• Successful cooperation of design agency and engineers
• Burgopak - the ideal solution for pharmaceutical products in blisters
• Sliding mechanism holds blister and information leaflet in position

Sigpack Systems, a Bosch Packaging Technology company, has developed an automated packaging line for Burgopak, an innovative packaging style that uses a sliding mechanism. Burgopak is a WorldStar award winning invention and can be applied to a large number of packages and products. It combines a packaging format and a machine solution, suitable for pharmaceutical prod­ucts, consumer goods and luxury items.

This new packaging format was invented by a British design agency with the same name, Burgopak. It commissioned Sigpack Systems to develop and manufacture an installation for automated packaging production, according to this innovative concept. To date, Burgopak has hand-assembled over 25 mil­lion packages. This includes packaging for cell phones, CDs, DVDs, SIM cards and other electronic products as well as OTC drugs and promotional products.

The Burgopak principle is a folding carton with open ends, based on a wallet format. This packaging style is user-friendly, allowing the consumer to gain ac­cess to the product simply by pulling out one side. The equipment’s sliding mechanism then causes the product carrier, positioned opposite to it, to ex­tend easily. This clever packaging mechanism is tamper-resistant and differen­tiates branded products in a highly competitive market.

Burgopak packaging is easy to handle and particularly suitable for products like pharmaceuticals, which require written instructions for usage. Blisters containing pills, capsules or tablets and the information leaflet stay connected to each other, ensuring that the user can check the dosing instructions every time the medication is taken. A specially-developed feeding-wheel technology for fast and flexible pick-and-place operations, combined with a transverse product infeed chain, ensures minimum changeover time if format changes are required.

Burgo Wharton, founder of the company and a Creative Director at Burgopak, says: "We are delighted to cooperate with a renowned and experienced part­ner like Sigpack Systems. Thanks to its automated system solution, we are now able to produce Burgopaks in high quantities for pharmaceutical products while maintaining the required quality. Sigpack Systems' proven reputation for quality ensures that our new automated production maintains the same high standards that we have always applied to our hand-assembled products."

About Bosch Packaging Technology

Bosch Packaging Technology, based in Waiblingen (Germany), is one of the leading suppliers for holistic systems for packaging and process technology. In 15 countries worldwide the company develops, produces and distributes modules and systems for the pharmaceutical, confectionery, and cosmetics industries, as well as other food and non-food industries. In 2007, 4,460 asso­ciates achieved a turnover of approximately 650 million euros ($890 million).

Press photos: 1-PA-14702, 1-PA-14753

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. In the areas of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology, some 272,000 associates generated sales of 46.1 billion euros in fiscal 2007. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 300 subsidiary and regional companies in over 50 countries. This worldwide development, manufacturing, and sales network is the foundation for further growth. Bosch spends more than three billion euros each year for research and development, and in 2006 applied for over 3,000 patents worldwide. The company was set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering.”

The special ownership structure of Robert Bosch GmbH guarantees the entrepreneurial freedom of the Bosch Group, making it possible for the company to plan over the long term and to undertake significant up-front investments in the safeguarding of its future. Ninety-two percent of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held by Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, a charitable foundation. The majority of voting rights are held by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, an industrial trust. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by the trust. The remaining shares are held by the Bosch family and by Robert Bosch GmbH.

  Additional information can be accessed at www.bosch.com.