre- and post-magazining of the products – i.e. as a buffer for production fluctuations.

Depending on requirements our Swabian tinkerers also develop in close cooperation with our pharmaceutical customers customized add-on units for wallet machines, such as blister machines for double blisters or magazining systems for various individual pack components.

Höfliger services

In its capacity as a technology partner Höfliger provides a comprehensive range of services, including project development, line validation, training of the operating personnel and Höfliger teleservice. Customers can call off services at any time via a well-structured information network and inform themselves about the latest developments.

However, service from one source is not enough to make up an integral philosophy. This also comprises extensive knowledge of conventional solutions and technical know-how, the ability to search for unconventional solutions as well as to develop and implement new pack concepts in cooperation with customers. When it is a question of the efficient feed of tablet blisters, booklets, patient cards, business reply cards and many other components and then their integration into the pack, Höfliger provides support long before the actual technical solution.

This starts with finding the pack type that is optimal for the customer-specific requirements from the multitude of possible variants and coordinating the processes realistically with the specified products. Höfliger is able to make clear assertions, for example, about the processing of a flat wallet blank and, if required, can present alternatives plausibly. Any critical processes are investigated in advance in the form of risk analyses. If need be, test machines are also designed to investigate the individual product parameters. In this way Höfliger engineers are continuously engaged in researching processes and in the further development of all technology relating to wallet lines.

The complete wallet line is assemblied, tested, qualified and factory-acceptance tested at Höfliger's plant. The relevant line concept takes into consideration country-specific pack variants as well as synchronization of the line and the line's components with existing production units or non-Höfliger units. The fact that surprisingly innovative solutions are created time and again, such as the folding of the wallet card counter to machine pass direction, is part of the credo of Höfliger engineers.