Staying Compliant And Profitable In The Pharmaceutical Packaging Process With Checkweighing

This article highlights use of checkweighing technology in pharma packaging and how it can help manufacturers improve their productivity through lowering changeover downtime and greater traceability.

- Jana Meier

High demand in the pharmaceutical industry is a constant. Manufacturers both large and small must look to optimize their production lines in order to ensure production quotas are met in a timely, profitable and above all safe manner. Larger producers running single product batches seek outstanding reliability and accuracy in check weighing, whilst smaller contract packagers - who are likely servicing multiple clients - need the flexibility to effect quick changeovers in order to keep throughput to a maximum.

As manufacturers need to remain certified in order to produce pharmaceutical products, compliance is also critical. Products entering the supply chain that do not meet the required standard threaten patient safety, retailer confidence and in the worst case scenario a company's ability to continue production. All are damaging to profit margins to varying degrees and the risks can be mitigated with a well executed product inspection programme.

Automation is a given in these environments and it is universally recognized that checkweighers play an instrumental role in day to day production. A checkweigher's main function in a pharmaceutical environment is to check the package for missing components such as the leaflet or complete blisters. This is a vital part of the package, as a box of tablets for example will not be considered safe or compliant without it.

End of line applications are also commonplace, where systems are used to check the completeness of secondary and tertiary packaging, ensuring that what is sent into the supply chain is exactly what is expected. Checkweighers automatically inspect 100 per cent of products on the line - which is highly recommended compared with random off-line sampling, as the latter gives a sample size that is now considered to be of little statistical significance.

Checkweighing solutions can help pharmaceutical manufacturers to maximize productivity