The Importance of Coding Machines in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Did you know that they expected the global drug market size to reach 1.5 trillion in 2021? It is possible because of technology as more medicines emerge to keep up with new diseases. And as you can see during the pandemic, the pharmaceuticals industry played a huge role.

Thanks to them, we have vaccines, which is a big step towards ending the pandemic. But, these vaccines need proper logistics to reach the market.

That is why batch coding is necessary so that medical staff knows the details of each vial. It will help them identify which vaccines to use and their authenticity.

There are many regulations for the labeling of pharmaceutical products. Do you want to know some of these regulations for batch coding? Check this article and learn more about batch coding and its importance in our world today.

Why Is Batch Coding Important?

Batch coding provides information about the medicine, which is helpful in product tracing. The law requires all companies to put these codes. The code includes the batch number and shelf life.

Today, pharmaceutical security labels come with barcodes that allow easy identification. During the pandemic, the demand for rapid and PCR tests caused interest in coding.

Counterfeit products and medicines are a growing problem in the pharmaceuticals industry. Using these drugs and products can have side effects and even cause death.

That is why countries are taking legal actions to solve this problem. These actions include identifying and tracking the product from manufacturing to distributing.

Having the correct labels in pharmaceutical products can prevent recalls. FDA can recall your product if you have a missing batch number, label mix-up, or mispackaging.

Also, the FDA requires a permanent UDI for products that many patients will use. It ensures that information will stay on the product instead of temporary packaging.

In summary, good packaging prevents product mix-ups and provides essential information. Doing this will make identifying similar products made by different manufacturers easier.

Challenges in Coding Pharmaceutical Products

Although there are many benefits in product serialization, pharmaceutical companies still experience challenges. As mentioned above, packaging has barcodes now, which requires redesigning its labels.

Because of this, manufacturers may struggle with graphic elements of the medicine. Plus, these label requirements may slow down the production process. It will make them consider increasing the workforce to keep up with the market demands.

Another challenge includes data management which needs to evolve to have effective coding. Thus, product coding needs extra cost to maintain its efficiency. You need to invest in materials, software, hardware, and even training.

What Are the Regulations to Consider in Labeling?

The FDA requires manufacturers to follow the regulations in labeling their products. Under the FPL Act, all consumer commodities should have labels in distribution. It should include the following:

·         Contents of the product

·         Identity of the commodity

·         Name and place of manufacturer or distributor

·         Package quantity in weight measure and numerical count

Requirements may also depend on a case-to-case basis depending on the type of drugs. For example, vaccines should state the vaccine batch number and health warnings.

Also, over-the-counter drugs should follow the FDA OTC Drug Review. This review checks the safety and effectiveness of non-prescription medicine. According to them, these drugs should state their uses, doses, and active ingredients.

Manufacturers should follow the Physician Labelling Rule with prescription drugs for their products. The labels for these drugs should include:

·         List of active and inactive ingredients

·         The general purpose of the product

·         Directions for use

·         Product Warnings

·         Control numbers

·         Shelf-life

Rules may vary depending on the drug itself, but these are the general labeling rules. All pharmaceutical products should follow these regulations and exercise good manufacturing practices.

What Are the Tools Needed for Batch Coding of Drugs?

To produce the labels required by the government, manufacturers use coding machines. These machines use computer-generated data to customize specific labels. It also puts all data in the production for identification in case of a product recall.  They are helpful in printing lot numbers and expiration dates. 

During drug packaging, the production line moves fast. That's why manufacturers need a reliable and capable printer. Continuous inkjets allow fast production without interruption and assure fewer production mistakes.  Consider the SmartJet and JetStamp machines when choosing a coder. 

Tertiary packaging that protects the product during transportation also needs proper labeling. Most tertiary packaging for pharmaceutical products is cardboard boxes and pallets.

Cardboard boxes need high-resolution case coding printers which work well with non-porous substrates. Pallets need print and apply labelers that are suitable for marking.

Hand-held and in-line are some of the coding machines available today. Other industries also use coding machines to label their products. Here are some of the things to consider in choosing the correct coding machine:

Type of Coding Machine

Knowing the type of machine can help you choose the correct labels for your product. If you have an inkjet coding machine, they are great for large or small carton packaging.

You can also choose laser or thermal printing in batch coding the products. But these machines tend to be more expensive and complicated than inkjet.

Data Handling

Coding machines work with data by manual, semi-automated, and fully-automated control. Knowing this can help you pick what coding machine to use depending on how big or small your company is. Large manufacturers tend to choose fully-automated control to remove coding and production errors.

Do Batch Coding for the Pharmaceutical Industry Today

Batch coding helps manufacturers in producing their products. It also helps them follow the law and ensure public safety.

Tracking vaccines play an important role during the pandemic. It ensures that medicines and vaccines go to the correct recipients. Plus, it helps identify what vaccines are nearing the end of their shelf-life and used first.

With the help of coding tools and printers, batch coding is achievable today. Because of this, pharmaceutical companies help the world become healthy and sick-free. This is beneficial during this time when viruses and diseases evolve.

Coders are very helpful in other industries such as the food industry, manufacturing and packaging.

We offer coding machines in Pack Secure for product manufacturing and labeling. Contact us now or visit our page to see the variety of coding tools we offer!