When demand surged for a high-growth injectable pharmaceutical product, a Top 10 national pharmaceutical co-packer needed to rapidly expand packaging capacity without compromising reliability, flexibility, or speed to market.
Already familiar with Serpa’s technology and support, the co-packer selected the Serpa P100 horizontal cartoner to support a new vial cartoning application requiring precise handling, compact integration, and fast deployment. By leveraging a standardized machine platform and close collaboration between teams, Serpa delivered a production-ready solution in approximately twelve weeks — helping the customer quickly increase throughput and support critical pharmaceutical production demands.
Customer Challenge
As a leading pharmaceutical co-packer, the customer manages packaging operations for a wide range of pharmaceutical manufacturers, supporting products that include injectable vials, auto-injectors, and solid dose packaging.
For this project, the customer faced a rapidly growing production requirement tied to a high-demand injectable drug product packaged in small 2R glass vials.
The challenge was multifaceted:
- Existing equipment could not support the small vial presentation
- Production demand was increasing quickly
- The operation required dependable 24/7 performance
- The customer needed flexibility for future format changes
- Lead time was critical due to downstream pharmaceutical demand
Because the company operates in a contract packaging environment, flexibility was equally as important as speed. Production lines frequently shift between products, formats, and customer requirements, making fast changeovers and adaptable equipment essential.
The customer needed a solution that could:
- Reliably handle fragile glass vials
- Insert leaflets consistently at high speeds
- Maintain uptime in continuous production
- Fit within a compact facility footprint
- Adapt to future vial and carton configurations
Most importantly, they needed it fast.
The Solution
Serpa supplied a P100 horizontal cartoning system designed specifically for pharmaceutical vial packaging applications.
While the specific project operated at 150 cartons per minute, the P100 platform is capable of running at speeds up to 400 products per minute, providing scalability for future applications and higher-volume production environments.
The line configuration included:
- Upstream vial labeling
- Single-file vial handling
- Leaflet insertion
- Horizontal cartoning
- Tamper-evident labeling and serialization
- Downstream manual case packing and palletizing
Several machine characteristics aligned particularly well with the co-packer’s operational requirements:
Compact Footprint
The P100’s small footprint allowed the customer to integrate the line efficiently into available plant space while maintaining accessibility and workflow flexibility.
Reliable Product Handling
The system utilized vial-specific side guides and controlled product handling features to maintain stable vial positioning and reduce the likelihood of jams or rejects.
Proprietary Leaflet Feeding
Serpa’s leaflet feeding system with live tabbing technology provided reliable leaflet insertion — a critical requirement in pharmaceutical packaging applications.
Maintenance Accessibility
The balcony-style cantilevered design provided easy access from both the operator and maintenance sides of the machine, simplifying servicing and reducing downtime risk.
Future Flexibility
Although the initial project focused on a specific vial and carton format, the system was designed to support future format adjustments with minimal changeover requirements.
Project Story
The project began when the co-packer experienced a dramatic increase in packaging demand for an injectable pharmaceutical product packaged in small 2R vials.
The customer already had extensive experience working with Serpa and viewed the company as a trusted partner for pharmaceutical cartoning applications. That relationship became especially valuable as timelines accelerated.
At the time of the request, Serpa had already developed a standardized P100 platform configuration well aligned with the application requirements. Rather than beginning from scratch, the teams were able to move quickly using a proven machine architecture as the foundation.
Communication between the two organizations became highly collaborative from the start. Engineering, project management, and operations teams maintained close coordination throughout the process to keep the aggressive timeline on track.
The accelerated timeline was critical. The co-packer needed additional production capacity quickly to support growing pharmaceutical demand and ensure it could continue meeting customer expectations without interruption.
By leveraging its standardized machine platform and internal coordination, Serpa delivered the complete system in approximately twelve weeks from order to shipment.
Once on site, installation and startup proceeded smoothly. Because the customer’s technical teams were already familiar with Serpa systems, the machine was quickly positioned, powered, and brought into production with minimal disruption.
The result was a highly reliable pharmaceutical cartoning solution capable of supporting continuous operation while maintaining the flexibility contract packaging environments demand.
Results & Impact
Rapid Capacity Expansion
The customer was able to quickly add packaging capacity for a fast-growing pharmaceutical product without lengthy implementation delays.
Accelerated Delivery Timeline
Serpa delivered the complete solution in approximately twelve weeks, significantly compressing a timeline that would traditionally require much longer for custom automation equipment.
Reliable 24/7 Operation
The P100 platform provided the reliability required for continuous pharmaceutical production environments, supporting the customer’s around-the-clock operations.
High-Speed Scalability
While configured for 150 cartons per minute in this application, the P100 platform provides scalability up to 400 products per minute for future production demands.
Operational Flexibility
The system was designed to support future format adjustments and accommodate evolving customer requirements — a critical advantage in contract packaging environments.
Strengthened Customer Relationships
By helping the co-packer respond quickly to market demand, Serpa helped reinforce the co-packer’s relationships with its pharmaceutical customers while strengthening its own long-term partnership with the customer.
Conclusion
For pharmaceutical manufacturers and co-packers alike, balancing speed, flexibility, and reliability is becoming increasingly important as product demand and packaging complexity continue to rise.
This project demonstrated how standardized machine platforms, collaborative partnerships, and deep application expertise can dramatically accelerate deployment timelines while still delivering the reliability and flexibility pharmaceutical packaging operations require.
With the P100 platform, Serpa helped a leading pharmaceutical co-packer quickly expand capacity, support critical production demands, and position itself for continued growth.