Processing and packaging mean different things to different healthcare professionals, but there’s plenty of agreement that processing is most important.
Healthcare Packaging magazine’s August cover post-it note lets readers know we recognize the critical link between processing and packaging functions. We’ve also learned that processing and packaging mean different things to different healthcare professionals. We often hear from readers who identify packaging as the end-of-line process of preparing a product for shipping and distribution.
Our editorial coverage of packaging traditionally spans from taking a medication, device, or combination product through primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging steps. That can include functions such as unscrambling, filling, labeling, coding and marking, capping, inspection, sealing, cartoning, case packaging, bundling, stretch wrapping, and sterilization functions.
No matter how you define processing and packaging, the importance of processing continues to rise. A recent Healthcare Packaging reader survey confirmed this. Although the summer survey response was limited to 137 responses, “Processing/Packaging” was the top-ranking issue of importance among 21 separate topic choices. Package testing, FDA/regulatory issues, new material products, and sustainability/environmental issues rounded out the top five concerns. -Jim Butschli, Healthcare Packaging Editor
