There is always a first time, and this was the case for both the phar­ma­ceu­tical company AbbVie and Uhlmann. Novel for AbbVie was the need for a contain­ment solu­tion to package a new product – a solu­tion that prevents contact between machine oper­a­tors and the product during pack­aging. Novel for the Uhlmann team was the conver­sion of a non-contain­ment machine to a contain­ment machine. As if that was not chal­lenging enough, another factor impacted the project, increased adren­a­line levels, and set minds more inten­sively to work: time.

Every­thing began in February 2020 with a work­shop on contain­ment basics, which was orga­nized for AbbVie. Every­thing took off from there. The reason being that AbbVie wanted to use its two-week vaca­tion close-down in August for the conver­sion. Nici Hagel, already three years at Uhlmann, was respon­sible for the project on our part. She recounts: “We hadn’t even elab­o­rated the quote when the request came to upgrade the machine in August.”

Design engi­neer Markus Locher grabbed three colleagues: Wilhelm Held took over protec­tive measures for the fill section and overall respon­si­bility, while Markus Habdank tended to the product feeding unit and Markus Eder to extrac­tion in the rear area of the blister machine.

All work hand in hand

The conse­quence of the tight time schedule: The design review, which enables the customer to see the machine in its entirety and give approval, had to be split. Project leader Nici Hagel was constantly in contact with AbbVie to coor­di­nate the process. “Each review was quickly signed and AbbVie’s response was always super”, says Hagel, praising the good team­work. The great faith placed by AbbVie in Uhlmann played a role here. “We have been coop­er­ating with Uhlmann for a long time”, says Darius Jochem­czyk, Engi­neering Manager at AbbVie. “I felt sure from the outset that every­thing would work out well.”

One partic­ular chal­lenge was the fact that the premises them­selves at AbbVie were modi­fied at the same time as instal­la­tion of the contain­ment equip­ment. The Uhlmann team had to come to terms with the various tech­nical crews on site, always with the tight time schedule in the back of their minds. “During work on the ceiling, for instance, we were unable to enter a certain area and had to wear helmets”, says Nici Hagel. “But we managed to pull together with all the compa­nies for it to work.”

High pace despite coro­n­avirus

The fact that the entire job had to take place during a pandemic did not ease the situ­a­tion. As the team had to work with shorter lead times, it was uncer­tain just how reli­able the supply of parts would be. Hagel was in close contact with Purchasing, Armin Manz, and the Control Center, Thomas Schmid. Her résumé is posi­tive: “The team­work across all divi­sions was excel­lent”, says Hagel. “As the impor­tance of the project was obvious, some colleagues even post­poned vaca­tion to attend to the work.”

Customer AbbVie is highly satis­fied with the result: “The machine is running very well”, says Darius Jochem­czyk. Two successful firsts – for AbbVie and for Uhlmann!