Three-aisle storage for generic drugs: doubling production
New high-bay warehouse for TEVA Pharmaceuticals
Debrecen/Neuenstadt – The low-cost pharmaceutical drug market is booming. Each year there is an increasing demand for generic drugs, which are cheaper than brand-name drugs but have the same effect. To satisfy this growing demand, TEVA Pharmaceuticals, the Israeli global market leader for generic drugs, invested in the pharmaceutical drug segment of its Hungarian plant, and MLOG built a new three-aisle high-bay warehouse and complete conveyor system there to handle the additional production capacity.
Based in the Hungarian town of Debrecen, the plant is doubling its annual manufacturing capacity of approx. 14 to 15 million tablets and capsules which take the form of almost 800 different products. This means that storage capacity requirements are also increasing, especially considering that the old warehouse was already working to full capacity due to the fact that drug manufacture in Debrecen has increased tenfold over the course of the past ten years.
Components tested in pharmaceutical applications
The newly constructed high-bay warehouse features three 85-metre long aisles, housing 4,860 storage locations for euro pallets weighing max. 750 kg. Each of these aisles is serviced by an MSINGLE A storage and retrieval machine (SRM) with single-depth load-handling capability. Each of the 17-metre high SRMs achieves a performance of 100 double cycles per hour. The machines have already been tested in numerous pharmaceutical industry applications and, along with MLOG’s conveyor systems, are suitable for use in particularly sensitive areas. The SRMs can be individually designed to suit any area of application. In Hungary, they are used in conjunction with integrated camera systems – now almost always supplied as standard – and single-depth load-handling capability. Elsewhere, in the furniture industry for example, MSINGLE machines are capable of up to triple deep storage. “The flexibility of our components makes it possible for us to create individual solutions based on well-proven technology”, says Mark Vogt, MLOG Sales and Marketing Manager. “This concept is particularly appealing for use in demanding environments such as the pharmaceutical industry.”
Potential for even more growth
The MLOG specialists from Neuenstadt am Kocher were also responsible for supplying the complete racking steelwork, conveyor platforms and material flow control system. The conveyor system extends across several floors to transport pallets between the high-bay warehouse, goods inwards and dispatch and the different production areas. In total, the pallet conveyor system features over 130 drives and 4 shuttle cars. MLOG installed a small parts conveyor system with 50 drives to transport the cardboard boxes. Palletising is performed by a fully-automated robot, capable of handling 420 boxes per hour. While creating this individual solution, allowances were made to ensure that additional equipment could be easily connected in the future to further increase output.
All operations are monitored and controlled on the central material flow control system. Operations and operating status can be displayed and monitored on the visual display software. A TCP/IP interface ensures permanent data exchange between the components. The material flow control system was built into the existing goods management system. The new warehouse was up and running less than a year after building work first started, and Debrecen is once again one of the most modern and highly-performing plants of the 37 sites belonging to the global leader, TEVA Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. MLOG is also outstandingly well positioned on the international market and sucessfully operates under the concept of regional proximity, for example, in Hungary, MLOG is represented by a branch based in Budapest.
The fully automated robot palletises up to 420 boxes per hour.
TEVA Pharmaceuticals, the global market leader for generic drugs, has doubled its production capacity in the Hungarian town of Debrecen.
Euro pallets are transferred to and from the three aisles by the MSINGLE A storage and retrieval machines.
The pallet conveyor system connects the high-bay warehouse with the different work areas.
