The machine's carousel rotates step by step every second. A robotic arm picks up finished glass tubes, around two meters long, from a fully automated glass storage system and transfers them to vertical holders in the machine. With each movement, the machine guides the glass tubes past horizontally arranged 1,000-degree flames that heat the glass. Tools in the machine shape the hot mass before the glass is cut off at the end of the process.

Ampoules for liquid medicines leave the machine in the production hall of Schott Pharma in Müllheim as a final product. The company employs over 4,700 scientists, pioneers and problem solvers in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America and operates 17 production sites around the world that comply with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidelines in order to serve customers locally and shorten delivery times.

Schott Pharma's product portfolio ranges from drug storage solutions to drug delivery systems manufactured in cooperation with leading industry partners. The range of pharmaceutical syringes, cartridges, vials and ampoules is one of the most comprehensive and advanced on the market for injectable drugs.

Working in clean rooms

The rooms in which the small containers are checked for quality and then packaged are cleanrooms. In order to ensure that these areas are particle-free in accordance with the cleanroom class, they are secured by airlocks that operate with Efa-SRT-Cleanroom high-speed doors from Efaflex.

"We generally opted for a provider of high-quality doors and a very good level of service for new builds and when replacing doors in existing buildings," reports Michael Bury, Head of Technical Service at the Müllheim site. The mechanical engineer is responsible for the construction projects and the technology at the plant. Depending on the installation situation, the doors in the factory have to meet different requirements.

Print stability is crucial

High energy efficiency is very important for the doors used to close off halls. In a material airlock, he refers to other aspects of use: "These airlock doors from the Efaflex Efa-SRT Cleanroom range, for example, are very pressure-resistant. Our cleanrooms are operated with an overpressure of 35 pascals. This ensures that when the doors are opened, the air can only flow outwards."

With door systems for class 5 to 7 cleanrooms, which are certified in accordance with DIN EN ISO 14644-1 and VDI 2083, Efaflex offers a wide range of options for professionally sealing off sensitive areas. The doors impress with their high airtightness in combination with an elaborate door leaf guide to prevent unwanted air exchange in the event of pressure differences. The smooth surface structure and the edgeless design of the high-speed doors make cleaning easier and largely prevent particles from settling. Fast opening and closing increases efficiency in the cleanroom. This keeps the filter load low and reduces air loss.

Gate sluices against particle entry

Two further doors, Efa-SRT-Eco, open in quick succession between the production area and the connecting corridor to the warehouse. A third door with transparent, insulated slats, arranged at right angles to the outside, remains closed. The insulated door in the waste lock, which the general contractor had installed at the time, had to be replaced with Efaflex after a short time because it was unable to cope with the many load changes.

"Behind it is our waste disposal area," explains Michael Bury. The two inner gates and the outer gate are locked against each other. This means that employees can only open either the outer door or the two inner doors. "This prevents particles and, above all, insects from entering the production area," continues the Head of Technology. "We are a supplier to the pharmaceutical industry. As a result, we work under the strictest conditions. If we were to detect contamination, for example by insects, in a pack, we would not be able to deliver the entire batch."

This is because the 13 billion medicine containers that leave Schott Pharma's plants every year are filled with vaccines and liquid medicines, among other things, which then make their way to patients all over the world.

A good 800 load changes per day

The two Efa-SRT-Eco airlock gates in front of the waste disposal area have already completed 221,000 load cycles in less than a year. "At this point, the doors had to be just as wide as the aisle because we also bring new systems into the production area this way," explains Michael Bury. The narrow side frames and the space-saving design of the high-speed doors make this possible.

There are currently forty doors from the specialist Efaflex at Schott Pharma in Müllheim. "Soon there will probably be sixty to seventy," announces Michael Bury.

An Efa-SST-L Eco high-speed spiral door is installed in an existing warehouse. The maximum clearance height is required at this warehouse entrance. As there was no space under the ceiling for a normal round spiral, a door with an oval spiral was installed here. "The Efaflex field service always recommends the right solutions for each of our tasks. This means we can also install modern, high-quality doors from Efaflex in outbuildings."

This technically up-to-date and standard-compliant operating equipment is very important for a supplier to the pharmaceutical industry like Schott Pharma. Pharmaceutical companies must be able to rely on Schott Pharma's products to get their medicines to patients safely, quickly and reliably.