Reconfigurable Conveyor Systems Save Plastic Injection Moulder Cash

Capitol Vial Inc., a division of Thermo Fisher Scientific, now uses modular conveyors to eliminate new conveyor purchases. The company supplies flip top vials to the pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic testing, drug testing, water testing, food, dairy and confectionary markets, producing five million vials per week. Currently the firm uses approximately 20 DynaCon conveyor systems to transport vials from the injection presses to various stations for printing and bagging. Manufactured by Dynamic Conveyor, a company based in Muskegon, MI, USA that describes itself as the pioneer of reconfigurable conveyor technology, the conveyors are easily modified by removing, inserting or exchanging modules that are available in lengths as short as 6 in. “We’ve done many reconfigurations in our plant,” says Engineering Manager Jeff Steiger. “The DynaCon conveyors are like a Lego set. If you want to change it tomorrow you can take the pieces apart and add other pieces and you don’t have to buy a new conveyor.”

In addition to their configurability, the DynaCon modular conveyors give the user the ability to redirect operations on the fly as well as reduce the manual labor of handling the product. “We use the DynaCons to go any which way, and we can reverse them or [move] them forward to feed more machines for one application and we switch back and forth based on demand,” Steiger says. He gives an example of how the conveyor systems are easily programmable to meet demanding production schedules. “We have three presses that run one product and by adjusting the direction of the conveyors we can either send all three presses to the printer, or one to the printer and one to bagger, or all to the baggers, depending on need,” he explains.

Standard DynaCon conveyors are cleanroom ready and meet the ISO Class 3 rating. “Our vials are sterile by process. They close in the mould, so when the vial comes out of the tool, the top is already closed and it’s clean,” says Steiger.

Tags: Capitol Vial Inc., conveyer systems, DynaCon