Pascoe
NEW DEVELOPMENT ENSURES ENORMOUS TIME AND RESOURCE SAVINGS
Lödige allows film and sugar coating in the same drum of an LC Lödige Coater
This name has stood for natural medicine for three generations. The company is one of the 100 most modern medium-sized companies in Germany. Pascoe has been looking for a suitable solution since 2013 to modernise the film coating and increase the in-house production of film-coated tablets. At the end of this search, the Lödige Team was delighted to be commissioned. After an intensive development phase and the embedding of a product innovation, the LC 130 Lödige Coater, a tailor-made design especially for Pascoe, was put into operation.
Customer: Pascoe pharmazeutische Präparate GmbH
Headquarters:
Gießen, Germany
Size:
200 employees, branches in Canada, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic
Industry:
Pharmaceuticals
Founded:
1895
Cooperation with Lödige since: 2017
Challenge:
Pascoe was looking for a coater that could handle both sugar and film coating and perfectly master the challenges of the industry.
Solution:
Lödige has developed a coater in which film coating processes can be run with both aqueous and organic coating solutions and in which sugar coating is also possible. Pascoe is the first customer who wants to use this development commercially.
Solution(s) used:
LC 130 Lödige Tablet Coater
Services:
Turnkey delivery
THE SUCCESS STORY OF THE FAMILY BUSINESS PASCOE PHARMAZEUTISCHE PRÄPARATE GMBH, WHICH SPECIALISES IN NATURAL MEDICINE, BEGAN MORE THAN 125 YEARS AGO.
Today, the company is run by the third generation of the family – Jürgen Pascoe and his wife Annette. The company employs around 200 people and has branches in Canada and Austria, in Slovakia and, since 2018, also in the Czech Republic. Having received several awards from business and politics, as well as being unanimously described as a top employer by its own employees, Pascoe stands for a corporate philosophy that is strongly characterised by innovation.
"The new production area for solid dosage forms opened in 2018 provides us with the opportunity for new machines and equipment and thus also for optimising the production processes. However, more complex machines also pose new challenges for the staff, both in the technical area and in production," explains Stefanie Linnemann, Deputy Head of Production at Pascoe "The advantage of an innovative machine park is the standardisation of processes, which is particularly necessary in the pharmaceutical sector in order to meet the high quality specifications."
Optimisation and expansion of the previous production processes was also the reason for the cooperation with Lödige because Pascoe's goal was to modernise and expand the production of the film-coated tablets. For the implementation, the company decided, among other things, to purchase a modern coater. However, this needs to fulfil several special requirements at the same time.
"THE CHANGEOVER TIME FROM FILM TO SUGAR COATING IS ALSO ONLY ABOUT 2 HOURS."
Dominik Sander
Sales Director Life Science Technology
PAN-COATING AND FILM COATING IN ONE MACHINE
One of these conditions was that the machine should be suitable for sugar coating and film coating, so that different products can be produced in one machine. Another aspect was that it must be possible to use both aqueous and organic coating solutions. "Our Engineering team had already developed a corresponding version internally. The newly designed drum for the LC series not only enables 'dual' use: The changeover time from film to sugar coating is also only about 2 hours," explains Reiner Lemperle, Sales Director at Lödige. "This enables a quick and plannable change within the production process."
Another challenge was the involvement of the approval authorities in Gießen. The pharmaceutical industry is characterised by high hygienic and medical standards. The legal requirements for pharmaceutical companies are set very high for good reasons. In the project for Pascoe, the authorities carried out particularly intensive checks given that it was a new construction project. During these checks, the focus was primarily on the quality of the end product and waste gas treatment for organic solvents. After thorough examination by the authorities, this hurdle was also cleared.
"WE ARE CURRENTLY STILL WORKING IN TEST MODE. AND
SAVINGS IN TERMS OF TIME AND RESOURCES ARE ALREADY VISIBLE"
Stefanie Linnemann
Deputy Head of Production at Pascoe
REDUCED PROCESS TIME WITH CONSISTENT QUALITY
"We are currently still working in test mode. And savings in terms of time and resources are already visible," says Stefanie Linnemann happily. "The film coating process for tablets is significantly faster in comparison and the level of quality is very high and fully meets our standards."
However, the possibilities from a technical point of view have also increased, and Pascoe is already testing several options here. "This concerns, for example, the spraying rates. We are now in a position to take a completely new look at production processes, and that is what we are doing. We are looking forward to many more exciting results that will come out of the LC 130," explains Stefanie Linnemann. "Initial test batches have shown that we can also run a very high spray rate with water-based formulations. We see great potential for reduced process times here." The LC 130 Lödige Coater was particularly impressive thanks to the optimised air flow and drum design, which was implemented for the first time for this machine size in this order. Another advantage is the automatic cleaning of the device. There is no additional working time here, as the cleaning step is almost fully automatic, meaning that the staff can carry out other work steps while the machine is being cleaned automatically.
At Pascoe, the process times have a direct effect on the cost consideration of the end product. "This means that when I save on process time, my product develops positively in terms of costs. At the same time, shortened process times free up space and time capacities that we can use elsewhere from now on."
THE LC 130 FOR PASCOE: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE SHORTEST POSSIBLE TIME
Lödige Coater have been a success in film and sugar coating processes for various products since 1980. Coating technology has evolved at great speed. The demand is for ever faster processes with the lowest possible spray losses, easier handling and effective cleaning of the fully automatic systems. The Lödige Coaters in the LC series meet these requirements precisely and do so with the greatest possible product protection at the same time.
The project for Pascoe shows how much the LC range can be adapted to customer needs. With the completely new drum geometry, Lödige has changed a key component of the coater series. The drum is an important variable that contributes significantly to the production time. Lödige developed a solution in just a few months that completely impressed both the customer and the examining authorities. "We were also impressed by the short familiarisation period for operation," adds Stefanie Linnemann. "The software is designed to be self-explanatory so that it was easy to use from day one." The technology is available for other companies as well as for all products and sizes in the LC range. In addition to the high product quality, the really short changeover time is also an important feature when it comes to the rapid implementation of production plans.
"WE WERE ALSO IMPRESSED BY THE SHORT FAMILIARISATION PERIOD FOR OPERATION"
QUICK AND EXPERT FEEDBACK ON ALL MATTERS
The Lödige team works very closely with the respective customer in every phase of the project. The consultants' and developers' deep industry expertise leads to a fast and efficient understanding of the goals and milestones to be achieved. This way of working has also impressed the customer Pascoe. Deputy Head of Production, Stefanie Linnemann: "In addition to the high quality of the machines, the personal and direct contact with the Lödige development team impressed us right from the outset. We received a qualified answer to every question immediately, which had a positive influence on the overall process. Knowledge of the processes and also development have a high priority at Lödige. As a customer, we have benefited directly from this."
