Originally Published PMPN March 2003
NEWS
Private-Label Packager Relies on Thermal-Transfer PrintingSpecialized Health Products International Inc. (SHPI; Bountiful, UT) has recently launched the LiftLoc Safety Infusion Set product line. SHPI is also supplying a private-label LiftLoc line to Bard Access Systems, a subsidiary of C.R. Bard Inc.
The infusion set features tubing, clamps, a luer cap, and a noncoring Huber needle with a plastic base, a safety mechanism, and wings, and is available with or without a Y injection site. According to Chuck Owen, SHPI’s director of operations, the set can help prevent accidental needle sticks. Each set is supplied with a Patient Comfort Pad, which Owen says may be placed under the needle’s plastic base as a cushion and can be changed as needed to comply with Centers for Disease Control, Oncology Nursing Society, Infusion Nurses Society, and each institution’s dressing-changing guidelines.
As part of SHPI’s manufacturing operations, SHPI oversees the packaging and labeling of both Bard’s and its own lines. It needed a quick way to change its labeling information. Thirty-six different labels are required—18 for SHPI-labeled product and 18 for Bard-labeled product. The set is packaged in a 4 ¥ 7 in. PETG/Tyvek chevron pouch from Technipaq (Crystal Lake, IL), which features thumb notches to facilitate opening. Since the sets are available in three different needle lengths and three different needle gauges and are supplied with or without the Y injection site, 18 different product configurations are available.
Owen says that SHPI uses a Pressiza F-464 thermal-transfer printer from RSI ID Technologies (Chula Vista, CA) to print on paper labels affixed to the Tyvek side of the pouch. “Thermal-transfer printing is suited for printing the 36 different pouch labels, as well as box and case labels,” he says. “We can change the product information quickly and easily.”
The labels carry the product name and a bar code in HIBCC format as well as lot codes and expiration dates in human-readable formats. Owen says that a previously created graphics file has been created for each label, including 36 pouch labels, 36 box labels, and 36 case labels. After selecting the graphics file, the software prompts for the lot number, expiration date, and quantity of labels to be printed. The firm did consider printing in color to help hospital professionals identify needle gauges and lengths, but Owen says that the color-coded wings ease needle-gauge identification.
Copyright ©2003 Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News
