How to Automate Your Pill Bottle Labeling

by Shane

The pharmaceutical industry has strict standards and regulations regarding the packaging and labeling of over-the-counter pill bottles for consumers. Different products have different requirements, and prescription pill bottles are no exception to those regulations.

The FDA  labels for all over-the-counter (OTC) medicines (available without a prescription) to have a Drug Facts label. The Drug Facts label was created to reduce confusion by standardizing usage and safety information to be more understandable for the average consumer.

Untitled design (6)

Drug Facts label must clearly show and state the following information in order:

Name of the product

  • Table of Drug Facts
  • Product’s active ingredients
  • Purpose of the product
  • Intended uses of the product
  • Specific warnings for products such as side effects and activities to avoid
  • Dosage instructions, including when, how, and how often to take
  • Products inactive ingredients (inactive ingredients may include allergens)

With so much mandatory information and branding to display on pill bottles, the labels are often very text heavy and with small font sizes. Some companies use extended content labels (ECLs) to keep their labels readable while still complying with health and safety information requirements. Extended content labels come in many different forms but the most common ECLs are Peel-back and Booklet labels.

Peel-back labels lay flat on the packaging and then peel away to reveal more information on the back. Booklet labels are much more extensive, both in size and the amount of information it can hold. The booklets provide several pages of information while using very little surface area with the pages laying flat as a booklet on the package until unsealed and unfolded.

Extended Content Label - Peel-back

ECL_booklet

Pharmaceutical companies must adhere to strict product labeling regulations, and with the abundance of vital information on pill bottle labels, the utmost care and precision is vital. The company’s credibility also lies in a successful labeling process. Skewed and improperly labeled pill bottles can make customers question the company’s professionalism and credibility.

There are many different ways to label pill bottles and the right method depends on the pill bottle’s size, type of label, and the labeling machine.

Wrap Labeling

Wrap labeling is the ideal labeling method for most pill bottle labeling. As the technique’s name implies, the label wraps around the pill bottle. One belt rolls the label off of the backing and holds it against the bottle. The other belt spins the bottle over the label. These two actions move the container forward while applying the pressure needed to create a tight bond with the label adhesive.

Another version of the technique uses rollers to move and secure the labels onto the bottles. The pill bottles travel on their side down a roller conveyor to the labeler which sits over the top of the conveyor. The labeler dispenses a label when it senses the bottle and the rolling motion of the bottle wraps the label around the bottle. A roller helps secure the label as it travels down the roller conveyor.

As long as the labels do not need to be placed on a certain part of the bottle, wrap labeling is one of the most effective and fast ways to label a large amount of bottles as the technique uses the motion and momentum of the bottle to label.

Hand holding Pill bottle in pharmacy

Automation Solutions for Pill Bottle Labeling

Booklet to Web

The Booklet to Web System is ideal for creating extended content labels as it is explicitly designed for booklets. Booklets can be difficult to label accurately as they commonly skew as they travel down the conveyor for labeling. The Booklet to Web System uses the proven and patent Lead Edge Registration technology to eliminate this problem.

Hard carcass belts pull the rigid folded edge of the booklet forward into lugs to quickly square the products with accuracy and precision that carries into the final placement onto the web. This avoids pushing against the open trailing edge of the ECL, which may not properly register the products. With the ability to be mounted directly onto a web printing system, the Booklet to Web system easily integrates into existing lines for more productivity.

The MFT Impresso Bottle Labeler

After the booklet is integrated into the label, the label can be applied to the bottle easily with a labeler. The MFT Impresso Bottle Labeler system is also recommended for peel-back labels and normal labels. The MFT Bottle Labeler aligns and applies labels with consistent pinpoint accuracy. The MFT Impresso Bottle Labeler’s adaptable design is configurable to label pill bottles of all sizes and even rectangular or irregularly shaped ones. The labeler handles labels of varying sizes up to eight inches, from large bottles to smaller bottles.

The robust labeler includes customizable computer controls, a 1000-watt brushless servo motor for unwind and rewind, and durable stainless steel shafts to provide maximum life expectancy. If larger production requirements are needed, the MFT Impresso Bottle Labeler is highly mobile and easily integrates with third-party components.

 

MFT Automation: Your Solutions Partner

MFT Automation has over 25 years of experience in the automation industry helping thousands of customers design, build, and integrate high-performance solutions. Our success is made possible by our engineering-oriented and customer-driven approach to finding the best automation solution for a customer’s application. With an expansive catalog of standard robust equipment that can easily be integrated into existing production lines or its own stand-alone solution. We focus on tailoring the solution to the application and not the other way around.

MFT Automation has an abundance of in-house resources that include Mechanical, Electrical, and Software engineers, and a machine shop with modern CNC and lathe machine tools. Our connections and partnerships allow for limitless opportunities and resources to create the perfect system. We work with customers from the first solution draft to integration to installation and training. Contact us with your latest labeling automation challenge, online or call us at 1-651-427-1255.

The Best Automated Labeling Method for High Speed Labeling

by Shane

Manually labeling products works fine at a small production volume but once production increases even slightly, labeling becomes a monumental and tedious task. Automating a labeling system can seem like a daunting investment but the increase in productivity and savings on wages makes the return on investment worth it. Depending on the application, budget, and demand, high-speed labeling is a valuable option for companies to increase their productivity. High-speed labeling is an option for most applications, including labeling boxes, bottles, scratch-off games, Unique Device Identification (UDI) codes, Universal Product Codes (UPC), and more.

 

There are several automatic labeling methods, but which one is best for high-speed labeling?

Print and Apply Labeling

Comparatively to other labeling techniques, which use pre-printed labels on a roll, the Print and Apply technique has the labels printed on demand and then applied to the product. Depending on the application, Print and Apply labelers use the wipe-on or tamp-on techniques to apply the labels. But printing new labels for every product, in most cases no matter how fast the printer, slows the labeling process down compared to pre-printed labels on a roll. The Print and Apply method is not recommended for high-speed labeling applications. 

Tamp Labeling

The Tamp label application uses air and a tamp pad to apply labels. The Tamp technique uses vacuum suction to hold the label to the tamp pad until the product arrives underneath via a conveyor belt. The tamp pad presses the label onto the product as it passed on the conveyor belt. With the tamp technique, the smaller the label the faster the tamp pad can place the label. MFT Automation’s Smart Tamp technique accommodates for variation of heights of boxes with a spring-loaded tamp pad that adjusts to the needed height.

 

Dispense and Wrap Labeling

The dispense and wrap labeling technique is used when wrapping labels around a product. It is most commonly used for labeling cylindrical products such as bottles of varying sizes, vials, and straight-sided buckets. The product is initially captured in a wrap belt with a stationary backup pad or 3-roller configuration and begins to rotate. While rotating, the label is dispensed off the peel plate in-between the rotating device and the product.  The label is fully adhered to during the rotation of the product.  While the dispense and wrap technique is the most efficient and accurate way to label cylindrical products, it is not the most efficient or effective way to label non-cylindrical products.

Wipe On Labeling

Wipe-on is a commonly used pressure-sensitive labeling technique. The label is applied while the product is moving and the label applicator itself often matches the speed of the product as it travels down the conveyor. As the product reaches the labeler, it dispenses the label off the peel plate and the label is wiped onto the product. This labeling technique is often used for oval, square, rectangular, and some irregularly shaped products. Wipe-on is the preferred method for high-speed applications due to its simplicity.

Challenges with High-Speed Labeling

 

Accurate placement of labels is often a top priority in labeling applications. While wipe-on labeling has the most accurate placement rate of the methods, the high speeds still affect it. Accuracy is dependent on many factors including, maintaining constant tension on the roll of labels as it unwinds to dispense the labels. The tension comes from the dancer arms that maintain tension during unwinding/rewinding of the label roll. High-Speed labelers utilize strong motors to respond quickly to rapid changes in dancer arm position, maintaining tension at high speeds for accurate placement at the peel plate. Accuracy is also dependent on the labeler’s ability to adjust speeds quickly to match the variable speed of the conveyor belt. Adjusting speed can put a lot of strain on the motors as they have to react quickly to match the speed of the conveyor and products. 

 

At high speeds, label rolls tend to be finished faster than when labeling at normal speeds. To keep up with the rate the rolls are used up, companies try to solve the problem by buying rolls with more labels. But just finding the largest roll of labels possible can be dangerous. If the roll of labels exceeds the labeler’s capacity it can have major consequences. Overworking the drive motors can shorten the lifespan of the motor as well as the other parts of the machine. There is also a high risk of damaging the labeler structure with an overweight label roll. 

103 HSM+ Labeler

The 103 High-Speed Modular (HSM) Labeler is a high-performance labeler built for high-speed labeling applications. Equipped with three independently powered synchronized servo drive motors for unwinding, label placement, and rewind, the 103 HSM quickly adjusts labeling speed to match the speed of the product as it travels down the conveyor. Speed matching is vital for accurate label placement. Three motors also distribute the load and increase the labeler’s load capacity. Designed for flexibility, this small, compact labeler works as a stand-alone piece of equipment or can easily be integrated into existing production lines.

 

With over 25 years of experience innovating high-performance automation solutions, MFT Automation is your solution partner for your next automation challenge. Equipped with a diverse team of mechanical, electrical, and software engineers and a modern machine shop, MFT Automation works with you every step of the way from design concept to integration, to create the best solution for your application. Contact us for your next labeling project.

Know Your Limits: What is an Automatic Labeler’s Load Capacity?

by Shane

In factories across the world, billions of products are being labeled before they go to customers. From warning labels on medical packaging to nutrition labels on food labeling, or Unique Device Identification codes on pharmaceutical drug packaging, labels are used for aesthetics but also to convey vital information to the customer. In any industry, customers look to labels to be applied in a neat and orderly fashion otherwise the product could come across as unprofessional or untrustworthy.