TOTAL COOPERATION FOR TOTAL PHARMA COMPLIANCE
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Bob Neagle, Videojet's business unit manager for brand protection, explained the IMprints Track & Trace Solution. |
With the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) coming up with new mandates for track-and-traceability on an almost daily basis, the need for true e-pedigree histories are becoming the rule rather than the exception, especially in pharmaceutical. In an effort to make documenting supply chain history less complex for end users, Videojet Technologies, Wood Dale, Ill., Omega Design Group, Exton, Pa. and Cognex Corporation, Natick, Mass., unveiled a specialized collaboration for serialization, track and trace and e-pedigree.
Bottles exit Omega’s Rotary Pocket Unscrambler, where a 2D matrix product identification code is applied to the bottom of each item via Videojet’s 1510 small-character continuous ink-jet printer.
“By applying code early, it establishes the product’s integrity right from the start,” explains Glenn Siegele, president of Omega Design.
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(From top to bottom) Videojet's 1510 small character ink jet printer, P3400 label printer applicator and pharmaceutical bottles receiving codes from the 1510 as part of the collaboration. |
Using an intuitive user interface and a simplified fluid replacement system, including the industry’s first microchip-enabled fluid bottle, called the Smart Cartridge™, the 1510 offers ease of use for operators. A unique print head automatically sets up and adjusts to environment changes, resulting in consistent print quality in even the most challenging environments.
Scott Benigni, Videojet product manager for small character ink jet, credits the interface to customer feedback requesting improved uptime. As a result the 1510 incorporates “smart” features that virtually eliminate operator mistakes and provide long intervals between maintenance.
Once properly coded, a Fanuc robotic arm, integrated by Omega, collates the bottles into 12-unit, shrink bundled packs while a Cognex Vision system captures and verifies each of the individual codes via camera.
From here, Videojet’s IMprints™ suite of track-and-trace CodeMaster software generates unique codes for the bundle that are associated with the individually coded bottles.
The software instructs the Videojet Model P3400 print-and–apply laser to create a label and apply it to the bundle. The code, says Bob Neagle, business unit manager for Videojet’s Brand Protection Solutions Group, essentially “finger prints” both the product and the brand. This fingerprint allows traceability to an enterprise resource planning (ERP) or warehouse management system (WMS).
“Reading, printing and applying unique bottle label codes in an aggregate bundle creates a true parent/child relationship,” says Siegele.
While federal government regulations serve as one of the main impetuses for e-pedigree, Neagle cites customer desire, mass serialization requirements and legislation, like California’s e-pedigree law, as drivers.
Pharmaceutical companies are not the only sector seeking efficient and cost-effective solutions. Now, other packaging markets, like food and beverage and personal care, are also investigating mass serialization concepts.
