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Mastering Benchtop Filling: Tackling the Top 3 Pain Points with Effective Solutions

June 6, 2024

Mastering Benchtop Filling:

Tackling the Top 3 Pain Points with Effective Solutions

In the world of small-scale production, benchtop liquid filling machines are invaluable tools, offering precision and efficiency in a compact form. However, like any piece of equipment, they can come with their own set of challenges. Whether you’re in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, or any industry requiring precise liquid filling, understanding and addressing these pain points is crucial to maintaining productivity and product quality.

In this article, we delve into the top three most common issues that users can face with benchtop machines, and provide our practical solutions to overcome them, ensuring your operations run smoothly and efficiently…

 

1Ìý Inconsistent Fill Volumes:

• Causes: Variability in the liquid’s viscosity, improper calibration, or fluctuations in pressure.
• Impacts: Leads to product wastage, non-compliance with volume specifications, and customer dissatisfaction.
• Solutions: To ensure compliance with volume specifications, and also a consistently high customer experience of your product, use a check weighing technique to make sure that your filling machine is currently operating within the ± tolerance range promised by your machinery supplier. If not, this is a sign of over or underfilling, which could be caused by worn or damaged components.

Adelphi Manufacturing recommends regular calibration of your machine, a minimum of once per year. The cost of regular, scheduled maintenance is minimal when compared to the potential costs if left without. Think of it as an MOT for your filler!

Are you using an Adelphi Manufacturing Benchtop Filler? Book your service today >>>

In terms of ensuring consistent liquid properties, mixing automation can be invaluable. (we recommend ) can be created from 5L to 2,500L, so even space-poor sites can improve consistency this way!

 

2Ìý Frequent Downtime for Cleaning and Maintenance:

• Cause: Complex machine design or build-up of residues from the liquid being filled.
• Impact: Reduces overall productivity and increases labour costs due to the time spent on cleaning and maintenance.
• Solutions: Selecting machines with easy-to-clean designs, using appropriate cleaning agents and procedures, and scheduling regular maintenance (discussed above) to prevent unexpected breakdowns.

Each time you change between filling different products from your range, it is best practice to completely strip and clean your filling machine. A great example from an Adelphi Manufacturing customer is Michael Harding Art Formulas Ltd, who produce artists paints – residue in between batches would be disastrous, as it would compromise the clarity of their colours.

Comparing strip-down times is a great way to narrow down your choice of filling machine, if you are currently looking to buy. Every minute of cleaning time is a minute that you aren’t producing saleable product, so keeping machine downtime to a minimum is essential. At Adelphi Manufacturing, we are proud that our best-selling Response Benchtop Filling Machine can be fully stripped for cleaning within 3 minutes!

 

3Ìý Operator Errors:

• Cause: Lack of training, complex machine interface, or manual handling errors.
• Impact: Results in inaccurate fills, increased risk of spills, and potential damage to the machine.
• Solutions: Providing thorough training for operators, simplifying the machine interface, and implementing automated features to minimize manual interventions.

One advantage of benchtop filling machines is that they rarely use a complex electronic HMI. Ask your machinery supplier for their training options. These could include in-person training as part of your installation, a written training guide and machine manual, or even a training video. All three of these would be the best case scenario, to minimise the potential for error!

 

Do any of these points resonate? We warmly invite you to reach out to Adelphi Manufacturing for support or advice:

+44(0)1444 472300    info@adelphi.uk.com

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