PACKAGING contractor Wasdell has invested in the first blister packaging machine of its type in the UK with an investment of approximately £1 million.

The Noack 950 blister packaging machine will enable Wasdell, which is the country’s largest independent pharmaceutical packaging contractor, to increase their production speeds by 10% on this machine.

From their headquarters at Euroway Industrial Park, Swindon, Wasdell packages and distributes all types of pharmaceutical products, from natural remedies to prescription drugs, for companies across the globe. With production working 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, this new machine will be an additional upgrade to the company’s eight blister machines currently used, allowing the business to process contracts recently won as well as increase their capacity for future work.

Forming the plastic sheets that tablets sit in, and sealing them with foil, the Noack 950 is run by a team of workers overseeing the safe and hygienic packaging process. The machine can package up to 500 tablets per minute and also increases Wasdell’s flexibility to create different and more varied packaging solutions according to each product and customer’s needs.

Phil Vines, director at Wasdell, said: “At Wasdell we are always looking to improve our offering to our clients, and this includes investing in new equipment and machinery. We recognise the need to invest to go forward, however this year represents a four-fold increase in what we would normally spend due to an increase in the number of contracts we are winning and also due to getting ready early for other changes in the industry.

“We are confident that this investment, plus more we have planned in the near future, will open doors to business growth and so will help secure our future as the UK’s leading independent pharmaceutical packaging contractor, as well as positively impact on the local economy.”