Automated inspection vital to accelerate vaccine delivery

With the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmaceutical manufacturers are under intense pressure to produce and distribute large quantities of vials and vaccines. TracePack has a range of solutions for vaccine manufacturing and distribution, including labelling systems specifically developed to label vials. Its machine vision and barcode reading systems are well suited to vaccine inspection, packaging and traceability.

THE COMPACT 4.0 enveloping industrial automatic labelling system for wrap-around applications on ampoules, vials, test tubes, syringes, single doses, blow fill seals and all cylindrical pharmaceutical products has been designed to be used both offline and inline. For offline application, it is suitable even with the addition of a rotary table. When used inline, the labelling system can be connected to other packaging machines, such as fillers, working at a speed from 10 to 300 pieces per minute.

This system is part of the Arca Pharma line of labelling machines, which is a specific line designed and dedicated to the labelling, coding, traceability and serialisation of pharmaceutical products. High standards of quality, safety, productivity and accessibility are guaranteed and provided by these lines. For product traceability, the labelling system can be integrated with an inkjet or laser marker.

TECHNOLOGY TO AUTOMATE INSPECTION

To keep pace with rising global healthcare demands, pharma manufacturers rely on machine vision, deep learning and industrial barcode reading systems to automate vaccine packaging inspection, tracking and distribution. Whether supplying vaccines for immunisations, epidemics, or pandemics, solutions from TracePack help manufacturers comply with strict regulations while ensuring safe, fast and reliable delivery.

Vaccine manufacturers need to perfrom meticulous checks of dosage containers to avoid defective products from entering the distribution chain. As a result, vial, ampoule and prefilled syringe packaging must also be inspected for accuracy. Missing components or packaging defects can affect patient safety and brand reputation and may result in heavy fines, unwanted waste and costly recalls.

With inspection technology from TracePack, pharma manufcaturers can confirm vaccine boxes and kits are correctly packaged and compliant with strict regulations. The track-and-trace technology also helps to ensure supply chain visibility to guarantee machine uptime, high read rates and fast delivery.

Did you know?

The DataMan fixed-mount barcode readers decipher 1D and 2D codes as small as 3mm on medical devices to track and trace these products and help combat counterfeits. DataMan barcode verifiers also offer true ISO-compliant, inline or offline vaccine barcode verification and generate detailed reports for traceability, compliance and preventive maintenance.

THE BENEFITS OF DEEP LEARNING

Machine vision and deep learning systems inspect the presence of cracks, particulates, proper assembly and other potential defects during the primary packaging process. They also identify problems upstream which helps to keep patients safe and avoid costly recalls and returns.

Vial caps are inspected using machine vision and deep learning to check for scratches, punctures and other defects.

This also improves product quality, minimises scrap and increases throughput. Deep learning inspects the body of vials and ampoules for imperfections such as scratches, bubbles and any inclusion that could cause contamination or a breach of sterility. This technology also identifies unwanted particulate matter in glass vials and ampoules to prevent contaminated products from reaching consumers.

Missing components or packaging defects can affect patient safety and brand reputation and may result in heavy fines, unwanted waste and costly recalls

Deep learning eliminates countrelated deviations of vials and ampoules, preventing time-consuming and expensive rework resulting from miscounts. At the same time, it inspects vaccine kits for overlapping or missing parts and ensures the correct parts are present and in the right orientation. Deep learning can also be used to read printed information on packaging and to verify the quality of required elements such as logos, date/lot information and other graphics. •