Filling systems in the pharmaceutical industry

Bayer AG's parenteral medicine plant meets all the requirements for the production of modern medicines. Medicinal products for parenteral use enter the tissue or the bloodstream directly - i.e. bypassing the digestive tract - by injection or infusion. Parenterals are therefore subject to the highest quality requirements, especially with regard to microbial and particulate purity. In the filling area, for example, fully automatic systems are used. After the bottles have been cleaned, sterilised, filled and sealed in various steps, a high-precision pick & place robot is used. It places the filled ampoules or medicine vials pallet by pallet into a lattice box before they go to the inspection, packaging and shipping areas. A robot was used for this operation in the past, but it had outlived its useful life. Due to the stresses, cable breaks occurred time and again. The specific movements that the robot performs place a great deal of stress on the energy cables. The task now was to make the handling system operationally safe and also to bring it up to date visually. The number of free-hanging electrical and pneumatic cables should be bundled.

By bundling cables the entire plant achieve a compact, organized, and high-performance workspace. Thanks to its round design, the triflex® energy chain system seamlessly glides over a robot’s outer contour, preventing snags, jams, and downtime—an essential feature in confined spaces like lattice boxes. This upgrade also ensures a consistent minimum bend radius in all directions, reducing cable wear and increasing system longevity. It excels in dynamic, multi-axis applications.

Benefits of this solution included a consistent alignment of the energy chain, reduced space requirements and interference points, and elimination of unnecessary external forces, optimizing robot efficiency With this upgrade Bayer was able to avoid cable jams, reduce maintenance costs, and enhance operational reliability with a high-flexibility energy supply system designed for modern automation environments.