labeling
WLS VR series labeler presented in NBC Nightly News story on COVID vaccine production
Exactly three months ago today, we at WLS were very proud to see our equipment on a broadcast of NBC Nightly News, in a story about COVID vaccine production.
Model 326 AUTOCOLT IV Labeler With New Options
AUTOCOLT IV® Time-Lapse Video
If you were in Chicago last month at the Pharma Expo Show, you would have seen the famous 326 AUTOCOLT IV pressure sensitive labeler running a round bottle, while using the servo-orienting wrap belt to positon the bottle to apply an outsert on the open area with NJM’s AutoSert placing the outsert on the round bottle. The finished product is a sight; however, what you don’t get to see at a Show and while this workhorse runs on your manufacturing floor, is the machine being assembled over a 5 week period. It is a pretty awesome to see this go from a base of a stainless steel to the finished product. Take a look at the below ‘Time-Lapse Video’ of the machine being assembled in our Montreal plant earlier this year.
This AUTOCOLT IV labeler ran a round bottle while using the servo orienting wrap belt. We applied the label and orientated the container to apply the outsert in the open area. This high speed, servo-driven in-line labeler competes in the market with complex rotary labelers, in speed and versatility, offering much faster and easier changeovers with fewer change parts, reduced maintenance, a smaller footprint and a lower capital cost. The above machine was recently redesigned with some expert options to help you with your machine. These options can be included on new labelers to expand production capabilities. Some of the new options include an Oscillating Pressure Station increasing the speed of applying multi-panel labeling , a Vacuum Free Loop for continuous printing of variable data, a soft reject system for vials, color coded change parts and a linear feeder for outsert magazines. NJM equips the AUTOCOLT IV with a wide variety of standardized modules and options to meet the needs of each application and customizes the labeler to each customer’s requirements. Read more on these options.
NJM’s 100th Year Continues to Provide Labeling and Packaging Innovation
2015 Brings Product Expansion of Packaging, Filling and Capping Lines, and New Labelers & Bottle Trackers
NJM Packaging is looking back over the past year. It has been a very busy 100th year. While Taylor Swift continued to dominate the pop charts, NJM shipped several new AUTOCOLT labeling machines, the new Cremer Tablet Counters, track and trace bottle trackers and labelers, and expanded its Dara liquid filling and capping equipment offerings. We also looked back fondly on some of our 100 Year History.
New regulations in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as new innovations, inspired the release of high speed solid dose and liquid lines for labeling, filling, capping, SVP, and track and trace. In the past couple of years, we’ve introduced a few new versions of our stalwart AUTOCOLT labeler. The 426 AUTOCOLT made its debut at Pack Expo 2012 in Chicago. Ideal for solid dose pharmaceuticals, it labels square, rectangular, and round bottles at speeds of up to 300 containers per minute and applies wraparound or three panel labels and optional side and/or topserts at higher speeds than traditional labelers. It also accommodates RFID tagging and is ready to integrate with track and trace serialization systems.
We revealed the 326 AUTOCOLT IV, a 300 container-per-minute pressure-sensitive labeler with servo-driven precision and reliability, at Pack Expo 2013 in Las Vegas. Also handling a variety of bottle shapes, wraparound and multipanel labels, and outserts, it’s ready for e-pedigree serialization and RFID tagging.
NJM also introduced two labelers that handle 400 containers per minute: the AUTOCOLT IV Trunnion and the Cremer Tablet Counter CFI-622. The Beltorque caps at 300 containers per minute. The 277 AUTOSERT sidesert/topsert applicators, the TE-20 Tablet Elevator, and 402 P&A were offered.
With all the new machinery, NJM’s older offerings have proven their reliability. We love the calls from customers looking for replacement parts for a Model 315 Mustang™ Labeler. A more recent machine that we found was a 40-year-old Apache 550 In-Line Capper, was “being retired” at Happy Jack in Snow Hill, NC.
Our Packaging Doctor also made a re-appearance this year as we searched through the archives of how we advertised in the years past. He’s been retired for many years, but he was an integral part of our Company’s branding as the ‘packaging specialist doctor’.
A welcome result of this 100 Year Celebration in 2015 was the unveiling of our founder Martin Feybusch’s grandson. He discovered NJM online through this ‘Not Just Machine’s BLOG’ bringing him in touch with NJM requesting a tour with his children. NJM Packaging still holds a special place in the hearts of its’ founding families descendants.
We hope our next 100 years deliver more excellence and more innovation to our customers. If you missed it, bone up on NJM’s first 100 years.
NJM Introduces New Technology for the Pharmaceutical Industry in the 1950s
Pharmaceutical Packaging Continues to Improve with NJM’s Mid-Century Machines
In 1950, as U.S. families moved into the suburbs, NJM Packaging was gearing up for its next 15 years of pharmaceutical packaging innovation and expertise. The future President of NJM had begun his tenure with the company, and NJM was gearing up to introduce two new packaging machines that would continue to improve the way pharmaceuticals and consumer goods were prepared for public consumption.
While Art Schaefer had yet to take the helm of NJM Packaging, which would happen in 1979, he began his career with NJM in 1946 as a sales engineer, fresh out of the Navy. From the beginning, he was committed to the pursuit of excellence, and he demonstrated that through his work with The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (PMMI), which now administers the A.R. (Art) Schaefer scholarship in his memory. Mr. Schaefer would go on to become President of PMMI and remain active throughout his retirement. At NJM, Mr. Schaefer ascended to Customer Service Manager in 1951, and by 1965, he was elected Vice President of Sales.
Meanwhile, NJM was moving full speed ahead with improvements to pharmaceutical packaging technology. Label mix-ups was a serious problem for pharmaceutical companies, and NJM rose to the challenge in a collaboration with Pfizer/Wyeth. Cut and stack labels were leading to mix-ups, and NJM engineers recommended using roll labels, which meant the first and last labels were the same. These continuous labels prevented shuffling and misplaced labels, greatly reducing labeling errors. A pharmaceutical inspection system designed by NJM engineers was the “punch-hole system”, which provided technology making sure the correct label went on the correct bottle. This technology provided a sensor that looked for the label with the hole punched in a specific place on the label. If it did not find that hole, the line would stop. This procedure was developed prior to the use of bar codes.
NJM’s first labeling machine was the Model 86M, which was a wet , cold glue labeler. Over the years this Model 86M was developed into a more advanced thermo sensitive labeler, which became a huge seller in the industry. These revolutionary “no wet glue” labelers applied thermo sensitive adhesive-coated paper labels, which were heated and applied to the bottle. This process eliminated air bubbles that would form under labels applied with glue. The Model 86 TORF, which was a roll fed machine was used in many different industries including the pharmaceutical industries.
Model 86 TORF
The high demand for labeling machines brought orders to NJM for mass production of these labelers at the Hoboken, NJ, plant.
NJM Hoboken Warehouse
The thermo sensitive equipment eventually evolved into automatic thermo sensitive labelers including the Model 160, Model 203 and the Model 350 Thorobred, which is still being used today.
The mid-century brought technological advancements and introduced key personnel that would propel NJM through the next decade and beyond, but it continues even further. Next month, we’ll recap how, as the miniskirt gained popularity, NJM built the plant used today in New Hampshire and then expanded into Canada . Read more about our 100-year history.