LABELLING IN HEALTHCARE
CONTINUED
maintaining accuracy and safety.” Durability and compliance are also crucial factors, Richard adds. “Labels in these sectors must withstand various challenging conditions, such as exposure to chemicals, extreme temperatures and frequent handling. Resellers should point out the availability of specialised label materials and adhesives that are designed to endure these harsh environments, ensuring that labels remain intact and readable over time. “Additionally, compliance with industry regulations is essential. Demonstrate how the printing solutions can help meet these stringent standards, thereby supporting the customers' regulatory requirements. “Another significant aspect is the support and scalability of the solutions. Healthcare and pharmaceutical organisations need reliable technical support and the flexibility to scale their operations as needed. Demonstrating the robust customer support services and the ability to adapt to growing demands can reassure potential buyers of the long-term value and reliability of the label printing solutions.” Bart adds that a machine’s ability to communicate with other systems and integrate within a line are significant advantages in pharmaceutical labelling. “Aggregation of serialised codes may be a requirement depending on the type of product being packaged,” he says. “If this is the case, a printing system will need to be able to communicate effectively with other systems within the packaging line to facilitate this. In addition, pharmaceutical lines are typically space-constrained and will require compact labelling systems that can be easily integrated without taking up a large amount of space.” Future As the need for advanced labelling is expected to grow in the future, so are opportunities in this sector for resellers – and there are plenty of developing trends for them to be aware of. Bart says that he foresees a future where manufacturers are required to serialise more products at the item-level – from single medical devices to individual doses of medicine. “All of which will require new and innovative solutions for item-level serialisation and variable data printing.” Diane adds that embracing a standard form of barcode will represent the next evolution of labelling. “GS1 is a not-for-profit organisation championing the standardisation of labels because it recognises that all healthcare
providers should be speaking the same language when it comes to data capture,” she says. “This means records can be scanned and read by any practice in the country, should patients move or require urgent care while away.” Deyon adds that in future, labels will have to contain more information. “In their current guise there isn’t enough space to add more information without it becoming eligible, QR codes will have to be utilised as part of elabelling so more information can be referenced on labels,” he says. “Labels will also have to be more robust/ durable to withstand movement throughout the supply chain and still stay legible as this will also aid with track and traceability. There will also be more use of colour for easier identification.” Bob agrees that QR code use will increase. “They are also being used to give the user more information such as side effects in their own language, rather than trying to find their own language on a massive leaflet with 30 languages on, all written in tiny font,” he says. “The recent EU MDR change has allowed much more information for the product's use and side effects to be published online and not in a leaflet.” Genuine Another increasing concern is proof that medications are genuine. “This is driven by regular news stories about counterfeit medicines,” Bob says. “Also, medicines and treatments are increasingly being purchased online, which raises a level of suspicion. Serial numbers or unique IDs on each pack, where the user can scan with a phone and check via an online portal, are becoming commonplace.” Richard agrees, adding that labelling plays a critical and growing role in combating the risk of falsified drugs. “The EU’s Falsified Medicines Directive, implemented in 2019, and the FDA's Drug Supply Chain Security Act, fully enacted last year, address this issue,” he notes. “Counterfeit drugs, often cheaper and posing significant health risks, are estimated by the World Health Organization to account for over 10% of all drugs in circulation. “There is also growing interest in real-time, in-line label verification. This technology checks labels for readability, correct content, regulatory compliance, and other conditions during the production process before they are applied to products. The maturity of machine vision systems has facilitated this capability on production lines.”
Diane Barnes senior business manager and healthcare specialist
brother.co.uk
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GS1 is a not-for- profit organisation championing the standardisation of labels because it recognises that all healthcare providers should be speaking the same language when it comes to data capture.
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