To ramp up production to meet the demands of the medicine packaging market, Omnicell began searching for a new flexo press solution for their St. Petersburg, FL location. Specializing in high volume blister packaging, Omnicell produces various single and multi-pill packaging products for use in their autonomous pharmacy machines.

Chris Hayes, Manufacturing Engineer and leader of the press initiative, together with the Omnicell board, had one key goal in mind: increase productivity while maintaining the Omnicell quality standards. The equipment needed to produce at top speeds for heat seal card applications and cold seal card applications.

After rigorous OEM testing and evaluation, Omnicell made the decision to purchase an MPS EXL-Packaging 680 flexo press to achieve their goal of increased production. Omnicell’s MPS EXL-Packaging press is equipped to produce complex blister packaging in a single pass. It includes several OEM niche equipment including hot air dryers, automatic unwinders, inspection technology and a stacker. The Omnicell press marks a record length built for MPS, with an astonishing 118 feet / 36 metres of length.

Manufactured for blister packaging production, up to widths of 26”, the EXL-Packaging press produces at speeds of over 500 ft/min and “can do anything and everything that all other presses at the facility can do, combined.” Chris continues “It prints better, has quicker changeovers, is fully automated, modular and easy to maintain. Our MPS press is incredible.” According to Chris, the MPS EXL-Packaging press not only meets, but exceeds all expectations, and has become a valuable asset to their St. Petersburg operations.

Initially, operators were hesitant to run their new MPS press at top speeds, having never encountered a press perform well at those speeds. “The speed is almost intimidating,” Chris mentions, “but after MPS Field Service Engineer proved the press can run at record speeds for the long run, with no complications; he trained our operators to do the same and we began hitting our production goals easily thanks to him and the MPS Service team.”

Additionally, the MPS EXL-Packaging press was equipped with Connectivity solutions, connecting their machine directly to the MPS Service Team. Chris states, “having the ability for MPS technicians to login and provide remote support, software updates, troubleshooting etc. directly to our machine has been phenomenal.”

With the new MPS EXL-Packaging 680 press solution, Omnicell is equipped and eager to handle the increasing demands of the pharma packaging market for years to come. “I’d recommend MPS to any converter looking to increase capacity. Their press technology, service and the whole MPS experience has been incredible. Watching the speed of the machine, the quality of the print and witnessing the variety of applications possible, I know we made the right choice choosing MPS as our press partner.”