Pharmaceutical and Medical Packaging News
Magazine
PMPN Article Index
Originally Published PMPN September 2005
Sharp Expands Capabilities with New State-of-the-Art Facility
Sharp Corp. is seeking to reach new heights with its new Allentown, PA, facility. The contract packager has purchased and renovated a former distribution center in the Lehigh Valley, complete with a 14-story state-of-the-art warehouse. After extensive reconstruction, the location now offers 29 individual production suites, 22 of which can be used for primary packaging. About 70,000 sq ft were added to the structure, bringing the current size to 180,000 sq ft. If needed, 40,000 additional sq ft can be added to the facility. On staff are about 120 personnel. “When it’s all said and done, we will have a staff of about 300,” says Mike DeAngelo, director of operations.
The towering warehouse relies on an automatic storage and retrieval system (ASRS). The system was upgraded and validated, including the addition of more than 120 tons of HVAC. More than 8000 pallet locations store everything from raw materials to bulk drugs to finished goods. “We can maintain USP conditions for packaging components and drugs,” says Andy Harakal, QA director. Bar codes and RFID are both used, immediately applied upon receipt, linking the warehousing system to the companywide enterprise resource planning software.
All of the production suites are equipped with independent controls for temperature and relative humidity. HEPA filtration and positive-pressure control are also in place. For instance, DeAngelo noted that a Seimens’ building automation system (BAS) was installed to provide real-time monitoring of the temperature, humidity, and pressure differential of the production and warehouse areas.
Three bottling lines were moved from Sharp’s former West Caldwell, NJ, location. “The bottling lines operate in a straight line, with raw materials moving in from one end and finished packages out the other,” says DeAngelo.
A storage vault was also moved from the New Jersey location. It can hold up to 70 pallets, and it meets DEA’s Schedule II requirements for controlled substances.
Current renovation included the installation of an automated parts washing system for cleaning product-contact parts between different drug campaigns. “It is out of the ordinary for us to run one campaign for longer than one week,” says DeAngelo. “We have an elaborate cleaning validation system in place, so we needed a sophisticated cleaning station on-site,” says Jessica Barse, manager of validation.
Most of the firm’s other mainstay operations, such as those that use pouching equipment originally built by Sharp Ivers-Lee, are already up and running. This also includes blister packaging and flow wrapping lines. The packaging lines employ high-speed vision and optical scanning technology.
Additional space has been designated for new market opportunities such as refrigeration and kit packaging as well as for flexible space for additional customer requirements.
Copyright ©2005 Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News
