Symetix, the pharmaceutical group of Key Technology will be demonstrating the new VeriSym SE at three day Pack Expo Las Vegas from September 23 to 25, 2013. VeriSym SE is an affordable high-performance optical inspection system designed to verify softgels continuously, in-line after a single encapsulator, on a continuous drying line, or off-line in a batch mode during product manufacturing or packaging.

As the smallest member of the VeriSym family, VeriSym SE inspects up to 200,000 softgels per hour within its compact footprint. It detects product colour, symmetry, size, and shape and removes foreign softgels and defects such as spots, colour variations, air bubbles, and misshapen softgels from the product stream to assure product quality while reducing labour costs.

Pharmaceutical and nutraceutical product manufacturers currently batch drying can batch-feed the bulk-to-bulk VeriSym SE from trays, totes, or boxes and later integrate it with a continuous drying system on a single encapsulator line. It is also ideal for contract packers looking to automate product verification during packaging.

“VeriSym SE satisfies customers who want the powerful inspection capabilities of our popular full-capacity VeriSym, which inspects up to 1,000,000 softgels or tablets per hour, but at the right size and capacity for encapsulation lines,” said Ken Carambot, pharmaceutical applications manager at Symetix. “VeriSym SE brings world-class automated inspection to softgel manufacturers and packers with lower-volume product runs. It reduces reliance on labour by eliminating manual inspection and by facilitating the migration from batch processing to continuous automated processing.”

Unlike manual inspection, VeriSym SE is objective and consistent, which improves final product quality. Automating inspection with VeriSym SE increases product yield by minimizing the removal of acceptable product, which is common with manual inspection. The system reduces the risk of contamination by minimizing human contact with product. Based on labour savings alone, VeriSym SE offers a payback of less than 12 months. Improvements in production efficiency further speed payback.

Softgels are fed into VeriSym SE’s infeed hopper, either automatically from a continuous dryer or manually. The hopper meters product onto the infeed shaker that spreads the product evenly for viewing by a top-mounted colour camera that inspects each object’s colour, size, and shape. Proprietary image processing technology quickly analyses the images, comparing each object to previously defined accept/ reject standards to detect foreign softgels and defects such as spots, colour variations, air bubbles in fill material, and misshapen softgels. When a defective product or unconfirmed object is identified, the system activates the close-coupled high-speed air ejector system to remove it from the product stream that leads to packaging.

The modular VeriSym SE is compact and portable with a footprint of only 9 ft (2.7 m) long and 3 ft (0.9 m) wide, which includes the infeed hopper and reject manifold. VeriSym SE features the same graphical user interface (GUI) as other VeriSym systems, which eases training for customers with the higher capacity VeriSym or VeriSym SL systems already installed in their plant. The GUI can be accessed remotely via the network or Internet.

Designed for fast and easy product changeovers, VeriSym SE can be cleared, cleaned, and set-up to handle the next product in less than 10 minutes, with no tools required. Product settings, including accept/ reject standards, can be stored in the system’s memory for quick and easy recall. The system can inspect oval, round, and oblong softgels ranging in size from 2 to 40.

Symetix designed VeriSym SE for nutraceuticals and regulated pharmaceuticals. The VeriSym SE is FDA 21 CFR part 11 compliant with secure and encrypted logs, secure passcode management, parameter histograms, and guided changeover. VeriSym SE is designed to meet FDA requirements and comply with GAMP guidelines.

In addition to softgels, VeriSym SE is perfectly suited to inspect coated tablets, detecting and removing foreign tablets, broken tablets, stained tablets, and tablets with missing coating if the coating is a different colour than the underlying tablet’s core. Given the throughput of VeriSym SE, it is ideal for product rework and AQL testing.

Over 60 years of experience in the food and pharmaceutical industries, Key is a leading manufacturer of best-in-class process automation systems. Symetix offers worldwide sales representation and maintains demonstration and testing facilities at Key’s HQ and manufacturing divisions in Washington.

Key Technology is a global leader in the design and manufacture of process automation systems including digital sorters, conveyors, and processing equipment.