Date: September, 2017 | Category: Proofreading | Author: Mike Malz
When flipping through a brochure or any sort of packaging, you probably think that to get a design printed all you have to do is press the print button. The truth is there are plenty of steps in between before that design becomes ink on paper. One or more of these steps most likely involved prepress software.
Prepress and Reprographics are vital elements in any quality control process, and, like the packaging industry itself, they’re constantly changing and redefining the way we do our jobs. Over the years, companies’ demands for production have continued to increase to market their products. So, it’s no surprise the worldwide printing market has become a $5-billion industry. With such high stakes, quality work is critical, which means prepress houses must stay in the loop with current technology.
With the advent of desktop computers decades ago, what we used to call prepress and repro departments are now quickly transforming into completely different things.
The process has changed dramatically, from mechanical board systems, paste-ups, and conventional cameras to all-in-one automated workflows. Now, prepress professionals have to be multi-talented; It’s no longer just about the plate.
Historic Review of Prepress Printing
Traditional prepress methods consisted of several, time-consuming steps and were often prone to errors. The process began with the design of rough sketches that would then go to a typesetter for text inclusion. Typesetting was done on obsolete metal types or type composition machines, such as Linotype. Images were photographed and edited using conventional photographic procedures. Text and images then go to the paste-up person who adds everything on a paste-up board.
After all the text and “For Position Only” boxes for images are placed, the paste-up board is photographed and negatives are created. The “stripper” takes these negatives, checks them, and then brings everything together into flats or sheets. These flats are ”imposed” in the order set to be printed, according to how they’ll be cut, folded, or assembled.
Finally, the imposed pages are turned into plates for manual proofreading and later go in the printing press.
It was a long and highly technical process that involved a lot of manual operation, subsequently creating a larger risk for error. Turnaround times were longer, and, even if humans are taken out of the equation, these types of printers usually dealt with image alignment and coloring issues, so predictability was out of the question too.
Modern Prepress Technology
The packaging industry is completely controlled by customers’ needs – that driving force of change whose expectations will always exceed reality.
If you offer prepress solutions, you’re probably used to being given near-impossible tasks to be done in the smallest amount of time. Clients want their products to stand out from the crowd and it’s your job to deliver as soon as possible.
With that being said, how do we keep doing that in a world where needs and demands are always changing? We change the way we’re doing things.
We evolve in order to surpass our challenges and achieve the ultimate goal: getting the job done faster, better, and in the most cost-effective way, which leads to our main focus: How did prepress evolve into the digital and automated world?
Most importantly, how did this change influence the packaging industry?
With the advent of digital printing, market dynamics promptly shifted away from plates to more conventional printing technologies, such as offset and flexography.
Desktop publishing stopped being a trend and became a reality for businesses. However, it’s surprising to know that, even today, a considerable share of the global prepress packaging market still uses tooling and plate manufacturing.
Desktop Publishing Process
Modern desktop publishing begins at the designing stage, but this time, designers make early digital sketches with which they have complete control over the type, changing it on the fly, arranging it right on the page, adjusting leading, kerning, and tracking without needing a typesetter or a paste-up person. The same goes for images; They can be digitally cropped, scaled, and color-enhanced.
Designers then place everything on the publication and rearrange it as necessary. In the event these files need imposition, this is also done completely within the software used for publication. Regarding proofreading and quality control, even manual proofreading is easier using desktop publishing compared to traditional methods – mainly because it gives you the chance of printing interim copies on regular printers, so lots of errors are caught before the publication reaches the negatives or plating stages.
Another benefit of digital prepress printing is that you can output directly to film, from the digital file, or directly from the digital file to the plate. This shift from analog to digital is making film-based engraving disappear from the market. Even big players like Fuji and Kodak have stopped fabricating film plotters, so it’s only a matter of time before the whole industry makes this switch.
Key Perks of Prepress Software
Quality
Digital printing offers far better results when it comes to quality. Images are basically flawless, there are no alignment or registration issues, and the color turns out to be vibrant, making repeated images 100% predictable. These printers can also use the entire length of a printable item.
Low Cost
While it might seem too expensive to invest in, eventually you’ll end up cutting costs. Conventional printers rely on plates and films, which can be quite pricy. Digital printing doesn’t use these materials and they’re very easy to set up and operate.
Speed
Turnaround times are reduced drastically and digital printers can switch over to new labels almost immediately. You won’t waste time setting up plates or machinery parts, reaching job completion deadlines days or even weeks earlier.
Low Risk
By reducing manual operation, the possibility of human error, possibly leading to a complete product recall, is reduced to a minimum. It also means personnel can be deployed to complete other productive tasks.
Automated Prepress Workflows
Workflow is a fairly generic term used to refer to the steps a job or project must go through in order to be completed. In the prepress business though, a workflow doesn’t refer to the process, but to the software that automates all these steps of the process. Workflows integrate all the decisions and deliverables required from the early design stages all the way through to printing.
Workflow automation is a concept that is probably easier to understand than it is to define. It incorporates a wide set of tools (within each workflow segment) intended to help users boost their efficiency, lower costs, and minimize the impact of human error, resulting in a faster time to market.
Current prepress workflows, like Esko’s Automation Engine, run through all the basic production steps, like trapping, screening, imposition, color management, proofreading, and plate making. Yet Esko’s engine differs from conventional software because it’s tailored for the packaging industry. It features several functions that correspond to the complexity of the end product: folding cartons, corrugated boxes, bags, labels, and more.
These types of automated workflows also reflect the wide array of inks, shapes, substrates, and finishes needed in the industry to increase shelf appeal, proving automation is a valuable asset for businesses.
Color Management Software
Color management is a key step of the printing process, especially when it comes to packaging. Since inks are not completely opaque, the color, texture, and density of the packaging material are going to show underneath the ink being printed, resulting in color variation that can be substantial. That’s why prepress professionals must take all these factors into account to create the best possible outcome for clients.
The best way to control color is to measure it using a Spectro densitometer, but that would mean an extra load of work for prepressers. What we are seeing in today’s market is that clients are transmitting color specifications digitally, by spectral values, so current color management software, like Esko’s Color Engine, can run those values against digital color libraries.
One of the most successful libraries is PantoneLIVE. It’s a centralized cloud-based spectral database that allows brand owners, designers, prepress professionals, and really anyone in the supply chain to meet color specifications and tolerances while also ensuring all files sent to the press room will print with minimal color issues.
All-in-One Quality Controls
New technology is geared towards all-in-one services. For example, GlobalVision and Esko recently joined forces to develop the first, fully automated, all-in-one quality control tool that allows packaging companies to streamline the entire proofreading process and catch every error in the workflow, from missing periods to color changes.
Now, Esko’s Automation Engine Suite 16 comes with GlobalVision’s text, graphic, Braille, barcode, and spelling inspection tools, allowing the user to create custom workflows and program automated inspections at every step of the process.
Conclusion
The role of prepress has drastically changed over the last decade. With the degree of integration that’s been achieved, not just in prepress, but across all departments in the printing business, prepress has become the game-changer for a print service provider to deliver the highest level of satisfaction for their customers, all while also maintaining high profitability.
Top-performing printers are the ones who made the investment toward full integration, and now understand that benefits will come almost immediately. Prepress technology is radically changing the landscape for packaging companies.
Automated workflows are the simpler and most-effective way to protect your work through every step of the process. If companies don’t start crossing over and embracing new technologies, there might come a time when they won’t be able to compete against other fully-automated enterprises.
GlobalVision is the leading developer of proofreading technologies for retail and pharmaceutical packaged goods
Learn how GlobalVision has helped print and packaging companies in quality control.
Learn More about Types of Prepress Proofs
Out Now: Artwork Creation Guide Standardization for Digital Files
To catch errors, you first need to see them.
Before using GlobalVision to check for mistakes on your files, make sure they’re created the same way. Our Artwork Creation Guide contains insights and easy-to-follow steps to improving the efficiency of your proofreading process.
The second edition of what was known as the standard practice, the guide has been updated and revamped with new best practices to guarantee consistency throughout the file-creation process, right up to the point your product goes to market.
The Gold Standard Practice
The new Artwork Creation Guide has expanded on what made its predecessor so effective. The industry’s best practices have been compiled, based on the first-hand experiences of those who make their livings within it: graphic designers, marketers, packaging specialists, and printers, among others.
Consisting of 11 sections, the guide covers a wide range of topics, including:
A New Resource
The Artwork Creation Guide is available for purchase now in hardcover or as a digital download PDF. It is also included with every GlobalVision support plan. Contact Support for more details.
For quality control to work, the way the product is made should stay the same every time. It’s a generally accepted practice that extends to the above areas and packaging in general. In essence, automation has come to enter into the equation from the get-go.
Proofreading solutions like GlobalVision are quickly becoming the new standard themselves. They are essential to protecting brand integrity, improving time-to-market, and saving company resources. The Artwork Creation Guide is an additional resource at your disposal to help you get the most out of your quality control, and your GlobalVision system. Get your copy today.
Tweet: “For #quality control to work, the way the product is made should stay the same every time #GVBlog”
Preview a Few Chapters for Free
The second edition of what was known as the StandardPractice, the guide has been updated and revamped with new best practices to guarantee consistency throughout the file-creation process, right up to the point your product goes to market.
Learn More about Sustainable Packaging
What to Do When You Find Spelling Errors in Your Print Job
Date: October, 2017 | Category: Proofreading | Author: Reuben Malz
Errors in packaging components arise all the time and are part of the game. They are unavoidable, but, what is a surprise to most people, is that spelling mistakes are the most common.
The largest investment in error avoidance includes expensive inline web inspection systems, cameras, scanners, and most of all, countless hours of manual proofreading time to painstakingly inspect the job. Almost no investment dollars are ever invested to ensure the text copy is free of spelling mistakes. As well, there is hardly any manual proofreading time spent on spellchecking.
Spelling Mistakes in Print Jobs
If this wasn’t bad enough, just ask whose responsibility it is.
The customer may be contracting out the development of the copy, and assume spellchecking is done at that time. Internally, no one will be raising their hand.
Why? Because there are so many companies and their professionals in the downstream supply chain, that surely spellchecking must be done by someone.
The truth is, spellchecking is an orphan in most organizations. This actually should not be surprising at all for the obvious reasons.
This is why spelling mistakes plague so many printed packaging materials.
Misconception #1 – Spelling errors, is part one in a five-part series about the misconceptions in packaging quality control. Visit our blog next week for Misconception #2 – The Printer’s Proof.
Learn More about the Importance of Spellchecking in Technical Writing
What does GlobalVision do?
GlobalVision’s mission is to build software that standardizes quality approvals for product packaging and critical content. Our goal is to eliminate errors and automate inspections so companies can release products with confidence. Helping Businesses Bring Confidence to Quality Control. Learn more about GlobalVision.
What is GlobalVision Quality Control?
Automate Quality Inspections for Fast and Consistent Results. Speed up the proofreading process while improving the accuracy of your work by running digital checks with GlobalVision’s automated quality control tools. Learn more about Automated Quality Control.
File Comparison Software Continues to Be the Gold Standard for Packaging Inspection
Date: September, 2017 | Category: Quality | Author: Marvin Magasura
Business owners and manufacturers know that flawed packages carry a negative message for their brands. An imperfect package is an imperfect business, especially living in a world with customers that have lofty expectations. A simple crooked label can transform people’s views of your brand and possibly change their purchasing decision forever.
Companies around the world place great value on packaging inspection. These quality control regimes must be set in motion in order to spot and reject printing errors, wrinkled labels, or crooked caps before they see the light of day.
Given the fast-paced packaging and manufacturing environment we live in, file comparison software is the ultimate tool that will quickly pay for itself by decreasing your business’ labor costs while also reducing liability due to complete recalls. More importantly, they are unflagging, communicative solutions that can adapt immediately to changing inspection parameters.
What makes file comparison software so effective is the technology and algorithms that allow them to “see” products and inspect them for flaws – all done at high-speed, with near-perfect accuracy. The brain of this solution is the analytic software in charge of processing what the software captures, and comparing it to the stored “ideal” file.
Today’s file comparison technology and other automated systems are so advanced that these solutions can quickly and accurately tally every item, contrast them with ideal images, point to printing errors, and verify barcodes in a matter of seconds.
However, one of the biggest benefits provided by these systems is user isolation. Users don’t need to understand its complex algorithms in order to use them. Through their HMI (human-machine interface), users just have to choose their inspection target, set the parameters, and press “Go”.
File Comparison Software for Complete Packaging Inspection
Besides letting you inspect packaging and products more easily, modern file comparison software can also proof and verify barcodes, alphanumeric codes, and data matrix images.
If you need it, these systems will also check the quality of incoming materials and ensure all steps and processes are done correctly. They can even take care of the quality of your pallet loads before shipping them to a customer. Therefore, because of this complete integration, your whole packaging line will be optimized.
In addition to the increase in inspection accuracy, which will boost your presence in the market, file comparison software can communicate with your business’s computer system and update your production, inventory, and maintenance records. It also provides reports on the total flaws detected. So, if these are higher than your threshold, it will shut down your entire production line until you make the necessary adjustments.
Of course, this level of efficiency in packaging automation varies depending on your needs and the amount of money you wish to invest. The market is filled with different systems that offer a wide arrange of features, from the described above to mere label inspections or barcode reading from the run sheet of the day. The best part is that the majority of them are quite adaptive; You can accommodate them to new products that require different parameters and adjustments.
Key Advantages
User-Friendly
Most, once installed, are very easy to use and require minimal maintenance.
Tech Support
Reputable file comparison software providers usually offer training programs for operators and ensure technical support in case anything goes wrong.
Market Diversity
The current file comparison software market provides a wide range of alternatives, meaning you can choose whichever best fits your needs.
Adaptability
Less-sophisticated solutions do not offer the ability to automate inspection changeovers, but modern high-tech systems can. So, if you run a diverse packaging line with a large variety of products, you can rest assured that you won’t be losing time doing manual changes every time a new product comes along.
The Cost of File Comparison Software
Like any new technology, especially when it comes to file comparison software, a certain initial investment is required. The actual amount depends on many elements, the main one being system complexity. File comparison technology ranges from a simple cloud-based application to physical scanners that use lights, cameras, lenses, and many other parts like servo motors and conveyors that allow for system adjustment to different targets, shapes, and sizes.
However, keep in mind that with any new investment, the words “cost” and “value” don’t mean the same thing. Focusing only on the financial expense of these systems will skew your assessment. Any prospective buyer of a file comparison software needs to weigh in a variety of factors:
● What are the system’s benefits/ features?
● Will I have to rearrange my entire production line?
● Does the software allow for simple in-house modifications in case any new product has to be checked?
● Do I get technical support from the manufacturer?
Add everything up and you’ll get the rough amount you need to spend. Now it’s time to include the prospective savings into the equation:
● Will I have to reduce the number of inspectors and operators?
● If so, will I reassign them to other areas?
● How much will automated packaging inspection boost my productivity?
And, most importantly, but often ignored:
● What will be my company’s financial value be if I get rid of customer complaints and complete recalls due to packaging mislabeling?
One word of advice before you make any decision: Erase any preconceived ideas from your mind. High technology is no longer a luxury that only big companies can obtain. File comparison software has evolved and the market is full of different choices, making packaging automation a gold standard and sophisticated practice available for small and medium companies alike.
Return on Investment for File Comparison Software
Due to the market’s wide diversification, prospective buyers now have a lot to evaluate. Every company considering crossing over to file comparison software should contemplate the implementation costs and possible completeness of their power supply along with its capability to adapt to new products and materials.
In addition, these systems typically provide quick ROIs, mostly because you’ll cut down on staff for manual inspection, not to mention all the savings related to fewer product recalls and fines from delivering flawed products.
Cutting down on staff is a tangible action. Therefore, you’ll get immediate results on your ROI. Decreasing fines and complete recalls are a lot harder to estimate accurately because the incidence of these events usually varies depending on the company, though. As a result, they usually are not considered at all when calculating the ROI for file comparison software. In spite of this, always keep in mind that, in the long run, these intangible forces can positively enhance your brand’s reputation and boost your profits.
The Future of File Comparison Software
In the future, file comparison software will probably advance in several areas. Current trends are drifting towards cost-efficient solutions suitable for all types of companies, but especially for packaging inspection. Advances will include, among others, a boost in system flexibility, an increase in smart technology, and greater software and hardware alternatives.
Just a few years ago we saw how smart cameras began to challenge PC-based vision systems by getting rid of the need for a separate processor. Although they’ve been available for over 20 years, they only just recently became small and affordable enough to justify an investment.
The quality of image sensors is getting better every year too. So, camera manufacturers are spending less time dealing with these types of defects and more on image processing. With the rise of complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors (CMOS), image sensors are also getting smaller, leaving room for developing further processing features, like color-processing, digital zoom, image enhancement, rotation, and much more.
With such high levels of integration and processing capacity, this all-in-one technology was once an emerging trend but now has started to dominate in the market. We are likely to witness more evolution of smart technology in the years to come.
When it comes to the packaging industry, advances in user-friendliness are likely to simplify the setup and usage of these systems even more. Ease of use will no longer imply a point-and-click graphical user interface, but a comprehensive approach with access to all features.
Less training will be needed and people with very different skill sets will be working with these machines, eliminating the need for time-consuming and pricey training programs.
Although prospective users might want to wait for what the future holds, the current file comparison technology developments mentioned throughout this article imply that the future is now. It’s an exciting time, and one for manufacturers and packaging companies to jump on board with packaging inspection automation.
File Comparision Software for Packaging
GlobalVision also has a wide range of packaging scanners available to suit different packaging line needs. They include non-contact scanners for wet-ink press sheets to cylindrical scanners for cans, jars, bottles, and any other type of cylindrical container.
Above all else, GlobalVision offers its Print Inspection tool, which allows for file comparison of printed packaging vs. approved digital artwork. This tool is the perfect solution to avoid reprints and reworks of any kind, due to printing errors like blemishes, smudges, and unwanted marks in general.
Learn More about Quality Management System
Get our guide to learn more about how to stay FDA-compliant with regulatory labeling obligations
Learn how some of the world’s top pharma companies have cracked the efficiency code with automation
The Ultimate Layman’s Guide to Barcode Types and Printing
Date: September, 2017 | Category: Quality | Author: Marvin Magasura
The use of barcodes dates back to the early 1960s, initially deployed within the automotive and railroad industry. In the early 1970’s they were implemented within the retail industry, mainly in grocery stores.
The 1980s marked the period of barcode rules and regulations establishment and they officially became a necessity in all industries. Since then, barcodes have become much more advanced.
What Is a Barcode?
A barcode is an optical, machine-readable, and graphically presented image of a set of product-related data.
The standards, types, and symbologies of barcodes are defined by the International Standards Organization (ISO).
Major industries have a defined set of standards for barcodes. For uncommon industries, which still don’t have defined standards, there are different symbologies to choose from. The choice will depend on the barcode’s purpose and the amount of data that it should contain.
A barcode may contain small to large amounts of data, mapped by basic computer programming languages such as COBOL, QBasic, and Fortran.
The size of the data a barcode can contain depends on the type and the symbology of a barcode. More about that will be mentioned further in this guide.
Generating Barcodes
There are a number of ways to generate barcodes. The way a barcode is produced and printed will largely depend on the available resources of a company and the purpose of the barcodes.
A company may choose to encode and generate its own barcodes, but this requires advanced programming knowledge, advanced software, and an in-house developer.
There is a great online technical in-depth barcode guide with all of the advanced technical information for businesses that choose to create their own barcodes.
Barcode applications vary accordingly to different variables, such as:
● Industry specifics
● Amount of data being encoded
● Purpose of the barcode
● Printing methods
Other ways of generating and printing barcodes are:
• Specialized licensed software for creating and printing barcodes (comprehensive solution for companies that require high-quality barcodes, barcodes with large amounts of data, and industries with strict rules and regulations)
• Free barcode generators (a good option only if the required barcodes have basic requirements)
• All-in-one software for creating and verifying barcodes and labels (best solution for companies looking to automate packaging quality control process, increase time efficiency, reduce errors and risk)
Verifying Barcodes
The verification or inspection of barcodes is carried out through specialized barcode inspection software. This type of software either comes in the form of device-specific barcode verifiers or online barcode verifiers. It’s important to remember that a barcode verifier must comply with the ISO/IEC 15426-1 packaging quality control standards.
Barcode Printing
The way a barcode is printed will depend on the way a barcode is generated and also on the purpose of the barcode.
Some businesses will require barcodes to be internet-compatible.
So, as well as being able to print error-free barcodes, which are physically readable by scanners, barcodes should also be server-compliant, web-page and web-application compatible, compatible with mobile devices, and of high-quality resolution.
Some of the most common barcode printing methods in a trading process are:
• Printing labels with barcodes
• Printing the barcode with the label artwork directly onto the packaging
• Printing directly onto packaging during the packaging process
Barcode Industry Standards
Below are the established barcode standards for the most-common large industries. These standards define the way barcode readers and barcode verifiers scan, read, and test a barcode and are crucial in the process of generating barcodes.
healthcare products, etc.
ISBT 128
goods worldwide
GTIN and GS1
EAN-14
sensitive data
LOGMARS
MIL-STD-130
USPS
ISSN
Bookland
Barcode Types and Symbologies
It’s important to note that a barcode standard doesn’t necessarily have to match the barcode symbology and type when choosing the best barcode for a product.
However, if there is an established standard for a barcode type and symbology a certain business belongs to, then only that barcode can be used. A choice isn’t available.
The main types of barcodes are 1D (1-dimensional) or Linear Barcodes and 2D (2-dimensional) barcodes, which can contain much more data than the former. Both have subtypes.
Additional types such as the QR Code and PDS417, are the newest and most advanced types and look different to the general form of barcodes. They’re also known as data matrixes.
The table below covers the most common industry-specific barcode types and symbologies:
& Healthcare
USD-4
NW-7
2 of 7 Code
UPC-eEAN-13
EAN-8CODE 39GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional, Truncated, Stacked, Stacked-Omnidirectional, Expanded, Expanded Stacked, Coupon Code, Limited
UCC12ISBN
ISSN
Bookland
JANHIBC LIC
LOGMARS
MIL-STD-1189B
MIL-STD-129
MIL-STD-2073-1C
MIL-STD-129NMSI Code
Pulse Width Modulated Barcode
USPS
ISBT 128
USS Code 128
ISS Code 128HIBC LIC
LOGMARS
MIL-STD-1189B
MIL-STD-129
MIL-STD-2073-1C
MIL-STD-129NRationalized Codabar
USD-4
NW-7
2 of 7 Code
LOGMARS
MIL-STD-1189B
MIL-STD-129
MIL-STD-2073-1C
MIL-STD-129N
LOGMARS
MIL-STD-1189B
MIL-STD-129
MIL-STD-2073-1C
MIL-STD-129N
4CB or 4-CB
OneCode Solution Barcode
USPS4CBZip
Zip + 4
DPBCUSPS CONFIRM
ISSN
Bookland
EAN-14
SCC-14
GTIN
DUN14
USPS
How to Choose the Best Barcode?
Some of the most common concerns many businesses face are the space available for a barcode on a product label and the accuracy of a barcode so that the risks of time and money loss are minimized.
The most efficient barcodes, in terms of area coverage and error reduction, are:
– DataMatrix
– UPC
– Code 128
– Code 39
– PDF417
As mentioned at the beginning, the best barcode is the one defined within the industry, which has established a set of standards for creating and reading barcode types and symbologies.
However, if a company doesn’t belong to one of these industries then the barcode can be chosen depending on the purpose, the amount of data to be encoded, and the printing method being used.
GlobalVision is the leading developer of proofreading technologies for retail and consumer packaged goods. Learn how GlobalVision has helped Consumer Goods companies of all sizes in quality control.
Request a free trial for GlobalVision Digital Inspection Solution
Learn More about How to Manage Barcodes in Packaging Quality Control
Get our guide to learn more about how to stay FDA-compliant with regulatory labeling obligations
Learn how some of the world’s top pharma companies have cracked the efficiency code with automation
How Modern Prepress Software Is Changing the Packaging Industry
Date: September, 2017 | Category: Proofreading | Author: Mike Malz
When flipping through a brochure or any sort of packaging, you probably think that to get a design printed all you have to do is press the print button. The truth is there are plenty of steps in between before that design becomes ink on paper. One or more of these steps most likely involved prepress software.
Prepress and Reprographics are vital elements in any quality control process, and, like the packaging industry itself, they’re constantly changing and redefining the way we do our jobs. Over the years, companies’ demands for production have continued to increase to market their products. So, it’s no surprise the worldwide printing market has become a $5-billion industry. With such high stakes, quality work is critical, which means prepress houses must stay in the loop with current technology.
With the advent of desktop computers decades ago, what we used to call prepress and repro departments are now quickly transforming into completely different things.
The process has changed dramatically, from mechanical board systems, paste-ups, and conventional cameras to all-in-one automated workflows. Now, prepress professionals have to be multi-talented; It’s no longer just about the plate.
Historic Review of Prepress Printing
Traditional prepress methods consisted of several, time-consuming steps and were often prone to errors. The process began with the design of rough sketches that would then go to a typesetter for text inclusion. Typesetting was done on obsolete metal types or type composition machines, such as Linotype. Images were photographed and edited using conventional photographic procedures. Text and images then go to the paste-up person who adds everything on a paste-up board.
After all the text and “For Position Only” boxes for images are placed, the paste-up board is photographed and negatives are created. The “stripper” takes these negatives, checks them, and then brings everything together into flats or sheets. These flats are ”imposed” in the order set to be printed, according to how they’ll be cut, folded, or assembled.
Finally, the imposed pages are turned into plates for manual proofreading and later go in the printing press.
It was a long and highly technical process that involved a lot of manual operation, subsequently creating a larger risk for error. Turnaround times were longer, and, even if humans are taken out of the equation, these types of printers usually dealt with image alignment and coloring issues, so predictability was out of the question too.
Modern Prepress Technology
The packaging industry is completely controlled by customers’ needs – that driving force of change whose expectations will always exceed reality.
If you offer prepress solutions, you’re probably used to being given near-impossible tasks to be done in the smallest amount of time. Clients want their products to stand out from the crowd and it’s your job to deliver as soon as possible.
With that being said, how do we keep doing that in a world where needs and demands are always changing? We change the way we’re doing things.
We evolve in order to surpass our challenges and achieve the ultimate goal: getting the job done faster, better, and in the most cost-effective way, which leads to our main focus: How did prepress evolve into the digital and automated world?
Most importantly, how did this change influence the packaging industry?
With the advent of digital printing, market dynamics promptly shifted away from plates to more conventional printing technologies, such as offset and flexography.
Desktop publishing stopped being a trend and became a reality for businesses. However, it’s surprising to know that, even today, a considerable share of the global prepress packaging market still uses tooling and plate manufacturing.
Desktop Publishing Process
Modern desktop publishing begins at the designing stage, but this time, designers make early digital sketches with which they have complete control over the type, changing it on the fly, arranging it right on the page, adjusting leading, kerning, and tracking without needing a typesetter or a paste-up person. The same goes for images; They can be digitally cropped, scaled, and color-enhanced.
Designers then place everything on the publication and rearrange it as necessary. In the event these files need imposition, this is also done completely within the software used for publication. Regarding proofreading and quality control, even manual proofreading is easier using desktop publishing compared to traditional methods – mainly because it gives you the chance of printing interim copies on regular printers, so lots of errors are caught before the publication reaches the negatives or plating stages.
Another benefit of digital prepress printing is that you can output directly to film, from the digital file, or directly from the digital file to the plate. This shift from analog to digital is making film-based engraving disappear from the market. Even big players like Fuji and Kodak have stopped fabricating film plotters, so it’s only a matter of time before the whole industry makes this switch.
Key Perks of Prepress Software
Quality
Digital printing offers far better results when it comes to quality. Images are basically flawless, there are no alignment or registration issues, and the color turns out to be vibrant, making repeated images 100% predictable. These printers can also use the entire length of a printable item.
Low Cost
While it might seem too expensive to invest in, eventually you’ll end up cutting costs. Conventional printers rely on plates and films, which can be quite pricy. Digital printing doesn’t use these materials and they’re very easy to set up and operate.
Speed
Turnaround times are reduced drastically and digital printers can switch over to new labels almost immediately. You won’t waste time setting up plates or machinery parts, reaching job completion deadlines days or even weeks earlier.
Low Risk
By reducing manual operation, the possibility of human error, possibly leading to a complete product recall, is reduced to a minimum. It also means personnel can be deployed to complete other productive tasks.
Automated Prepress Workflows
Workflow is a fairly generic term used to refer to the steps a job or project must go through in order to be completed. In the prepress business though, a workflow doesn’t refer to the process, but to the software that automates all these steps of the process. Workflows integrate all the decisions and deliverables required from the early design stages all the way through to printing.
Workflow automation is a concept that is probably easier to understand than it is to define. It incorporates a wide set of tools (within each workflow segment) intended to help users boost their efficiency, lower costs, and minimize the impact of human error, resulting in a faster time to market.
Current prepress workflows, like Esko’s Automation Engine, run through all the basic production steps, like trapping, screening, imposition, color management, proofreading, and plate making. Yet Esko’s engine differs from conventional software because it’s tailored for the packaging industry. It features several functions that correspond to the complexity of the end product: folding cartons, corrugated boxes, bags, labels, and more.
These types of automated workflows also reflect the wide array of inks, shapes, substrates, and finishes needed in the industry to increase shelf appeal, proving automation is a valuable asset for businesses.
Color Management Software
Color management is a key step of the printing process, especially when it comes to packaging. Since inks are not completely opaque, the color, texture, and density of the packaging material are going to show underneath the ink being printed, resulting in color variation that can be substantial. That’s why prepress professionals must take all these factors into account to create the best possible outcome for clients.
The best way to control color is to measure it using a Spectro densitometer, but that would mean an extra load of work for prepressers. What we are seeing in today’s market is that clients are transmitting color specifications digitally, by spectral values, so current color management software, like Esko’s Color Engine, can run those values against digital color libraries.
One of the most successful libraries is PantoneLIVE. It’s a centralized cloud-based spectral database that allows brand owners, designers, prepress professionals, and really anyone in the supply chain to meet color specifications and tolerances while also ensuring all files sent to the press room will print with minimal color issues.
All-in-One Quality Controls
New technology is geared towards all-in-one services. For example, GlobalVision and Esko recently joined forces to develop the first, fully automated, all-in-one quality control tool that allows packaging companies to streamline the entire proofreading process and catch every error in the workflow, from missing periods to color changes.
Now, Esko’s Automation Engine Suite 16 comes with GlobalVision’s text, graphic, Braille, barcode, and spelling inspection tools, allowing the user to create custom workflows and program automated inspections at every step of the process.
Conclusion
The role of prepress has drastically changed over the last decade. With the degree of integration that’s been achieved, not just in prepress, but across all departments in the printing business, prepress has become the game-changer for a print service provider to deliver the highest level of satisfaction for their customers, all while also maintaining high profitability.
Top-performing printers are the ones who made the investment toward full integration, and now understand that benefits will come almost immediately. Prepress technology is radically changing the landscape for packaging companies.
Automated workflows are the simpler and most-effective way to protect your work through every step of the process. If companies don’t start crossing over and embracing new technologies, there might come a time when they won’t be able to compete against other fully-automated enterprises.
GlobalVision is the leading developer of proofreading technologies for retail and pharmaceutical packaged goods
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How Automated Proofreading Is Replacing Obsolete Difference Checker Tools
Date: September, 2017 | Category: Proofreading | Author: Mike Malz
Packaging serves as the face that products show to the world. That’s why colorful and well-thought-out designs are meant to grab customers’ attention. Packaging is also supposed to convey a message that is associated with each brand. Therefore, packaging mistakes are expensive – not only financially, but they can also do incredible harm to your brand’s reputation.
According to official Food and Drug Administration numbers, the majority of product recalls are caused by labeling errors. How can companies accurately keep track of the quality of millions of products being packaged every day? It’s definitely a challenge, but that’s why proofreading is crucial in order to release products into the market with complete confidence.
Over the last 20 years, companies have come to realize that human inspection is inherently prone to error. There’s no arguing that, as safety regulations are continuously increasing, automated inspection has become the gold standard for the industry.
Early on, ”diff checker” and ”text compare” tools were the ultimate proofreading solution in the market, allowing for the comparison of characters between two documents and spotting changes in the text before they reach the printer to ensure data integrity.
With the advent of sophisticated machine vision systems and automated proofreading software, technology is progressively becoming more powerful, efficient, and easier to set up and use.
Vision systems with ”smart camera” formats don’t even require PC-based processing anymore, and modern text inspection tools can even generate progress reports, outlining all errors corrected for faster approval times. Meanwhile, plain old document comparison software continues to fall behind when it comes to innovation.
Challenges of Text Comparison Tools
Text comparison tools have actually been very useful when it comes to boosting accuracy and decreasing proofreading time. However, these solutions are facing a number of limitations that turn them more into proofing aids, rather than stand-alone proofreading tools. But, to understand these limitations, it’s vital to know how the tools work.
At its heart, the comparison tool compares lines or blocks of text within two documents. This already raises the first limitation; most engines require that someone, i.e., the user, highlight the block of text they wish to compare in both the original document and the finished work that’s being proofed. In other words, it’s a long and tiring process; Just imagine the effort it would take to do this for a 30-page document! You may not be physically tired, but, mentally, your eyes see the same thing, like tricky riddles, leading to careless mistakes that you otherwise wouldn’t miss.
Proofing Reports
There is also the issue of proofing reports. Most diff checkers won’t generate reports, detailing which parts of the document have been run through the engine and, most important, which areas have not, possibly resulting in failing to proof complete blocks of text.
Font Compatibility
Another limitation is font compatibility. When these tools compare text files, they do so by recognizing font character codes in each of the documents. However, what happens when the fonts in source documents are not the same as the fonts used in the artwork? The system ‘thinks’ there is an error between the two documents, but in reality, it’s just a false positive, resulting in the worst thing that could happen to a proofreader: having text masked with font incompatibilities that allow real errors to get through the process undetected.
Grammar and Spell Check Tools
This is also the shortcomings of tools such as Grammarly, which is the go-to tool for most freelance writers working remote writing jobs. They are fine for simpler proofreading tasks, but if you work in the packaging, legal, or publishing industry and need to proofread print or artwork copy, you would require something much more sophisticated.
Font Irregularity
Over the last decade, a lot of work has been done to address this font irregularity issue, resulting in the development of Unicode fonts to achieve a universal standard. Plenty of document comparison software has already incorporated Unicode, allowing them to use different typefaces in source and artwork documents without having to deal with characters being confused or not recognized. In addition, Unicode fonts were also created to provide better coverage for characters in different languages, which led to a significant improvement in artwork operations.
Within blocks of text, these tools have to figure out the way to ”read” sentences and phrases. They usually apply a very straightforward approach: They assume a linear layout and then compare text in that sequence. Here, we encounter a different problem related to the way applications create such layouts, particularly when it comes to tables.
For example, there could be incompatibilities between the way Microsoft® Word® builds text, compared to the way an artwork application does it. This often leaves users with two choices: breaking all the text down for an individual, cell-level comparison, or simply manually proofreading all the tables.
Finally, a key shortcoming of these text comparison tools is their inability to ”read” text solely in graphical form, with no associated fonts. As an example, this could happen with illustrations. In this scenario, manual proofreading must be performed.
Automated Proofreading, an End-to-End Inspection
Compared to traditional difference checkers, automated proofreading solutions stand out as being vital components in today’s packaging workflows. These systems not only provide far better artwork and proofing services but a complete, end-to-end inspection of the entire packaging process.
While there might be a perception of difficulty behind them, the truth is these programs are quite easy to adapt to current practices.
Ease of use is a pressing concern in our market, therefore all major automated systems are specifically developed so that regular designers, proofreaders, operators, and prepress professionals can use them without major difficulties.
Modern Automated Proofreading Software
Automated proofreading software speeds up revision cycles using advanced text and artwork verification technology. Current systems can simultaneously compare documents at rates as high as 1000 characters per second, while also ensuring the integrity of all the work, centralizing inspections, and spotting errors early in the process.
In addition, these systems can also inspect printed products by comparing them with approved artwork files, ensuring the final packaging is a complete replica of the verified digital work.
GlobalVision’s text inspection tool, for instance, is a flexible solution that can operate on any computer system or platform. At the core of this adaptability is the use of Unicode, which is common to all computer systems.
When it compares two documents, the software reads the Unicode of every character at the same time. If the characters share the same Unicode value, the system ”reads” this as if no change was made. On the contrary, when two Unicode characters are different, the system creates a third document outlining the differences found, which will then become the report that the user receives.
GlobalVision also integrates text inspection with the rest of the workflow, allowing users to share or print reports for approval.
Graphics and Artwork
Automated graphic inspection software can compare two artwork files pixel by pixel, using image-overlaying techniques that superimpose your files in order to spot even the slightest difference between them. These systems can detect things like broken texts, barcode errors, Braille errors (for pharmaceutical packaging), color deviations, and much more.
Modern software can even create detailed reports that include the number of differences found, and their locations, and even take snapshots of them. In addition, contrary to popular belief, these systems don’t make any changes to your files; they just make you aware of all differences, so ultimately, responsibility for all modifications to your work lies with you.
Compare PDF files
One of the main advantages modern automated proofreading services provide is that they can also compare PDF files. Here are some of the best-in-class, right now:
● GlobalVision – Text Inspection Tool
● Adobe Acrobat – Compare Files Tool
● Draftable Online Compare
Compare Documents
When it comes to document comparison, these are some of the top services available:
● GlobalVision – Text Inspection Tool
● DocsCorp – compareDocs
● Microsoft Word – Compare documents Tool
Conclusion
While they might be useful for a quick and easy proofreading task, ”diff checkers” are definitely not tools made for the packaging industry. They lack the innovation and smart tech that automated proofreading technologies own, and they are full of limitations that could jeopardize package quality.
If you own a packaging line with complex, changing needs, you’ll want to use a system that can adapt to them, but also provide an integral boost to your entire workflow. Using process automation technology is not only the gold standard in today’s market, but the only alternative to complying with current demands placed by the customer.
GlobalVision is the leading developer of proofreading technologies for retail and consumer packaged goods. See how GlobalVision helped this company cut down on its Artwork Revision Cycles to improve the quality control process.
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Are Spelling Errors Lethal? When It Comes to Medical Packaging, You Bet
Date: September, 2017 | Category: Proofreading | Author: Marvin Magasura
What’s at stake with a product misspelling?
For any other type of business, it would mean a complete recall – costly, but maybe otherwise harmless. When it comes to the pharmaceutical industry, a whole other set of issues could present themselves.
Setting aside the financial costs of a recall and time lost fixing the issues, we have to keep in mind the obvious: Patients rely on their prescriptions to help them maintain their health. Errors in pharma labeling can be devastating because they lead to drug misuse and the appearance of potentially lethal consequences.
So, what might be an unfortunate and mild inconvenience for almost any other type of company, becomes a major, life-threatening issue for pharmaceuticals. The risk placed on people’s lives, the money and time you have to consume, and the damage to your company’s image and reputation make pharma labeling a process that must be undertaken with extra care and meticulous attention to detail. Sadly, however, misspellings in the pharma industry continue to happen time and again.
Why does a process that’s supposed to be highly technical and scrupulous keep encountering problems with labeling issues? It’s hard to pinpoint a single reason, mainly because medical packaging methods and techniques are different for every company.
Let’s stop to analyze some common causes of medical and pharmaceutical spelling errors and what we can do to eradicate them.
Medical Terms Are Difficult to Understand
For the average person, medical terminology can be like an alien language. Most medical terms have their roots in Latin or Greek, which can make them hard to decipher. We also have to keep in mind that medical terms can often sound alike but have different meanings.
Differentiating between the two is simple for a doctor, but almost everybody else cannot, making them difficult to understand. Pharma terms are completely different, as they often don’t relate to anything even an experienced doctor has ever heard of. Names of drugs are harder to get right because most of the time they might not even make any sense to the casual observer.
The truth is there is a lot of time and money spent on the branding process of a drug. The name has to be appealing while also remaining original and not too similar to the names of other drugs.
Take “Lamictal” and “Lamisil”. The former is an anticonvulsant used to treat seizures in adults and children and also helps delay mood episodes in adults with bipolar disorder, while the latter is used to treat fungal infections. Just think of the consequences of what would happen if someone were to confuse the two drugs.
One of the main reasons why the Food and Drug Administration rejects drug names is because of name similarity. The aim is to prevent doctors and pharmacists from confusing the names and administering the wrong drugs.
In spite of these efforts, generic drug names can also be quite similar to each other. It’s easy to mix up names like “tramadol”, “trazodone”, and “toradol”, “acetohexamide” and “acetazolamide”, or even “cycloserine” and “cyclosporine”. This is especially true if companies use manual quality control methods. But the main reason spelling mistakes in the pharma industry are so common is due to the fact that regular people don’t use these words on a daily basis.
Manual vs. Automated Spell Checks
Many growing businesses today face an important question: Should you hire more people or should you automate your packing operation? While current studies lean towards automated technology, both this and manual methods have their own disadvantages.
When it comes to reducing costs, manual processing might seem cheaper than investing in automated technology. Of course, you have to remember humans are prone to making mistakes. So, adding extra workers to your process also means increasing the likelihood of errors.
Statistics show that over 80% of process deviations in the pharmaceutical business are caused by human error, so investing in automation is actually a great way to reduce the cost of recalls and fines due to labeling mistakes. In a manual process, labels usually go through several sets of eyes before being approved. It’s reassuring to know that 6, 8, or even 10 people proofread something before sending it to printing, right? Not quite.
Think of it this way: The first person may quickly look it over, knowing there are many people left in the process to catch any mistakes, then the second person will think,
When the product reaches the last person, they may not feel comfortable contradicting all the previous proofreaders, so, if they spot a mistake, instead of flagging it they could be more inclined to think,
Cynical? Perhaps, but that’s how simple spelling errors can go unnoticed or even ignored all the way to drugstore counters. It’s up to manufacturers to develop systems that can detect these types of errors and make sure your product is up to standard.
Simple actions, like providing clear instructions, maintaining good communications, and ensuring your employees have all the qualifications needed for the job, can definitely save you from a lot of trouble.
However, don’t let yourself fall into a false sense of security if your company uses automated technologies like medical spell checkers; Most medical dictionaries have their own challenges to overcome. In the end, it’s fair to say the main reason packaging and quality control methods seem to fail is not a matter of the type of process you implement but rather how you set it into motion.
The Medical Spell-Checker and Pharma Dictionary
Big companies with high proofreading demands can benefit from using automated spell-check tools. These programs are able to catch errors so quickly that proofreading a text might end up being unnecessary; why do it yourself if a machine can do it for you?
The truth of the matter is that getting the right spelling tool for your company can be a difficult task, especially if you’re in the pharmaceutical business. In the current market, there are plenty of options for word-processor programs that include pharma and medical dictionaries, like Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, yet many of these automated tools are far from perfect. Most of them still need to overcome many challenges in order to truly save time for companies.
In a world where medical technology is always moving forward, new treatment alternatives are being developed every single day. That’s why it is so disheartening to learn that new drugs and medical terms represent a big problem for these programs. While spell-check tools will automatically correct any mistyped letters for common words, new medical words and pharma terms can easily be overlooked if they’re not incorporated into the medical dictionary of the program.
Imagine you are tasked with dealing with a brand-new drug that is just about to go to market. These types of programs will not guarantee you proper spelling because they simply won’t know the drug’s correct name. This is the reason why customized pharma dictionaries are so important when it comes to medical packaging.
The GlobalVision Spelling Inspection Tool
With over half a million technical terms, drug names, ingredients, and medical terminology included, GlobalVision’s unique spelling inspection software is proven to be the best of its kind on the market right now.
The best thing about GV’s spelling tool vs other alternatives is that it was created thinking of the medical packaging industry, integrating thousands of highly technical and commonly used terms so that you can make sure your ingredient lists, components, excipients, dosages, or any other info is 100% accurate and correctly spelled.
Its customized pharma dictionary allows you to build your own library and includes unique terms for your organization, like your brand name or newly developed products. This is an incredibly valuable feature, created to accommodate the latest pharma and medical terms and prevent misspellings related to new medical treatments. If your company provides packaging for other countries, the GlobalVision spelling inspection tool can also check the spelling of foreign language words, including:
Catalan
Croatian
Czech
French
German
Greek
Latvian
Lithuanian
Polish
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
If you value true flexibility, the Spelling Inspection tool is perfect for you. It allows you to perform complete spell-checks of your text in many formats, including Adobe® Illustrator®, PDFs, Microsoft® Word®, and web sites. The Spelling Inspection Report is also a unique feature included in this program. It generates a report every time you finish doing an inspection of your work, helping you track your progress and send the final product up for approval.
Conclusion
Millions of people rely on pharmaceutical companies to receive the right treatment. With all the methods and technology available today, there is no excuse for misspellings in the 21st-century medical packaging industry. Although labeling errors will most likely keep appearing in the near future, these companies must always strive for perfection by remaining up to speed with current packaging quality control services, making GlobalVision Spelling Inspection software not just one of the best, but one of the only choices they can make.
GlobalVision is the leading developer of quality control technologies for retail and pharmaceutical packaged goods.
See for yourself why Simon Lacroix, Quality Control technician at CCL Label, called GlobalVision
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New Technologies Every Pharmaceutical Packaging Company Should Consider
Date: September, 2017 | Category: Proofreading | Author: Marvin Magasura
Nowadays, pharmaceutical packaging companies are experiencing big market growth. Reaching an expected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of CAGR of 11.34% from 2021 to 2028, the market is witnessing particularly quick development in the BRIC countries and throughout Asia. Given this rapid rise, financial experts claim that the market could be worth USD 957.59 billion in 2028.
We live in an era where healthcare systems need to provide for an aging population with increasing incidences of chronic diseases. So, it’s no wonder that the need for pharmaceutical companies (and packaging solutions) is at an all-time high.
On the other hand, the pharmaceutical packaging industry is undergoing a change of its own. The needs of the consumer are constantly evolving, cost pressure is mounting, safety regulations are becoming stricter every year, and manufacturers are facing the challenge of finding new and creative solutions to several pressing issues.
As a result, evolution is paramount in order to achieve the ultimate goal: providing high-quality services for patients while also keeping costs down.
Every Pharma Packaging Company’s Dream: Complete Serialization
New serialization technologies are being introduced in the market every year proving that, even today, serialization is still one of the biggest driving forces behind the changing pharmaceutical packaging industry.
In the past years, Japanese pharma packaging companies have widely adopted one of the most exciting new technologies so far: 2D barcode printing directly into vials, pills, and capsules. It seems like this trend has been catching on in the Americas recently, as well.
By bringing serialization directly onto pills, a new issue arises. Is the technology ready to read and interpret smaller print? While barcode reading technology is not very well developed, we are likely to witness, in the coming years, new devices to interpret and track these microscopic serialized codes.
GlobalVision’s Barcode Inspection tool is one of the few quality control software tools that can automatically locate and grade all barcode types instantly, without having to actually print them – removing the need to verify with a device.
Biological Drugs Forcing Pharma Packaging Changes
Biological drugs, like vaccines, antibodies, and interleukins, are very different from conventional small-molecule formulations because their structure resembles substances made by living organisms. In the last decade, we’ve seen how new cancer treatments are shifting more and more towards bio-drugs, but treatments for other diseases are crossing over too.
This rising popularity continues to fuel unanticipated pharmaceutical packaging changes due to drug interactions with packaging materials, leading to increased demand for new formats and materials.
A pharmaceutical packaging format that is undergoing serious change is the glass vial. Some new biological drugs have been found to delaminate glass, resulting in undesired glass flaking in solutions. Manufacturers around the globe are now searching for a way to change how vials are made in order to mitigate unwanted delamination effects.
Another medical instrument undergoing severe scrutiny is the prefilled syringe. Some new biologics have reacted to components used in the production of syringes, often causing protein denaturation and therefore aggregation of their active substances.
Materials like silicone oil (used for the lubrication of syringe plungers) or tungsten (used in the formation of the glass syringe tip) have been linked to causing these reactions. The industry is now looking for a way of developing new silicone and tungsten-free syringes.
Human vs. Automated Pharmaceutical Packaging
The ever-present question of human vs. automated quality control for pharma packaging is still making content for countless blogs all over the web. However, sufficient time and research have concluded that automation is the biggest and most valuable investment your company could make.
Monotonous and repetitive tasks are not the best jobs for humans, especially when accuracy is extremely important. Human mistakes are without doubt the first cause of labeling issues, resulting in complete recalls. Automatic verification software solutions are needed in order to achieve absolute accuracy.
What you might save on investment, by using the manual method, you’ll lose in the cost of human labor and unintentional mistakes. The risk for errors is even higher with concurrent activities, such as the line operator checking serialization while also moving product containers.
Another big concern is product security. Automated packaging, palletizing, or case-packing protects the drugs from any harm at the location, in logistics, and in repackaging. While the investment may be seen as high, it’s a proven fact that efficiency will increase, and the ROI will be noticeable very quickly.
Automation is not that difficult to acquire, anyway. GlobalVision provides an all-in-one platform for packaging and labeling quality control for supply chains worldwide. Integrating text, graphics, barcode, spelling, braille, and print inspection, GlobalVision is one of the top quality control providers in the pharmaceutical packaging business.
Childproof vs. Senior-Friendly Pharma Packaging
Creating childproof containers is paramount for the pharma packaging industry. Given the powerful effect of today’s drugs, children must not have access to the content of the containers, and this is ever more the case as brand-new guidelines and regulations are being passed every year, meaning more products will need to be packaged in childproof containers.
Undoubtedly, the need for childproof packaging could impact another urgent concern: senior friendliness. There is a growing number of older people suffering from chronic diseases, and they need to be able to access their medication easily. How can pharmaceutical packaging companies deal with the problem of developing containers children can’t open but older people can?
The answer lies within package design. Newly developed opening mechanisms rely less on dexterity and more on knowing how the container opens. The MedLock EZT, for instance, which was created by Colbert Packaging in 2014, uses integrated locking mechanisms. These work by squeezing and pressing touchpoints at one end, while also sliding the blister card through the other.
Another example is Locked4Kids, launched by EcoBliss and labeled as being “difficult for kids, easy for adults“. This mechanism consists of a carton box (designed for packing medication) that has many push points aligned diagonally on both sides and only when pressed together will they open the package. The distance between these push points is too large for kids’ hands to cover, making it physically impossible for them to open the box.
Increased Security to Avoid Counterfeiting
Developing countries are still facing serious counterfeiting issues. So, improving supply-chain security must be a top priority for pharma companies. The natural trend right now is moving towards clever labeling solutions in order to stop package tampering.
Certain pharmaceutical packaging companies are already implementing new ways to make medical products more traceable. For instance, Tracetag’s ValiMark is a substance that can be mixed with many ink systems and guarantees maximum traceability. Other companies are using features like tamper-evident stickers to avoid package interference, holographic foils for authentication, and even radio frequency ID tags to make inventory control simpler.
Either way, added security is still necessary in order to prevent counterfeiting, which is a major cause of morbidity, mortality, and loss of public confidence in drugs and healthcare companies.
Different Standards Require Flexibility
Navigating different standards within markets is a challenge that pharmaceutical packaging companies continue to face, even for next-door markets that only present slight differences. While we may dream of one day achieving a global standard for pharma packaging, that day is still a long way ahead of us. That’s why this current challenge keeps on fueling the need for flexible equipment.
Drug manufacturers that produce for several countries on a single processing line need to change their serialized data according to every market’s standards.
Fortunately, GlobalVision’s Text Inspection lets companies compare two, unlike documents to manage the accuracy of the text, while also checking for compliance with US and EU standards and maintaining data integrity. Another benefit of automated proofreading is that even the smallest error can be discovered, reducing errors that escape the human eye.
Temperature-Stable Pharma Packaging Solutions
These days, drug supply chains are spreading globally. Medical products might need to be transported countless miles across many different climate conditions in order to reach a certain market. Some products might endure it, but plenty will be irreversibly damaged. So, it’s imperative that secondary pharmaceutical packaging is capable of achieving and maintaining temperature stability.
In the old days, we grew accustomed to using dry ice or gel packs, but smart pharma packaging technology is quickly becoming the law of the land. Materials like expanding polystyrene, bio-friendly bio foam, or temperature-stable packaging are gaining momentum, offering a long-term solution.
GlobalVision is the leading developer of quality control technologies for retail and pharmaceutical packaged goods. Learn how GlobalVision has provided new business opportunities across all industries with an extra layer of security.
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What Do Pharmaceuticals and the Military Have in Common? The Highest Quality Standards.
Date: August, 2017 | Category: Quality | Author: Ryan Szporer
The pharmaceutical and defense sectors may be at opposite extremes. There is still something to be said in the former for the built-in fail-safes and redundancies that go hand in hand with any product that even hopes to meet military standards.
Military Standard vs. Specification
There’s even an official term for it: MIL-STD for, you guessed it, military standard. At times mistaken for MIL-SPEC, for military specification, MIL-STD is related to the former, but actually something else altogether. Military specifications refer to a given product’s characteristics, so something that meets military specifications is good to go.
Military standards in a sense go deeper, referring to the processes and materials that went into manufacturing that product. One leads to the other.
To illustrate just how large a list of such standards can get, MIL-STD-962D, for one example, covers standards pertaining to well, documenting military standards, for everything ranging from design criteria to manufacturing processes.
You won’t find anything in there about writing Department of Defense handbooks, though. All that’s covered in MIL-STD-967. Seriously. All that to say, that discrepancy in definitions between military standards and specifications is what establishes common ground between defense and pharma. A product manufactured by the pharmaceutical industry can in theory meet military specifications, but it’s how it’s manufactured that is of most interest here.
Reliability Above All Else
You’re ultimately looking for products that are reliable. Reliable translates to “repeatable,” which can only be guaranteed to a mathematically acceptable degree through proper testing. Needless to say, proper testing is one of the pillars of success within the pharmaceutical industry, one in which customers’ health and safety are consistently at stake.
In the interest of full disclosure, it’s not as if pharmaceutical companies absolutely need to follow MIL-STD. GAMP, or Good Automated Manufacturing Practice, already exists, having been founded in 1991. That would be pharma’s own set of guidelines for manufacturers and users of automated systems. GAMP5, released in 2008 by the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering, is now in place as the last major revision.
Quality management procedures like Six Sigma helps to further ensure errors and waste are kept to a minimum. That just further proves the point. It becomes abundantly clear how the same principle holds true across the board. There’s an overriding need for a high-quality standard throughout the supply chain. That extends to the packaging that finds its way into the hands of customers, packaging that is an extension, in its own right, of the company’s brand. Any mistakes on a carton at best reflects poorly on a firm. At worst, if there’s a typo that misrepresents the dosage, it could be fatal.
The Highest Quality (Control) Standards
Automated proofing is the best way to protect against errors in packaging. Rest assured, any piece of software on the market has more likely than not undergone more of the same rigorous testing to help guarantee the highest quality standards. After all, that piece of software is ultimately just another product, albeit belonging to a separate industry, but one in which quality is just as paramount.
Extensive system testing and lifecycle documentation covering things like functional requirements prove the software is robust, and that products out of the brand company will be too. This lets managers sign off with confidence on sending a shipment of the packaging off to production when only relatively few samples have been approved.
Before getting more into the sampling process in a future post, it’s important to note why a company would impractically choose not to go through each and every packaging component. On the surface, it may seem like cutting corners just to save money. In reality, it’s devoting the man-hours to areas where they’re better suited because the right system meets quality standards in place much more reliably and consistently than the human eye.
Imagine assigning one or two employees the task of ensuring thousands upon thousands of carton samples are all the same, well, you hope are the same, anyway. High-quality standards take things like hope out of the equation, leaving time and cost savings as happy by-products. The high quality is the real endgame.
GlobalVision is the leading developer of quality control technologies for retail and pharmaceutical packaged goods. Learn how GlobalVision has helped top Pharmaceutical Companies in quality control.
Register for one of our webinars or request a personalized demo today to find out more about how automated quality control can streamline your packaging process.
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What the Digital Twins Revolution Means for Packaging
Date: June, 2017 | Category: Proofreading | Author: Ryan Szporer
Digital twins are in the midst of taking over, with Gartner predicting the existence of billions of them within three to five years.
It’s probably best at this point to shake that image that’s likely in your head of a group of villainous, goateed doppelgangers hell-bent on world domination. A huge technological trend that cannot be ignored instead, digital twins are becoming more and more crucial to the manufacturing process.
Digital Twins Explained
For the uninitiated, a digital twin, as the term relates to a product life cycle, is exactly what it sounds like. You have something physical that you can touch and a replica that has digitally captured all the same properties to track changes and project where those changes will lead.
It’s not a 3D model of a given product, but a software model of that product’s inner workings… everything that contributes to its physical existence. In this case, the whole is greater than the sum of its part and provides an in-depth look into the potential for the future.
From a purely financial standpoint, the reasoning is sound. If a given company has the means to create digital versions of assets, of various sizes up to and including entire factories to represent real-world environments for simulation and analytical purposes, why not? The sensor data gleaned can only help to increase efficiency and the bottom line.
That goes for improving customer relations as well, with even more of a financial benefit to be had if a firm is able to take advantage in such a fashion. Whereas initial uses focused primarily on products, digital twins’ horizons have sufficiently broadened over time to the point that systems, series of processes, and even entire operations can be digitally duplicated as well.
Benefits include the ability to detect deficiencies before individual products hit the market, the resulting optimization of their design and functionality, and continuous refinement thanks to captured data. Updates and changes are theoretically made in real-time, with a single source of truth or data shared between the twins. This aspect in particular, as it relates to copy management, can be extended to product packaging.
Two Copies, One Version
It may not be out of the ordinary for companies to post PDFs of their products’ packaging on their websites. However, it is common to find discrepancies between what customers find in stores and what’s online, which can pose a serious problem, especially in industries like pharma. The smallest errors can have serious ramifications, with outdated information posing huge risks from customer health and subsequently liability standpoints.
In such a hypothetical scenario, you’ve got two versions of the same packaging. Only one of them’s (presumably) correct. Both of them should be.
A digital twin in the form of a webpage would in theory be updated with the physical copy so that no one version will lag behind the other. Automating quality control software like GlobalVision to run in the background helps ensure there are no mistakes and that the two are identical moving forward.
It’s just one application of what is a rapidly increasing trend, which in and of itself is arguably just the next step. That’s the next step in terms of prototyping and not our evolution, to be clear. Although, we have undeniably come to a point where the digital world means just as much as the real one.
Companies should have long since come to the realization that it’s not just about the physical product anymore. A lot of factors enter into the equation when a company tries to map out what will be successful after all. Whether digital twins are the next step or stop on the road to making a profit, there’s simply no avoiding them.
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