The application spectrum for capsules is enormous, and, not surprisingly, they are produced in large quantities. Greiner Packaging has enjoyed a successful 50-year history and has now digitalized its quality inspection process for capsules, thereby ensuring that they never have to choose between large quantities and quality requirements. A key part of this Austrian company's cutting-edge end-to-end solution is the ZEISS VoluMax 800 CT scanner.
- Prevención de artículos defectuosos
- Los empleados de control de calidad han triplicado su productividad
- Documentación constante de los resultados de las mediciones
- La detección temprana de roturas y desgastes garantiza una mejor planificación del mantenimiento
El escáner CT optimiza el control de calidad en el fabricante de embalajes Greiner
The challenge: even more inspection parameters
Defective packaging can severely damage a manufacturer's reputation and image. That is why quality regulations for packaging have assumed massive proportions – even though each piece of packaging costs just a few cents or even less. In the past, Greiner Packaging, headquartered in Kremsmünster, Austria, performed manual inspections with gauges and other devices to determine if the capsules met the customers' requirements. The process took a lot of time, effort and concentration, because just touching a capsule incorrectly can cause pressure marks and thus falsify the measuring result. As the customers continued to stipulate additional inspection parameters, Helmut Reckziegel, Head of the Capsules business unit, decided to look for an efficient solution for inspecting the capsules during the quality assurance process.


The solution: CT scanner instead of manual inspection
Greiner worked very closely with ZEISS for over a year so that the company would be able to use the ZEISS VoluMax 800 to inspect the capsules they produce. This process involved programming complicated algorithms and assembling virtual gauges. Inspecting an entire batch of random samples at one go required a loading logistics solution for the X-ray chamber, prompting the development of capsule holders and stands. Since July 2016, fifty capsules are taken from the production line at Greiner multiple times per shift. The door to the CT scanner closes, the start button is pressed and the inspection can begin – that is all there is to it! "I am totally impressed," says Quality Inspector Muhcu Zeynep. "Now everything is a lot easier, faster and, most importantly, far more precise."
"El embalaje ya no es un producto singular, se ha convertido en una unidad funcional de alta tecnología".
Helmut Reckziegel, director de la división Capsules de la empresa
The benefit: almost no risk of recalls
It used to be the case that inspecting eight parameters manually took 45 minutes; now 16 can be measured in half a second with the CT scanner. The solution has almost tripled employees' productivity in Quality Inspection. For Quality Engineer Robert Pfundbauer, this increase in speed is desirable, impressive and also reduces costs. But for him, it all comes down to safety, and thus the question that should be asked is: "How probable is a recall caused by packaging, i.e. the worst-case scenario for Greiner customers?" Since these days twice as many parameters are tested than before and with far greater precision, Pfundbauer thinks the likelihood is almost zero. Summing up his experiences with the new system, Pfundbauer reports: "This machine is what every quality expert dreams of."

Todo comenzó en 1868 en una tienda de Nürtingen, un pueblo cerca de Stuttgart, Alemania. Fue aquí donde Carl Albert y Emilie Greiner comenzaron a sellar botellas de soda con tapones de corcho. La adquisición de una máquina cortadora de corcho en la Exposición Universal de 1878 marca el momento en que los Greiners comenzaron a ofrecer la producción de cápsulas como servicio para terceros. En la actualidad, el grupo Greiner es líder mundial en el sector de materiales de plástico y espumas. El éxito continuado de la empresa está marcado por la diversificación, la innovación y la globalización. Greiner realiza sus actividades en los sectores de embalaje, mobiliario y automóvil, así como en áreas relacionadas con la tecnología médica y las ciencias de la salud. Greiner Packaging International incluye una unidad de negocio de cápsulas. Con aproximadamente 4.000 empleados en 32 plantas diferentes, produce soluciones de embalaje exclusiva para marcas de éxito del sector alimentario y de otros sectores.