OPTIMA packaging group GmbH is a technological leader in the precise dispensing, filling, packaging and handling of high-end liquid and solid products.
Supporting several industry segments, including pharma & biotech, diagnostics, medical products, hygiene, food, cosmetics & beauty care, filtration, chemicals, lifestyle products and energy, it has a mission that simply states: “We care for people”.
And this mantra means that Optima’s solutions ensure that valuable and sensitive goods, such as medicines, medical products, foodstuffs and cosmetics, reach people all over the world, safely, reliably and well-protected.
According to Dr. Stefan König, managing director of OPTIMA packaging Group GmbH: “We are solution providers. We do our best every single day – with great expertise, team spirit and the commitment to solve every new challenge – to satisfy our customers’ needs, with applications-specific systems and technologies based on proven platforms. And with our worldwide service network, we maintain these systems throughout their life cycle.”
One of the company’s key markets is for paper-based hygiene products, which, like many other industries, demands more flexible production and faster changeover for a wider spread of products… all on the same machine.
Packaging flexibility is defined by many things, but at the heart of many machines, the product-feeding system dictates what is fed, where it is fed and how much is fed. According to Oliver Rebstock, managing director of OPTIMA nonwovens GmbH: “The machines available on the market use fixed-pitch feed systems, which immediately limit the possibilities for packaging agility. Our new OPTIMA HSC high-performance horizontal cartoner, on the other hand, delivers new flexibility in packaging thanks to our deployment of the iTRAK intelligent track system (ITS) from Rockwell Automation.
Using the iTRAK ITS, Optima is able to offer an almost infinitely flexible product feed pitch, which can be changed immediately without any significant downtime. Rebstock explains: “This ability to electronically control the pitch means that we can offer machines that can more easily adapt to and handle a far greater range of products and packaging styles – both of which are key drivers for the industries we serve.
“Not only are our machines faster and more flexible than existing machines in operation,” Gustav Marwitz, group leader development, adds, “but we have also streamlined design and commissioning too, using simulation capabilities delivered by Emulate3D virtual commissioning software. This approach allows us to develop and test the process software before the machine is installed. The quality of the process software is also higher, as more tests can be carried out than with a typical live-commissioning cycle. Furthermore, we can also deliver better customer support for machines already installed at the customer’s site, as suggestions for improvements can be developed and tested within the simulation model without downtime of the customer´s machine.”
Founded in 1922, the history of Optima is intrinsically linked with three generations of the Bühler family. With tradition and consistency comes new initiatives and change; and it is this dynamic and highly productive chemistry that marks Optima's continued success, and what has made its "100 Years of Future" possible.
The adoption and deployment of contemporary technology to improve and streamline customer operations is one reason why the company has such a strong reputation, and its use of products from Rockwell Automation has supported this. “Rockwell Automation is one of the main automation supplier at Optima Nonwovens,” concludes Oliver Rebstock. “Not just for its capabilities, but also due to the fact that most of our customers request its automation solutions too.”
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