Pharmaceuticals

Articles about good practice (GMP) and lean manufacturing with pharmaceuticals

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Avoid Typos in Your Labeling with Input Masks! Reducing Errors Series – Article #1

By Dave Klement | September 2020

Summary One of the most common errors in label creation is mistyping (i.e. a ‘typo’).  Doing this with critical label information at print time can cause BIG problems. Most brands of labeling software can help prevent user typos by using a process called masking. This article explains how input masking works and provides some examples…

Pharmaceutical Company Controls Label Reprints by Adding ‘Date Printed’

By Dave Klement | August 2020

  Summary Accurate labeling and tracking of products prevents of theft, counterfeiting, and the accidental release of uncontrolled products. Companies in regulated industries require strict label controls to ensure accurate labeling. These controls include precise tracking of labels created, used, and destroyed. The ability to create an exact duplicate label can frustrate efforts to control. However,…

What is Your Ideal Label Reprint Type? ‘True Reprint’ or ‘Re-request’ Label?

By Dave Klement | August 2020

  Summary Several cases exist that call for label reprints. The concept sounds simple (i.e. print a label previously printed again). Not all reprints require the same type of label however. Many label-printing software brands offer a “reprint” feature. But, they do not all behave the same. By knowing your ideal reprint type, you can…

Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Uses SENTINEL with CODESOFT to Print Work Orders From Their ERP System

By Dave Klement | May 2020

Summary In general, industrial label printing software (such as CODESOFT by TEKLYNX) is used to drive print jobs to label printers. However, this same software can be formatted so the ‘labels’ are actual full standard document pages (e.g. Letter, Legal, etc.) and the print jobs can be sent to laser printers. This allows the user…

Create a Smart Printer – Store Label Designs in Your Printer for Fast Label Printing without Software or a PC

By Dave Klement | February 2020

Summary The traditional approach to supply chain labeling involves a PC, labeling software, and a printer. However, most people do not realize that, in certain circumstances, you can take the labeling software and PC out of the equation, printing straight from the printer. Basically you make the printer act as a Smart Printer. This is…

Prevent Misapplied Labels

By Dave Klement | December 2019

Summary Summary An often overlooked problem is the possibility of applying the wrong labels to the wrong product.  The agility many manufacturers have achieved with just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing can come at a price with label application errors.  Often we think of label errors in terms of the wrong data getting on a label.  However, short…

Design Your Label Using Fonts Instead of Images Files

By Dave Klement | November 2019

Summary Did you know that many images commonly used on labels are also available as fonts? The most typical way of putting images into your label design is to save your image as a jpeg or png file so that it can be linked or embedded in your label design. However, many icons and images…