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
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
Learn how GlobalVision has helped print and packaging companies in quality control.
Learn More about Types of Prepress Proofs
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.
→ Check out our Customer Story on CRW Graphics.
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
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.
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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.
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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.
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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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Harmonizing Medical Device Package Labeling Across Markets
A picture is worth a thousand words. This is especially true in the Medical Device Packaging and Labeling industry. Symbols are an important tool to harmonize medical device packaging labels across markets worldwide, save valuable space while sharing important information and guidelines, and save in translating costs.
In order to minimize misinterpretation across markets, symbols have standards in different regions. This graphic shows some of the most common symbols under ISO 15223 and EN 980.
There are seven main symbol categories– Manufacturer Symbols, Storage Symbols, Safe Use Symbols, Sterility Symbols, IVD Specific Symbols, Transfusion Symbols and Others.
1. Manufacturer Symbols
This category includes any symbol with the product’s manufacturing. It can include when it was made, where, and any product identification data, fall into this category.
2. Storage Symbols
When storing medical devices, elements such as temperature, humidly, and exposure must be considered. These symbols are extremely important to maintain the integrity of the device.
3. Safe Use Symbols
Safe use symbols are warnings to reduce risk to the users. These symbols can significantly reduce the risk associated with many medical devices.
4. Sterility Symbols category
Sterility symbols communicate important information pertaining to the sterile conditions of the product. This could mean how they were sterilized, or warning about conditional use.
6. IVD Symbols
IVD symbols are specifically used on in vitro diagnostic devices and communicate information germane to those product types.
6. Transfusion Symbols
Used on devices that are involved in the transporting of fluids from one place to another.Used on devices that are involved in the transporting of fluids from one place to another.
7. Others
The patient number is the only symbol that falls into the other category.
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You’ve Got Questions? The GlobalVision Help Center Has Answers.
You may have already noticed the sleek, revamped look of the GlobalVision website. It’s since extended to our brand-new, easy-to-use Help Center, which provides users with all the know-how they need to get the most out of their automated quality control software. It comes fully equipped with all the fixings you’d expect to ensure any knowledge you require go smoothly.
All in One Place
In-depth blog entries and regularly posted instructional videos detail tips and tricks on using and your GlobalVision software. Community forum access meanwhile offers up the opportunity for you to discuss GlobalVision products and best practices with customers just like you or to provide us with feedback, whether it’s positive or something that can be improved upon in a future release.
We’re always looking for ways to improve upon our products and ready to help you through any issues you might encounter. You can also leave us a message by clicking on the box at the bottom of your screen. Resolving any issues you may have is our highest priority.
Create your account
You can even track individual tickets that you open through the revamped My Requests feature. It’s all as simple as first creating an account, then submitting a ticket, and finally clicking to track it. To create an account:
File Tickets Online
To file a ticket, you can either click at the bottom of the Main page or the “Contact technical support” link in the footer of any page. That launches the Support Request form. When you’ve filled out all the required fields, just click Submit Support Request.
Even without an account, you can file a ticket by following the steps immediately above. However, if you’d like to track its progress, you need to be logged in first. Once the ticket is submitted, click on your name in the top right-hand side and select My Activities from the drop-down menu. Any updates to comments you’ve made on articles or topics are visible too.
It all comes back to the GlobalVision community, of which you’re a part. You’ve got a say too. We’re here to listen.
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5 Ways to Minimize Issues While Preparing Artwork for Box Packaging
Date: June, 2017 | Category: Proofreading | Author: Devine Barroga
The process of preparing artwork is essential for box packaging. There is a considerable amount of detail that goes into preparation, but it doesn’t have to be a frustrating ordeal.
PakFactory has put together a series of practices to help customers and companies minimize artwork issues during the manufacturing process and increase efficiency all the while.
How to minimize issues during this process? Here are 5 ways to minimize issues in packaging artwork production.
1. Finalize Your Artwork Specifications
Having the required specifications means having the exact dimensions, material, printing, and coating from your customers. If these details aren’t sorted out properly, you may face timing challenges once you arrive at the artwork stage.
This doesn’t necessarily affect the artwork directly, but it should be handled with care. Depending on the time frame of your packaging project, preparation can become rushed if this isn’t established from the beginning.
Imagine having to change the dimensions when already at the artwork stage. Depending on the revisions, it can potentially alter the packaging’s specifications — from material and coating to even structure. In this case, you would need to start over again.
2. Dieline Preparation
This is one of the most crucial parts of the process of preparing your artwork for packaging. The dieline is the main template (or outline) in which your artwork will be placed and is required when producing the physical output.
The dieline creation process requires specific details so that the physical form of the box can be produced. Surprisingly, designers can miss some of them.
There are two ways to avoid dieline problems:
3. Work in CMYK Color Space
Once you have your dieline finalized, it is time to set up your artwork. Another problem that designers encounter revolves around uploading the artwork onto the dieline. There are times when customers receive their packaging and aren’t too happy with the colors, as they don’t match what they see on the screen.
In this case, the problem is that designers sometimes forget to convert their color modes. The correct color mode for printing is CMYK. Therefore, when uploading and creating your artwork, it needs to be under a CMYK color space. Creating the artwork in RGB and printing it on the box will have a significant effect on color appearance.
4. Prototyping Artwork Packaging
Another way to minimize artwork issues before production starts is by creating a prototype. This lets you see the exact packaging from the structure to the exact colors and finishing. Seeing the prototype up close makes it easier to spot color mistakes or any elements that need to be changed.
5. Artwork Approval Process
A company’s artwork approval process can make a difference in reducing issues encountered during the project as well, especially when a physical prototype isn’t produced.
If you have a manufacturer that goes through several approval cycles (along with a digital, CTP, or 3D rendering proof), you are in good hands. It is important that you undergo several approval processes to make sure any artwork issues are spotted before production gets underway. This will save a lot of time and money.
Remember to get the details right the first time. The extra effort will be worth it. By following these tips, you’ll be on your way to creating stellar box packaging and helping to reduce packaging errors in the future.
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How to Avoid Complete Medicine Recalls due to Labeling Errors
Date: May, 2017 | Category: Proofreading | Author: Marvin Magasura
The Pharma industry is by far the most demanding industry when it comes to packaging quality control. The processes, rules, and regulations are extremely complex and must be adhered to.
Unfortunately, because many companies still implement manual packaging and label artwork inspections, these results are often prone to human error, which is the most common cause of complete recalls due to labeling errors.
Although recent changes in packaging and labeling are pointing in the direction of process automation, a huge percentage of large companies are not there yet. This is due to the fact that human resources have a hard time adapting to a workflow change if the new process hasn’t been clearly defined.
Here are some tips for avoiding complete medicine recalls due to labeling errors.
Define the Change Process and New Packaging Quality Control Workflow Clearly
Switching from manual to automated may sound easy, but if the department team members don’t have the required technical knowledge, the process can be slowed down radically. What was supposed to be the solution to avoiding labeling errors, becomes the cause of it.
This is why it’s crucial to train the entire department staff in the use of process automation tools. Additionally, integration into the existing workflow, so only minor changes are made, and process automation SOPs are the best methods to help team members maximize the benefits of the change, succeed in avoiding packaging label recalls because of errors, and speed up the process from months to days.
Reports at Each Stage of Label Production
Generating reports at each stage of the label production and quality control processes and approvals help compare current and prior job versions. These reports should show the changes made during the exchange; who made them and the label errors which may have occurred between a master and a sample design and text.
Reports are also crucial at the point at which the master job has been sent to the printer or the printing supplier. They enable final verification to ensure that error-free labels are being sent to the printer.
Inspecting the Artwork at Every Step of the Label Production
As already mentioned, rules and regulations covering packaging quality control in the pharma industry are very strict. This is obviously because patient safety is at stake, along with brand compliance to fulfill the demands of the regulations.
Companies often use different tools for packaging artwork production and quality control. All parts of the artwork must be inspected. These include parts such as; text, labels, design, braille content (required on pharmaceutical packaging), and barcodes.
Often, many companies inspect some or most of the parts manually. This practice has shown itself as ineffective, inefficient, and risky. It may take hours to verify some of the parts of the packaging labels and the job often goes through many team members. This kind of inspection setup opens the door to the occurrence of labeling errors.
Automation Technology Advancement
Packaging quality control automation technologies have evolved over recent years. Today it is possible to integrate an all-in-one quality control platform into your production process and workflow so that at each stage of the production, inspection is implemented via software tools and printing inspection hardware.
This includes inspection of text, spelling, artwork graphics, braille text, barcode, pre-print, and print.
A good packaging quality control software platform should adhere to the rules and regulations of the pharma quality control standards. It should be able to read and inspect various formats and compare different formats to each other.
In other words, a pre-print proof job has to be comparable to a digital format in the form of an image, text, or graphic.
Finally, an automation platform for packaging quality control should guarantee a maximum return on investment, maximum time efficiency, and maximum risk reduction in terms of eliminating labeling errors.
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