Serialization is not a pie-in-the-sky affair any longer—there are enough pharmaceutical companies that have implemented the technology that some conclusions can be drawn as to suitable systems, timelines, and above all, costs.
Benoit Maheux, Project Manager, Serialization Team Leader, Optel Vision, presented several videos illustrating suitable serialization, trace-and-trace and aggregation solutions, for real packaging lines, for both cartons and bottles. The title of the presentation was “Serialization Impacts in the Pharmaceutical Industry.”
A highlighted case study examined performing full aggregation in one phase vs two phases, using cost information gleaned from Optel’s customer base. Direct and indirect costs were broken out for one-phase and two-phase implementation, as well as profit loss from downtime. Overall, Maheux estimated that two-phase implementation can cost up to 22% more.
Another overall message from Maheux was this: deadlines are approaching quickly and there are still many companies waiting for the last minute to address serialization.
