Brief description: Medical label

Dedicated production lines and equipment are essential for processing these high-quality, practical labels

Medical labels are different from labels in other industries. The difference is not how it makes the shelves more visible, more eye-catching or fancy. Not to say how it attracts the attention of consumers in seven seconds. What we want to say here is that its function is more important than its form.

The labeling of the medical industry is very serious. For example, drug labels, followed by food, nutritional products, and beauty products, must all comply with relevant laws and regulations. Otherwise, the consequences can be quite frightening. We will only mention a few here, including intravenous medicines, blood bags, syringes, body fluid containers, and patient medical records.

Some label companies are positioned in the professional medical and drug labeling field, but for other label companies, this is only part of their extensive product range.

Quality is the key

Like other markets, medical labels are also diverse in shape and size, and some have special requirements for processing. This highlights the importance of post-label processing for product quality control.

Schreiner MediPharm, a global manufacturer of medical and pharmaceutical labels in Munich, Germany, and Schreiner MediPharm LP, a US subsidiary, located in Blaufeide, New York, USA, said that the Dept. Gene Dul said: The processing of medical and pharmaceutical labels requires a lot of Knowledge and technology. Printing these complex, multi-functional labels requires extensive expertise in materials and bonding technology, dispensing, printing, and die-cutting technologies, as well as the right medical and pharmaceutical areas involved in this complex process.

Dul said quality is the top priority for medical labels. He said: "First, we must consider the pharmaceutical industry's requirements for high quality labels. Schreiner MediPharm strictly abides by the provisions of the current product manufacturing regulations to ensure the highest product quality to meet the market access requirements of the health bureau, including program control and 100% video In addition, post-press technology, variable information printing, back-side printing, and special gloss printing, such as printing Braille, also play an important role."

Tim Mlnarik is the business development manager of ID Imaging in Burkins, Ohio, which specializes in the processing of variable information printed labels. The company is very active in the medical label industry. He said that from the point of view of the production process (quality, schedule, etc.), ID Images is similar for the production process of medical and non-medical labels. He said: "Customers' requirements vary. Some customers may require quality review or require the implementation of standards (COC) or analysis standards (COA) in transportation, or some customers may require more label-related information.

The HP Mile in Syracuse, New York, United States is a label processor and is established specifically to serve the medical and pharmaceutical industries. Michael Brady, president of HP Miles, said that for the HP Miles, quality is the most important. He explained: “I told my employees that failing to achieve 100% means failure. There is no 'good enough' statement for medical labels. It is reliable for printing any part or step of every label. Sexuality and traceability are very important, and we have the same procedures for each job, and for each order, we record all relevant information and keep it permanently recorded in a “work bag”. The bags follow the entire process of each order, from forming an order to shipping. Each job is recorded in a work bag and kept for several years."

As a label processing company focused on the medical industry, HP Miles has always been committed to ensuring product quality. But Brady said: “It's very important to start working as an ISO certification company. From the very first day, our employees have been trained to operate in accordance with the “Manufacturing Quality Management Practices.” In 2008, we decided to start related work to get ISO9001:2008 certification.This contributes to the standardization of our quality system, and the quality system is the basis of our continuous progress and perfection.ISO certification gives us a recognition.This allows some companies to cooperate with us, do not have to send themselves The quality control team was stationed to conduct quality inspections, which reduced the barriers and expenses of cooperation with us. This also made our existing customers and potential customers aware that we have ISO certified quality systems to make them more at ease. cooperate with us."

Eric Bartell, manager of label business development at GBS, North Canton, Ohio, USA, pointed out that for medical label customers, absolute accuracy is crucial. The company is a supplier of pressure-sensitive products to several of the top 500 medical equipment and pharmaceutical companies. Bartell said that these customers are facing special challenges in their field, which directly affect how GBS provides them with labeling services. Bartell said: "Our goal is to provide end-users with flawless products. For each customer's different needs, we have written detailed quality control procedures and specific work instructions. We are constantly pursuing the perfection of the program. Check and update these quality control procedures. ISO 9001 and cGMP help us ensure that we achieve this goal. We have found that customers expect to be able to rely on our quality control to reduce the hassle of reviewing product quality."

Extend content, security and functionality

In the field of medical labeling, to win in the market, the application of electronic detection systems is not only a trend but also inevitable. Processing companies in this area are eager to achieve continuous improvement by exploring more options and procedures. Not only that, the nature of medical labels often requires multiple languages ​​and detailed instructions for use. In addition, due to the sensitivity of the contents of medical labels, the security features of medical labels have undoubtedly become more and more common. Eric Bartell said: "GBS is constantly striving to follow trends, provide complete products and testing procedures, and of course, automatic visual inspection systems are not luxury products but must-haves. In addition, we are trying to achieve Six Sigma quality management requirements and process optimization. Continuously evaluate and update the program."

“Extended text labels and electronic tags (radio frequency identification technology) are good examples, they are all applications that have special needs for equipment and performance. In addition, we intend to gradually adjust our equipment layout so that the entire production process Product numbers are separate. Avoid confusion about product numbers. Essentially, we have very secure areas in every department,” added Bartell.


HP Miles Michael Brady said: “We are aware of the growing demand for high-end safety labels and have the responsibility to provide corresponding services to our customers in this field. We are currently re-examining each through different readable and visible devices. A label to ensure a qualified label and/or product.To ensure safety, we also use photo glazing technology so that it can only be detected when exposed to a specific optical frequency.

Gene Dul also learned about additional features to ensure brand protection and patient safety. He said: "The new development of 2D barcodes and the combination of anti-counterfeiting features are the trend of current pharmaceutical labels." Dul said that Schreiner MediPharm has innovatively developed and processed a large number of special, value-added labels such as tag labels, labels with removable parts and multi-page labels. In addition, this product portfolio also gave birth to syringe labels and anti-counterfeiting protection systems with needle protection.

"The patient's safety is definitely worth paying attention to," Dul pointed out. He said: "Drug labels should be able to help health care workers and patients to easily and reliably mark on the label to trace the timely use of drugs. In addition, tracking and trace serialization can also help optimize the supply chain process."

Eric Bartell pointed out that some people may feel that electronic tags are most suitable for medical labels, and in fact it is not as popular as it would be. He said: "Usually what we see on the market is not as much as we expected. In other markets, electronic tags are widely used, but the medical device and drug markets have developed much slower in this direction than we have estimated. We do Several important customers began to consider the feasibility of using electronic tags for internal inventory tracking."

Another important characteristic of certain medical labels is their functional properties. Schreiner MediPharm has several functional medical labels and has recently developed a new needle kit label. The needle sheath system is characterized by the integration of a safety mechanism as part of the label of the self-adhesive syringe. This design allows the needle to be simply and safely protected after being used, and the healthcare center can use the same injection technique and treatment procedure. Tags can be integrated into traditional labeling systems and are suitable for the most common syringe types. The needle cover system received market access from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration FDA 510(K) and won the award of FINAT from the World Association of Stickers.

"In recent years, many label products aimed at reducing the risk of needle-stick injuries have mushroomed," Gene Dul said. "Unfortunately, these products usually require large changes in the packaging design, which are expensive for the manufacturer and more difficult for the user. Since the pin system is integrated in the tag, no major change is required. The integration of economy and efficiency is a convenient solution for the pharmaceutical industry and health care centers."

Jay Ziegler, Director of Sales and Marketing at Tapecon, a label printing and processing company in Buffalo, New York, said: “Tapecon has a wide range of products for printing and processing. The largest market is the pharmaceutical and medical device industry. Some of the label products they process have Medical functions are quite complex. Our products include major and minor labels, and we are committed to the processing of special labels that are usually functional labels. Our engineering and processing expertise is of great benefit to more complex applications."
He explained: "One of our product categories is for single-use diagnostics such as sterilization indicators and disposable thermometers. It also includes our patented IV tag label, which is combined with a ring to apply it. On IV glass vials, we also manufacture membrane switches and combination features for wear-resistant decals, coatings, and medical devices.”

Tapecon's medical products also have the safety and other functional features mentioned by Ziegler, which makes the company have a good and good positioning. He said: "We can print fine microtext, fluorescent ink coating, application of anti-counterfeit holographic positioning foil stamping, and use of EAS labels on the back of the label for security and anti-counterfeiting measures. We are making film coating techniques such as laser code and code-word flow. In addition, we have a perfect program for printing instead of engraving Braille. EU document 2001/83/EC requires that all new pharmaceutical packaging be braille from November 2010. Most of the United States will follow European packaging trends, so we think this is a good opportunity."