Joining forces means greater sustainability

Working together, thinking ahead breaking new ground and developing new solutions. This is the reason why Optima entered into a partnership with Voith Paper, a division of the Voith Group. Since 2020, interdisciplinary project teams with experts from both companies have been working on developing sustainable paper packaging solutions.

Optima contributes its vast experience for a wide variety of packaging solutions, including paper packaging into the partnership. Voith Paper supports the joint effort with its comprehensive expertise of especially resource-friendly and sustainable paper types. Together the team takes-on packaging challenges considered unsuitable or even impossible in the paper industry. So far, the results have been very promising. There are exciting times ahead.

Teamwork brings freshness and efficiency

Luxury goods like coffee and tobacco require packaging solutions that reliably preserve aroma and freshness for extended periods. Working closely with the film manufacturer Huhtamaki, Optima has developed the “Refilly” refill pouch for the premium coffee producer illycaffè. Experts from the two companies have generated ideas and prototypes. The result is a round 3D pouch that fits seamlessly into the popular illycaffè can and completely preserves the coffee flavor. 

Refilly is also a winner in terms of transportion and waste disposal: the bag weighs just 20 grams and can be folded to save space. Excellent! The judges of the "Alufoil Trophy" committee thought so too, and awarded the Refilly pouch the coveted award for excellence in enginering in 2016.

From round to square

The JTI tobacco group sought a strong, innovative partner to change their round cans to square packages when they met the experts from Optima Consumer and Hörauf. In a joint venture, the innovative InlineCan was designed to satisfy all aspects of JTI’s requirements. The new induction seal keeps the contents fresh and moist for a long time. The economic benefits speak for themselves: The InlineCan, produced inline before the filling machine, is six to seven times less expensive than finished cans. The new production line was set up in just four weeks and has been running in three shifts, six days a week, ever since. The very best in teamwork.

When cooperation saves lives

Spring 2020: Covid-19 put the world on hold. Vaccine research became the top priority, moving at a feverish pace. Thermo Fisher Scientific aimed to start production at once and gave Optima clear directives. As soon as the vaccine was FDA approved, the filling equipment had to be ready for production and had the ability to increase filling capacity quickly. 

The Optima Pharma team pulled out all the stops to speed up the completion of the filling lines. The CSPE (Comprehensive Scientific Process Engineering) approach developed by Optima Pharma lived up to its reputation once again. The filling capacity is influenced by fast project processes and the primary packaging material. Early studies show that a significantly higher filling efficiency can be achieved by using special Valor® Glass vials instead conventional injection borosilicate glass vials. 

In a joint venture with Thermo Fisher Scientific, Optima Pharma and vial manufacturer Corning explored this concept. In Schwäbisch Hall, Germany, Optima conducted thorough tests, with obvious results: The low-friction surface and strength properties of Valor vials achieved faster handling with a lower rejection rate. 

This joint initiative has since proven its significance many times over. By combining Optima Pharma's high-speed filling equipment and the Valor vials from Corning, Thermo Fisher Scientific achieved its objective, to fill the vaccines that were needed worldwide. Mission accomplished!

Common ground for the most demanding requirements

What about drugs that are highly potent, very expensive or particularly difficult to fill? Contract filler Swissfillon was founded to help meet these needs in the market. At the time, no machine was able to fulfill all their requirements. Optima Pharma’s MultiUse system concept would prove to be an ideal solution for Swissfillon. There were still difficulties to overcome to ensure the highest safety levels - one evaporated drop of a highly potent cancer medication can be extremely harmful for the machine operators. This means absolutely no errors can occur. Period!

Many additional machine features of the OPTIMA MultiUse filler were requirements for Swissfillon’s success. Today Swissfillon guarantees that no product contact parts come into contact with other products during the handling process. Each product receives its specific disposable product path. Optima and the Stevanato Group, a manufacturer of vials and cartridges, are particularly proud of one innovation - the MultiUse filler fills cartridges without any bubbles. Only by using bubble-free filling is it possible to avoid incorrect dosage by the user. 

Combining the expertise of three industry champions, success was imminent: pioneers in safety, precision, and cost-effectiveness.