Filling systems in the pharmaceutical industry

• Requirements: Prevent high movement loads from stressing and rupturing the cables. The task was to make the handling system operationally safe while visually bringing it up to date. The number of free-hanging electrical and pneumatic cables should be bundled.
• Industry: medical technology, pharmaceuticals
• Success for the customer: triflex® R guides the countless electrical and pneumatic cables safely and compactly. Due to the round design, the energy supply system slides over the outer contour of the robot and cannot get caught or jammed. The defined minimum bend radii also significantly extend the service life.

Bayer AG’s parenteral medicine plant meets all requirements for the production of modern injectable pharmaceuticals. Parenteral products enter the tissue or bloodstream directly — bypassing the digestive tract — through injection or infusion. As a result, they are subject to the strictest quality standards, particularly regarding microbial and particulate purity.

Fully automated systems are used in the filling area. After the bottles are cleaned, sterilized, filled, and sealed in a series of steps, a high‑precision pick‑and‑place robot takes over. It places the filled ampoules or medicine vials, pallet by pallet, into a lattice box before they are transferred to inspection, packaging, and shipping.

In the past, this task was performed by an earlier robot model, which had exceeded its service life. Due to the demanding motion sequences, the energy cables were repeatedly subjected to high stress, leading to frequent cable breaks. The robot’s specific movements placed heavy strain on the cabling, making operational reliability a recurring issue.

The new objective was to make the handling system safer and more reliable while also modernizing its appearance. A key requirement was to bundle the previously free‑hanging electrical and pneumatic cables to improve durability, organization, and overall system cleanliness.

By bundling the cables, the entire plant achieves a compact, organized, and high‑performance workspace. The round design of the triflex® energy chain system allows it to glide seamlessly over the robot’s outer contour, preventing snags, jams, and downtime. This is especially important in tight spaces such as lattice boxes. The upgrade also ensures a consistent minimum bend radius in all directions, which reduces cable wear and extends overall system life. The system performs exceptionally well in dynamic, multi‑axis applications.

This solution provides consistent cable management system alignment, reduced space requirements, fewer interference points, and elimination of unnecessary external forces. These improvements optimize robot efficiency. With this upgrade, Bayer avoids cable jams, reduces maintenance costs, and improves operational reliability with a highly flexible energy‑supply system designed for modern automation environments.