Istituto De Angeli – Pharmaceutical intralogistics of excellence

Expansions and changes of the automatic material handling system

LCS carries out important additions and changes to the pharmaceutical product handling system for Istituto De Angeli. Efficiency, regulatory compliance and high quality standards are at the heart of the historic collaboration.

The Company and its Needs:

Located a few kilometers from Florence, Istituto De Angeli is an active company in pharmaceutical production since 1972.

The Reggello plant has been carrying out contract manufacturing activities since 2005, operating for major international companies in the pharmaceutical sector, in compliance with EU / GMP standards. With 300 employees, the site is authorized for the production, packaging (primary and secondary) and control of medicinal products for human use and medical devices (CE).

Customer-oriented perspective, long experience in the sector, innovative technology and high quality standards allow Istituto de Angeli to put at the service of its customers a high-level production capacity that makes flexibility the key to its success.

In this perspective, Istituto De Angeli has been collaborating with LCS for almost 20 years, commissioning the study, engineering and installation of major expansion and improvement interventions on the automatic warehouse and material handling systems.

The activities have a dual objective: to improve the efficiency of the plant and to adapt compliance with the guidelines of the FDA and the European Union in terms of proper management of pharmaceutical products and dedicated packaging in the storage and handling areas.

The implemented solution

LCS, over the years has made important expansions and changes to the existing plant, during short windows of shutdown. In particular:

Implementation of 1 exit from the automatic warehouse, in addition to the 2 existing ones, and revamping of the conveyors
Changes of flows in the header to optimize the management of the entrances to the automatic warehouse and out of shape
Integration of conveyors for pallets and installation of an automatic shuttle for the direct connection of the head of the automatic warehouse with the interface points to the production and packaging departments, in order to prepare the flows for the implementation of changes for the separation between primary and secondary and organize the movement to and from these areas
Implementation of the access control system to the plant to increase its security

Recently, LCS designed and built a pallet changer system and redesigned the routes of the 6 AGVs operating at the plant, ensuring compliance with various FDA and European Union regulations, which require the separate management of primary (raw materials , drugs and primary packaging) and secondary (secondary packaging and materials not in direct contact with the product).

1. Pallet Changer – Automatic pallet change system

Implementation of an automatic handling system to transfer the items placed on one type of load unit to another in the combinations wooden pallets -> aluminum pallets and aluminum pallets -> wooden pallets.

The Pallet Changer system, which connects the head of the automatic warehouse with the interface points to the departments, manages the loading units flows between the warehouse to / from the Dispensing / Manufacturing and Packaging areas of the plant and the other areas.

Thanks to this system, the materials placed on wooden pallets are automatically transferred onto aluminum pallets before being sent to the “white” areas of the plant. Conversely, the materials placed on aluminum pallets are transferred to wooden pallets for sending to the automated warehouse. During the journey, the loading units pass through decontamination systems, revamped by LCS.

2. Change of AGV flows and handheld system

After the primary / secondary separation, with structural changes to the environments of the plant, various interventions were necessary to modify the flows of the AGVs operating at the plant.

Among these, it highlights the new bi-directional configuration of some AGV routes in the packaging and manufacturing areas and the insertion of a new AGV in the primary area, with consequent adjustment of the routes and traffic and priority management.

In addition, the primary, secondary, batch training and manufacturing center handling system has been reviewed in order to maximize the efficiency of the AGV system and minimize the waiting times in materials delivery.

LCS LogiDrive software manages and coordinates the fleet of 6 AGVs, optimizing their activity. If necessary, some handheld are available to operators to simulate taking charge of the AGV and inform the management system. The entire plant is governed by LogiCon, which supervises the state of the plant and determines the operating strategies of the various machines connected to it, allowing the real time optimization of the production and handling flows, according to the required needs.

Advantages

The additions made over the years and the most recent actioncs carried out by LCS have made it possible to improve the performance of the plant, maintaining and enhancing regulatory compliance.

In this way Istituto De Angeli is able to maintain high quality standards both in terms of product and service.