A Texas based medical device manufacturer utilizes six in-line thermal
transfer printers with traversing heads to apply bar codes
to medical device lidstock, offering significant savings
as the company gains efficiencies, improves scannability. Mounted
on tf/f/s systems, the programmable units streamline the
coding process and reduce downtime.
Protective, transparent, exacting and stackable, the medical
device packages thermoformed, filled and sealed by the company, a global distributor
of medical products, are now clearly coded by a series
of in-line, programmable
thermal transfer printers from Bell-Mark
that have streamlined the medical device packaging operation
in only four months time.
The Texas location, one of three divisions of the company,
believes in the direct approach, especially where direct,
in-line printing of its medical device packages is concerned.
That philosophy is proving itself: Just months into operation
with its new thermal transfer printers, the company already has
seen a return on its nearly $250,000 equipment investment. "It was an easy choice to make," notes a director
of manufacturing. "We're starting to
convert a lot of packages over to thermal transfer printing
for additional product and package categories."
The company, which complies with ISO 9001 guidelines, manufactures
and packages patient monitoring and vascular access components,
including a diverse line of single-use, sterile disposable
medical instruments and surgical devices such as intravenous
tubing sets, transducers, catheters and guidewires. Packaging
comprises assorted flexible and rigid thermoformed containers
currently in seven sizes. Distribution is worldwide; the
majority of domestically shipped packs are transported
to hospitals by United Parcel Service.
Each rigid or flexible thermoformed tray is lidded with
a peelable stock incorporating DuPont's Tyvek® spunbonded
polyolefin. The lidstock is preprinted with the company's name,
address, contents information and other mandatory label
copy. Until installation of the EasyPrint® printers,
variable product information was imprinted either by
dot matrix or ink-roller; extensive variable data couldn't
be included.
The new EasyPrint
traversing model thermal transfer printers are used to print up to 10 lines of variable information and bar codes, which satisfies customer and legislative compliance requirements, and the printers save importantly vs. other coding and labeling methods. The company purchased six of the EasyPrint® printers early this year as turnkey units through Multivac, installing them on four horizontal thermoform/fill/seal machines including Multivac R5000's and Tetra-Laval's Tiromed Models CSVA 390L and 390L. Two of the tf/f/s machines are equipped with one printer each because of larger pack sizes they run. These print one row of one to four packs per row. The other two tf/f/s machines each require two printers because they can cycle two rows of three to six packs at a time. The packaging machines average an output of 30 packs per minute.
Coding
packages either 3-, 4- or 6- up and moving on a linear
rail, the compact stepper motor-driven direct thermal
traversing printers electronically print the variable
information on the package lidding in a 2- inch wide
print area. Though the lidding is still preprintd with
nonvariable product copy, with more than 2000 stockkeeping
units and the volume of products produced, the company opted
for an alternative to input the variable information
and the codes. "What
really prompted the addition of these printers was governmental
requirements, but the codes have also become an industry
standard," says the company spokesperson. "We've looked at other
printing methods, but thermal transfer was the best option.
It was cost prohibitive for us to fully preprint the
package or apply labels with so many skus. To achieve
a good, clear bar code on the lidding that would meet
all of the ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
standards is somewhat difficult, however."
With large package volumes, he points out that the company needed
a quick-change, programmable way to satisfy the coding
requirements, as well as make copy changes and other
revisions. "Nothing else was economically viable for this type
of rollstock lidding," he notes. "We have
to deliver a top quality, clear code. We searched for
about a year, but couldn't find another printer like
this anywhere."
Multiline Data
In addition to printing a 16-digit Code 128 bar code,
Bell-Mark's EasyPrint units can generate up to 10 lines of
human-readable data, including a lot number, expiration
date and product description on multiple packages across
the web. Operating with Bell-Mark's Windows™ based
creation software, the EasyPrint employs a single print-head
that automatically moves across a bar, which eliminates
the need for multiple printheads. Run by programmable
logic controller, the unit saves the company substantially
in inventorying precoded webstock or labels, the spokesperson says,
as the PLC's E-Prom cartridge needs no in-field programming.
The company sees these and other attributes defining the machinery,
including reliability, code and character consistency
and clarity, drop in downtime due to changeovers and
quick, responsive service: "Printing crisp, clear,
scannable codes and other data directly onto the certain
types of lidding can be somewhat difficult because the
substrate isn't always smooth and flat. Some substrates
tend to make ink spread out. Bell-Mark has come up with
printers that provide a direct thermal print ribbon with
very good results. That's really what we were looking
for. And the printers are versatile, being Windows based.
They produce very clear, quality print."
Changeover time drops
But the drop in downtime due to changeovers from
one print message, product and package type to another
is dramatic: "It used to take us at least 45 minutes
to make a changeover before on some of our former printing
dies," the company spokesperson says. "That could mean losing
two or three hours a day of machine time. But we're gaing
that time back now. Changes on the EasyPrint are a snap,
less than 5 minutes, a tremendous savings." Switching
codes, lot numbers, product descriptions or other print
layouts is a matter of recalling a new product code in
a memory card resident in EasyPrint's controller and
sending that information to the printer, a 15 second
task that requires no ink cleanup, setup or downtime.
Print formats are recalled using the design software.
Product specific codes can also be printed in real time,
a key advantage the spokesperson says his firm didn't have earlier.
The company can program each printer with specific number of
print images, bar codes and other details, storing and
selecting the data from the EasyPrint memory card or
downloading the data from a nearby PC.
The printhead is conveniently mounted on a traversing
bar that allows the unit to code as many as 30 packs
across a moving web. This, according to the spokesperson, is critical
for medical device applications where packages can be
very narrow, and can be formed in as many as 36 cavities
up. This lowers the costs over other imprinters and eliminates
the need for additional printheads, additional roll changes
and extra printhead changes, he says. "And the coding
equipment helps the company better meets customers' varied needs
for tracking and scanning bar coded product and inventories." Printing
packs with 5 to 10 lines of type at a character resolution
of 300 dots per inch, Bell-Mark's EasyPrint
printers are able to reach speeds up to 300 mm per second,
ample for the company's needs, according to the spokesperson.
The company thermoforms the trays in a Class 100,000 controlled
enviroment. Depending on the product, forming material
is either Rexam Medical Packaging's .0080- inch DuPont
Surlyn® ionomer / polyethylene flexible film or 24-ga
blue tinted rigid polyvinyl chloride from VPI Mirrex.
Lidding, from Perfecseal, is DuPont's 80-ga Tyvek 1073B,
flexo-printed in one or two colors. Both forming web
and lidstock is supplied on rolls a bit more than 15
inches wide. The base web of the packs is formed as the
webstock unwinds from the master roll and drapes over
the forming cavities within each machine. Filling performed
on the machines' loading beds is currently done by hand,
but the spokesperson says that could change on some of the production
lines.
Coding takes place just before the filled packages
are perimeter-heat sealed. As the lidstock unwinds over
rollers and is placed over the open, filled cavities of
the formed packages, the tf/f/s system halts and the thermal
transfer printhead then traverses across the lidstock
to apply the messages and bar code before the lidstock
meets the sealing die. The packs are typically printed
in character sizes 1/8 inch high. Once sealed, the containers
move to the cutting station where the continuous web of
packs is punch-cut and seperated into individual containers
as the machine indexes the packages through a set of roller
blades. Next, the packs exit the thermoformer and a quality
inspection check is made to the components, for such things
as print accuracy, code quality, particulate, seal integrity
and missing components before the packs exit the clean
room and convey to the case-packing department.
There, the finished packs are case-packed by hand in
counts of 10 to 25. The 175# test, C-flute corrugated
shippers are provided by East Texas Container. Tape-sealed
cases are then palletized and the entire six-foot, 42
x 48 inch pallet load is transferred into an 8 pallet
bulk ethylene oxide (EtO) sterilizing chamber. "Code durability
is crucial during sterilizing," the spokesperson says. "Some
inks, depending on compostion, can possibly smear. Our
codes come out clear and legible."
Cost saving ribbon
The company's staff says it also likes the automatic
ribbon advance system, which delivers more than 22,400
print images per ribbon yet minimizes ribbon usage. "These
printers don't have a constant feed of ribbon," the spokesperson
says. "The ribbon saving feature allows them to
only print the width of an image and stop; other systems
can use four inches' worth of ribbon for a four inch
wide image. EasyPrint starts and stops the ribbon between
eack package, so just that one feature saves probably
20 percent or more in ribbon costs."
As
more product developments continue to come to the fore
at the company, the spokesperson says he's ordering additional printers. "There's at least one other thermoforming machine
coming to this plant from another division and we'll put
one or two printers on it. We're very happy with the printers." the company
has recently networked the printers from a single PC
so that when necessary, they can imprint a particular
bar code and description for a given medical kit product
on containers running on mulitple lines. The printer
also accomodates foreign languages, which will come in
handy; the company's just about to begin coding the packs with
multilingual copy in several languages and will also
soon move to radio-frequency scanning.
