We have added an interesting new packaging machinery case study to the website.  The case study covers a recent machinery design and build project for luxury champagne house Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin for specialist cartoning of their champagne. ITCM created a fully automated process for the customer and the resulting machine represents a milestone in carton forming technology.

To learn more about this see the presentation packaging case study on ITCM’s website.

ITCM is always keen to spot and nurture talent at the earliest stage, offering a unique, challenging and varied engineering environment in which apprentices, undergraduates and gradates can grow their skills. Joe gained his apprenticeship via Midland Group Training Services Ltd (MGTS).  MGTS supports both young people and adults in education, training and development of all competencies associated with engineering.

ITCM welcomed Joe back in August 2006 and over his time at ITCM and with MGTS, Joe has gained a wide range of electrical engineering and machine building skills.  He has not only completed the required units to achieve an Advanced Modern Apprenticeship, but also an additional element giving Joe a qualification in Installing Equipment Engineered Systems, which is invaluable for his role at ITCM.

Leigh Turley, Electrical Engineer at ITCM and Joe’s mentor commented that “Apprenticeships are a very effective way to learn, with hands-on, practical training in a working environment, and contributing ‘from day 1’ to real projects”.

Advanced Apprenticeships usually last 3 – 4 years and successful apprentices, like Joe, gain a BTEC in Electrical Engineering, an NVQ2 in Performing Engineering Operations and an NVQ 3 in Installation and Commissioning.

ITCM exhibited along with 65 other companies.  Simon Strothers, ITCM director, commented “It was great to meet new contacts in this sector and catch up with some current customers.  Conferences like DDL20 are a good opportunity to gain insight into current trends and emerging treatments, and new technologies and devices.  Helping customers to develop and launch these new products is where ITCM really adds value.”

The specialist conference and exhibition is one of the longest running of its type in the inhalation sector.  There is an increasing number of inhalation focussed events appearing in the calendar and DDL20 strives to be at the forefront with unique offerings and content.

The content this year was particularly interesting as speakers shared best scientific and regulatory practice and exhibiting companies showcased the latest innovations.  What makes DDL so well respected, and has kept it running for the last 20 years, is its ability to pull together key opinion leaders and leading scientists in a bid to share and develop knowledge in this specialist sector.   The conference covered past developments and future projections for the sector, approaches to improve cost effectiveness and new innovations for inhalation.

Bruce Paxton, Managing Director of ITCM accepts Award for Innovation from Lucy Watkins, MedilinkWM.

A world leader in custom machinery and product solutions for packaging and processing, ITCM, has won the prestigious Award for Innovation at the highly competitive West Midlands Medical and Healthcare Business Awards 2010.

Organised by medical technology industry specialist MedilinkWM, the awards shine the spotlight on the success of companies within the Medical Technologies Cluster, supported by Advantage West Midlands, and ITCM will now go on to represent the region on the national stage at the Medilink UK Awards in March.

ITCM’s new high-speed enveloping machine is revolutionising the packaging of pharmaceutical strip based products and other similar medical products, reducing the cost, time, noise and environmental impact of the packaging process. Already delivering success with initial installation, the technology allows for flexibility in product count with rapid changeover between products.

Simon Strothers, ITCM Director, commented: “We’re thrilled to win this prestigious award in such a competitive category. Innovation is essential to the continued growth and development of our business, and our team of highly experienced engineers consistently enable major leaps forward in factory productivity that not only benefit the manufacturer, but also the end-user. The new enveloper has the potential to be used across many sectors and for any products where enveloping forms part of the packaging or protection solution, and its use of paper rather than plastics make it a very sustainable option.”

MedilinkWM’s CEO, Tony Davis, added: “West Midlands companies have seen the real commercial benefits of trading within the Medical Technologies market in the last year, which has nurtured innovation, new product development, international sales growth and thriving start-ups. These awards are dedicated to businesses that have achieved exceptional research, innovation, business success, entrepreneurial flair and growth in the sector and the bar has been raised yet again, so it’s an amazing achievement to win.”

The new, fully automated machine by ITCM, erects and fills VCP’s new ‘Design Box‘, which is according to VCP, the first industrially produced Eco-friendly presentation box.  The box comprises an inner drawer which holds the champagne bottle and an outer sleeve which completes the packaging solution.

The ITCM custom designed and built machinery transforms a large and complex flat blank into the inner drawer using a series of intricate folds and tucks, after which it is loaded with a bottle before being loaded into the outer sleeve, erected separately on a side load cartoner from Langenpac, a sister company of ITCM and part of the Molins Plc group of companies.

Visit Packaging World to read the full article.  Also, watch this space for further information!

Last month ITCM exhibited at COMPAMED 09, alongside MEDICA, the world’s largest medical exhibition held annually in Dusseldorf.  COMPAMED was very well received attracting around 16,000 trade visitors this year.  The final press release stated that the…

“518 exhibitors from 35 nations provided insights into their product and development know-how: from components and individual assemblies, micro system technology and nanotechnology applications to solutions for custom manufacturing.”

Final report Medica 2009
(Source: www.medica,de. 21.11.09)

Simon Strothers and Paul Davis represented ITCM at the event and commented on how busy the event was and on the wide variety of visitors and exhibitors.  Paul Davis, Business Development Manager at ITCM, commented that “it’s always good to get in front of new audiences and COMPAMED assisted us in doing this; Visitors to the event were from a variety of Medical and Healthcare companies from all over the world and we met some new and interesting people and generated a good level of quality interest.”

ITCM also received a visit at the exhibition from Lord Darzi of Denham KBE, the previous health minister and labour peer who wrote the well-publicised ‘NHS Next Stage Review’ report.  Lord Darzi paid interest to our capabilities and offerings to the sector and it was a pleasure to welcome him to the stand along with his team.  In an interview at the event, MEDICA spoke to Lord Darzi about the importance of the life sciences industry in the UK and the success of the UK in research and development. Watch the full interview.

ITCM exhibited as part of the UK pavilion hosted by Medilink WM.  Simon Strothers, director at ITCM, said “It was a very well organised event. The team from Medilink were excellent both at the event and in the organisational stages and I’d like to thank everyone there for their assistance and hard work over the 3 day event.”

Dates for the event next year in Dusseldorf are:
MEDICA 2010: 17^th to 20^th November
COMPAMED 2010: 17^th to 19^th November

The conference and exhibition was followed by an annual awards ceremony and dinner which was very well attended and a very enjoyable evening.  This year entertainment was provided by comedian Dr Phil Hammond as the after dinner speaker followed by roulette!

The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) is a worldwide not-for-profit society serving pharmaceutical science and manufacturing professionals and ITCM is pleased to be a part of this worthy resource.  Along with the conference and exhibition, ITCM also sponsored the ISPE Newsletter (summer edition) and hosted a workshop at ITCM last September.  We look forward to continued association with ISPE next year and beyond.

Next year the Annual Conference and Dinner will be held at Park Inn, Heathrow on 18^th November 2010.

During the event there will be opportunities to visit the table top exhibition where ITCM will be available on stand No.19 to discuss any new machinery requirements, new inhaler developments, inhaler filling challenges and other custom machinery requirements that you may have.  If you would like to speak to us at a particular time, please contact Simon Strothers or Jenny Watts before hand to make an appointment on +44 (0)24 7642 1100.

The conference will reflect on the changes in the sector over the last twenty years and projections for what is new and exciting for the future of inhalation products. Other diseases, aside from asthma and COPD, which may be treated via inhaled products will also be covered, along with approaches to improve cost effectiveness of inhaled products.

For further information see the DDL20 website.

ISPE will cover both of these issues amongst many others such as manufacturing excellence, plant optimisation and product design, at its annual conference this month.  The theme of the conference this year is “Success through Manufacturing Innovation” and with podium speakers from companies such as Sanofi Aventis and Astra Zeneca, it is set to be most interesting and thought provoking.

During the conference there will be opportunities to visit the table top exhibition where ITCM will be on stand available to discuss any current productivity and new product development challenges, or new machinery requirements that you might have.

ITCM will be on stand No.32 If you would like to make an appointment, please call Simon Strothers or Jenny Watts on +44(0)24 7642 1100, or email itcm@molinsitcm.com

The ISPE Annual Conference & Dinner is being held at Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK on 26^th November 2009.  For more information and ways to register please visit ISPE.

We look forward to seeing you there.

High tech solutions for medical technology is what the COMPAMED 2009 exhibition aims to deliver.  COMPAMED is held 18^th to 20^th November at the Trade Fair Center, Messe, Dusseldorf, Germany.  ITCM is pleased to be exhibiting at this event and can be found in Hall 8b, stand E14 for the duration of the exhibition to discuss any current challenges you might have.

COMPAMED will showcase innovation for complex applications in the medical sector, including a wide range of new packaging solutions, materials and technologies. COMPAMED runs alongside MEDICA 09, the world’s largest medical fair.

Alongside the exhibition, the COMPAMED forum will also provide insights into the latest industry trends.  Leading experts will present lectures on new developments in the field such as new materials and production techniques.

For further information and to register please visit the COMPAMED website.