Medical Device Link.

Originally Published PMPN December 2003

Show Coverage

Daphne Allen

Attendees will ring in the new year at MD&M West with a variety of conferences and exhibits catering to their every need. The exhibition, which takes place January 6–8, 2004, at the Anaheim Convention Center (Anaheim, CA), features special-product pavilions, including the MedPak pavilion with more than 150 suppliers of medical packaging equipment and materials. Registrants will also have access to hundreds of additional exhibitors at the colocated WestPack show. Here, attendees will have the opportunity to see every aspect of packaging machinery, services, and supplies on display to help them expand capacity, increase accuracy, and maximize cost-efficiency. 

WestPack will also feature a special Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical Packaging pavilion sponsored by Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News. Attendees can view the latest specialty equipment, pharmaceutical-grade materials, and supplies such as trays and kits, blister packs, labeling and bar coding equipment, tamper-resistant containers, and sterilization services. In addition, they will find everything they need for packaging vitamins and nutritional supplements.

Conference sessions have also been designed to help packaging professionals stay informed about the latest regulatory issues, marketing strategies, and new technologies. For those who are interested in transportation and distribution packaging, WestPack’s conference program includes a session and workshop titled “Controlled Temperature and Cold Chain Packaging for Food and Pharmaceutical Products,” chaired by Dennis Young of Dennis Young and Associates. If you’re looking to market your product through packaging, another all-day session of interest is “Package Design and Branding,” with Robert Wilkes of Monaghan & Co. and Doug Slomski of Multivac Inc. 

The MD&M West Show will also feature a morning session dedicated to medical package design chaired by Douglas Stockdale of Stockdale Associates Inc. The session will focus on material selection for sterile package design, designing medical packages for successful validation, implementing bar codes for medical products, and packaging considerations for distribution testing. A session on packaging validation and compliance takes place in the afternoon.

For more information or to register for the shows, call 310/445-4200, or visit www.canontradeshows.com. 

Exhibitor Products


Oral Dispenser
An all-plastic two-piece oral dosage dispenser features a patented wiper design. The tip area of the plunger is an original one-piece design that uses a flexible wiper, eliminating the need for a rubber wiper. With no silicone-coated rubber parts used in the tip design, the risk of choking or product contamination is reduced. The patented design gives the dispenser a three-piece feel that makes it easy to use. It can be preloaded for later dosing, and cover caps are available for use when dispensers are prefilled. A press-in bottle adapter is also available for increased dosing accuracy. Comar Inc.; Buena, NJ; 856/692-6100; www.comar.com. 
WestPack, Booth #4683

Printers
A printer is available for all multiple row applications. The EasyPrint II mlp is a thermal-transfer printer that prints directly to packaging substrates such as foils, polyfilms, and medical paper. It is suitable for blister packages, medical device packages, and food packages. The printer, which mounts directly to form-fill-seal machines, is available from 240-mm widths up to 630-mm widths. Bell-Mark Sales Co., Pine Brook, NJ; 973/882-0202; info@bell-mark.com. 
WestPack, Booth #4626

Bags and Pouches
An ISO 9001–registered company specializes in sterile medical device packaging. Applications include a wide variety of medical packaging materials, such as pouches, lids, header bags, and rollstock in many types of paper, Tyvek, foils, and films. The company’s exclusive DotCoat technology ensures reliable, fiber-free, peel-able seals. Oliver Products Co., Grand Rapids, MI; 800/253-3893; www.oliverproducts.com. 
MD&M West, Booth #1215

Coders
A family of laser coders provide safety and flexibility in a small package that is easy to integrate and also cost- effective. The SmartLase 100 series are digital, compact CO2 laser coders for use on primary packaging such as cartons, labels, glass, and PET bottles. They can be installed on most production lines due to their compact size and variable-position printing nozzle. The QWERTY user interface allows for printing to execute exactly when and where it is needed. The coders can print on a wide variety of substrates due to their printing flexibility and adjustable power output. Markem Corp., Keene, NH; 603/352-1130; www.markem.com.  
WestPack, Booth #4161

Fillers
Servo positive-displacement fillers from semiautomatic to fully automatic models are available with up to 12 filling heads. Digitally encoded drives capable of measuring 1/100th of a pump revolution ensure high-accuracy fills. Standard touch screens offer real-time/continuous display operating parameters and one-touch enable/disable of operating functions. Other standard features include toolless changeover, automatic bottle indexing, no bottle/no fill, nozzle misalignment/no fill, downstream backup detection/no fill, automatic drip tray, positive-shutoff nozzles, high-speed counters, and PLC with 40 product-fill profiles. Inline Filling Systems Inc.; Venice, FL; 941/486-8800; www.fillers.com. 
WestPack, Booth #4679

Sealer
A validatable continuous dual-heat band sealer is available for difficult-to-seal materials. Validation is achieved through the use of self-contained compressed air. No external air is required. Easy and quick changeover and cleaning of the Teflon bands is achieved due to the instant pressure release on bands placed in an open position. Uniform pressure on all sealing and cooling surfaces creates consistent-quality validatable seals. Gauges are easy to read and highly visible. Single line embossing code is available. The unit is designed to seal Tyvek/Mylar, nylon, polyethylene, polypropylene, laminates, kraft/PE, and foil. All Packaging Machinery Corp., Ronkonkoma, NY; 800/637-8808; www.allpackagingmachinery.com. 
WestPack, Booth #4811

Click Here For A Complete List of Exhibitors

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