Discovery PharmaPQ

In many countries, specific legislation governs what information needs to be printed on pharmaceutical packaging to combat the growing threat of counterfeit medicine. In Europe, for example, the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) 2011/62/EU requires all medication to have a serialized number which enables the package to be tracked and traced throughout the supply chain. Also, pharmaceutical packaging printers need to check the final print against the original approved artwork and notify the authorities of any changes.

It is estimated that 50% of pharmaceutical recalls are due to errors in product labeling or packaging artwork. Furthermore, printing errors such as missing, incorrect or unreadable medication names, strength, lot/serial numbers or expiry dates can confuse or mislead people into taking the wrong or inappropriate medicine. Error in dosage instructions where e.g. “2.5mg” appears as “25mg” or “2-3 tablets” is printed as “23 tablets”, can potentially cause serious harm or even fatalities. These printing errors could easily occur due to a number of prepress, production or operational issues. Blocked or misfiring inkjet heads, toner marks, dust, equipment/software glitches or human error (e.g. keying errors) could and do happen at any time.

Introducing… DISCOVERY PharmaPQ a comprehensive print quality inspection and data verification system for pharmaceutical applications, capable of monitoring 100% of the web using high-performance line scan imaging and automated defect detection technology for web print, labels, and packaging applications.

DISCOVERY PharmaPQ has been recognized as a Red Hot Technology (formerly called a MUST SEE EM award) at this year’s PRINT18 show in Chicago, September 30thto October 2nd, 2018.