Filling line
On an industrial filling machine or filling line, IoT records fill quantity, weight and process parameters and documents them automatically. Operators can trace defective batches down to a single bottle and meet documentation duties such as GMP without paper records.
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Industrial filling machine: every bottle and batch documented
At Wick-Machinery, a Red Lion CR3000 series HMI running Crimson software controls the filling machine, barcode scanner, checkweigher and label printer. Crimson converts more than 300 industrial protocols, logs data in a database and connects to cloud providers such as Azure or AVEVA via a preconfigured MQTT connection. In pharmaceutical production, sensors and controllers record temperature, pressure, mixing time, viscosity and fill volume. secunet edge secures the data as a gateway with a firewall directly at the machine, including older equipment, and soffico Orchestra passes it almost in real time to quality management. For pneumatic cylinders in filling lines, displacement and flow sensors provide the data for condition assessment.
The examples come from pharma and healthcare and from mechanical and plant engineering, for digital production records and batch traceability. Wick-Machinery, which builds filling machines for cosmetics, diagnostics, chemicals and food, plans to use the CR3000 solution implemented with Reliste across all of its filling lines. Each bottle receives a label with a unique ID, the system checks its weight and counts the bottles filled per shift. A pharmaceutical company captures millions of data points for GMP with secunet and soffico. In episode #28, Software AG, Dell and SMC show how they detect cylinder defects on food industry filling lines early.
Podcast episodes featuring Filling line
Industrial filling machines: frequently asked questions
How can a cosmetic filling machine trace production down to a single bottle?
A cosmetic filling machine becomes traceable down to a single bottle when each bottle receives a unique ID and its data is stored. At Wick-Machinery, the operator scans the barcode on the order and the HMI loads the matching fill quantity. A connected scale checks the weight of every bottle, and the system intervenes to regulate if necessary. The label printer creates an individual label, and data logging provides the basis for product recalls.
How can a chemical filling machine be adapted to different customer environments?
A chemical filling machine can be adapted when its operator interface can communicate with different controllers and IT systems. Wick-Machinery needed a uniform solution for machines of variable design and found it with Reliste in the Red Lion CR3000 series. It comes with displays from 4 to 15 inches while offering the same functions. The Crimson software connects process, SCADA and ERP systems independently of the manufacturer and manages filling recipes through preprogrammed machine settings.
How can older machines on a pharmaceutical filling line be connected securely?
Older machines on a filling line can be connected via a security gateway that networks old and new equipment consistently. In the secunet and soffico example, mixers, granulators, tablet presses, filling and packaging machines supply process data. secunet edge is installed at every site and serves as a security gateway and edge computing device. A layer 2 mode without its own IP address protects machines in their original network configuration. The Content Central Management App manages all devices centrally.
How does a pharmaceutical filling machine support GMP documentation?
A pharmaceutical filling machine supports GMP documentation when production data is captured directly at the source and transferred automatically to the quality management system. At the pharmaceutical company, soffico's low-code platform Orchestra processes the data almost in real time and brings several production lines together in one dashboard. Manual records and their risk of errors are no longer needed. Because changes can be made through graphical data mappings without programming skills, the team responds quickly to new regulatory requirements.
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