Customer: Cardinal Health

Guiding the Way for Better Medical Products Packaging
A unique All-Air web guide was used to properly feed and target protective film prior to sealing thermoform molded trays of medical instruments

The clean features and simple operation of the all-air displacement web guide from Coast Controls proved the perfect solution for medical products packaging at the Cardinal Health operation in Mannford, Oklahoma. Here, highly automated machinery is used to package medical instruments in form-molded plastic trays with protective film covers.

Without proper web guiding, however, the film was sporadically shifting out of alignment with the horizontal form, fill and seal machinery. This resulted in mis-feeds that required time-consuming rethreading of the film. Operators had to constantly watch and adjust the web.

Vance Cook, maintenance manager at the Mannford facility, liked the simple set-up and ease of maintaining the Coast Controls all-air web guide. “Our operation needed a guide that’s clean and oil free,” said Cook, “Installation was very easy -- no electronic wiring or controls were needed – I just added our plant air and we were in operation.” The company now produces over 10,000 packages daily and has eliminated the need for manual supervision and/or adjustment of the film.

The Coast Controls model RDG5 displacement web guide installed by Cardinal Health was positioned after the registration roller and before the transport chains to insure proper seal alignment to the plastic trays on the packaging machine. A standard 2-stage air filter system designed to remove oil, water and particulates down to .01 micron was also installed to ensure uncontaminated plant air for the guide system.

Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. is an $87 billion global company serving the health care industry with products and services that help hospitals, physician offices and pharmacies reduce costs, improve safety, productivity and profitability, and deliver better care to patients. The company is also one of the largest distributors of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies worldwide.

www.cardinal.com