Foam-free flexographic flexibility

Rexam Medical Packaging which produces medical packaging for the world's top pharmaceutical companies has switched to Watson-Marlow Bredel's new 620 pumps for its flexographic printing and coating system.

The versatility of the 620 pumps which can apply adhesives, cold seal coatings and primers to packaging, matches perfectly the flexibility of the flexographic system. The gentle, low-shear pumping action ensures that there is no foaming or other degradation.

Rexam previously used diaphragm pumps but were plagued with ink dry-out and foaming. The use of peristaltic technology has eliminated these problems. Archie Wiltshire, process and product changeover co-ordinator at Rexam comments that Watson-Marlow Bredel has certainly done the business: "Life is a lot easier and downtime has been drastically reduced."

Tube changeover takes less than one minute (which can be done by the operator, not a specialist fitter) and it is impossible to load the tubing incorrectly. Archie Wiltshire comments, "To date, not a single tube failure has occurred. Tubing is, however, regularly removed for cleaning, so tube loading and unloading is a frequent occurrence. We are extremely pleased with the new design and appreciate its improved durability and tube loading."