NEW EVENT! Cutting-edge Trends for Life Sciences at PACK EXPO Southeast
Discover all the latest packaging solutions for life sciences products at the all-new PACK EXPO Southeast in Atlanta, GA, March 10-12, 2025

Wright Medical’s package meets multiple demands

Award-winning PETG thermoform functions in both sterile and non-sterile environments, eases validation, and ensures no punctures or pinholes.

This photo is an example of Wright Medical's orthopaedic product packaging, which earned an IoPP Ameristar Award.
This photo is an example of Wright Medical's orthopaedic product packaging, which earned an IoPP Ameristar Award.

Wright Medical Group, Inc., is an Arlington, TX-based global orthopedic medical device company that designs, manufactures, and markets reconstructive joint devices and biologics.

Recently, the company sought protective, safe packaging that could universally fit a variety of different sized and shaped extremity implant screws, many of which had sharp pitches or tips, for the foot and ankle region.

In an effort to design packaging and create efficiencies of scale, Wright worked with Placon, a designer and thermoformer of custom plastic packaging, and its Barger medical division.

Placon and Barger developed a PETG clamshell package for some 350 SKUs that was recently recognized with an IoPP Ameristar Award in the Medical Device category.

Designed with beauty and simplicity in mind, the small, distinctive rigid thermoformed clamshell meets Wright’s requirements for form, fit, and function. When closed, it measures 2½ in. long x 1½ in. wide x 0.340 in. tall.

Designed for use in both sterile and non-sterile presentations, the PETG thermoform utilizes a single, consistent footprint for easy product validation. The thermoform has no sharp edges that come into contact with the primary packaging material, ensuring no punctures or pinholes to the package while in transit or during storage and handling.

The packaging makes it easier for operating room (OR) staff to easily find the part within the sterile packaging configuration or non-sterile plastic bag without having to “dig” in search of the product. OR staff is able to open the inner sterile barrier with enclosed thermoform for aseptic presentation directly onto the tray stand in the sterile field. The pack also helps eliminate the need to dig for the screw or to turn the bag upside down and risk screws flying out and possibly rolling off the tray and onto the floor.

With a universal system developed, Wright has streamlined its entire packaging process. The end package has delivered benefits that include making handling easier, reducing inventory needs and validation costs, and providing a safe, reliable, and user-friendly protective package.

'Coining the hinge'

Sharp edges and snags are serious packaging problems, especially in the OR. Snags on a package can lead to punctures in sterile pouches, making medical devices non-sterile prior to being received in a sterile field. Sharp package edges, commonly associated with a package’s hinge, could also cause grievous rips in surgical gloves.

To help allay this issue, Barger employed a technique more often seen in the plastic injection molding industry. Instead of thermoforming the clamshell’s hinge in a “W” shape, whereby the hinge is cut on a plane, the hinge instead was “coined.”

With crushed cut hinges shaped in the form of a “W”, hard edges can be produced, leading to the possibility of potential snags in sterile bags or pouches. In addition, “W”-shaped hinges typically can’t close flat without some gaping around the perimeter. To avoid these common issues, a coined or “living” hinge was created in the mold with a mechanical anvil pincer to make the mechanical hinge lay flat, with the added capability of being able to be flexed hundreds of times without breaking.

INTRODUCING! The Latest Trends for Life Sciences at PACK EXPO Southeast
The exciting new PACK EXPO Southeast 2025 unites all vertical markets in one dynamic hub, generating more innovative answers to packaging challenges for life sciences products. Don’t miss this extraordinary opportunity for your business!
Read More
INTRODUCING! The Latest Trends for Life Sciences at PACK EXPO Southeast