An induction-sealing head helps eliminate interference between an induction sealer and RFID antenna-readers that track pill bottles on a packaging line at Prescription Solutions.
Packager: Prescription Solutions is the Costa Mesa, CA, pharmacy division of Pacific Care, Cypress, CA. Prescription Solutions serves "insurance companies and employer groups who want to provide prescription coverage to their employees as part of their healthcare package," explains Dave Booher, pharmacy manager. "We are primarily involved in filling prescription orders." About 80% of the prescriptions are shipped via U.S. mail.
Problem: As a point of differentiation in the mail-order pharmacy business, Prescription Solutions induction seals bottles for tamper evidence. But the sealing energy emitted during induction sealing interfered with the radio-frequency identification (RFID) antennas used to track bottles along a packaging line at the company's Carlsbad, CA, facility. The antennas read RFID tags on pucks. Each puck contains one tag that corresponds to the prescription in the pill bottle contained by that puck. The antenna reads a number from the passive tag and downloads it to a computer. In turn, the computer triggers pneumatic devices on the conveyor that move the puck downstream on the line. The interference between the similar frequencies interrupted those communications and slowed down the line.
Solution: Prescription Solutions worked with its distributor, Tri State Distribution, the company that had originally suggested induction sealing the bottles. It recommended Enercon sealing equipment. "Bill Zito at Enercon recommended a [different] sealing head that focused its energy waves in a different fashion," says Booher. "We weren't sure, but we gave it a try. As it turned out, it didn't create the issues the other unit did." According to Enercon, the new unit's sealing head focuses its energy only to the seal area so it doesn't interfere with the frequencies emitted by the RFID readers.
Benefits: Not only did the Enercon unit eliminate the frequency pollution, it also boosted customer service. "Occasionally, we'd get complaints from patients saying the postman must have stepped on the prescription bottle or bag because the cap broke and the pills all spilled in the bag," says Booher. In the year since the company added the Enercon unit (it now employs five different Enercon sealers for different lines at the plant), "we haven't had those complaints."
That benefit, Booher notes, "creates economic savings and increases patient satisfaction. It also reduces general loss in that we don't have to replace product that's been damaged or spilled. It eliminates extra postage that goes along with that, and the customer service handling time that goes with servicing that patient."
--By Jim Butschli, Editor
