In a session titled, Are You Paying to Sterilize Air? Veronica Ammer from Treace Medical Concepts, Inc. presented a project in which she was tasked with re-sizing packaging for one of the company’s products.
Day 2 at the PACK out in sunny Coronado, California and the sessions focused on rethinking existing medical device packaging, and for good reason.
In a session titled, Are You Paying to Sterilize Air?Veronica AmmerfromTreace Medical Concepts, Inc. presented a project in which she was tasked with re-sizing packaging for one of the company’s products. The task was to create a smaller footprint while meeting all regulatory compliance. Plus, she was to consider sustainability and sterilization in the redesign.
The sterilization method for the package and product was gamma, and the products were arriving at the sterilization facility on pallets. They were then loaded into sterilization carriers, but only one case size was permitted in the carrier at one time. At that time, the company was seeing 47% utilization per carrier.
“Due to dimensions of the box, I realized I’m paying to sterilize air! So, while redesigning the existing package, I asked myself, ‘how do I stop paying to sterilize air?’” asks Ammer.
Ammer says she did this by focusing on proportional packaging, standard overpacking, and batch. Through proportional packaging, she says she started with the largest product and optimized its package size. Next, she tackled the other products in its sterilization family. The three different pack sizes were optimized to all fit together in the same overpack (just in different quantities), and since all packaging had the same dose range, the company could use a universal case size.
“Proportional packaging makes this simple. All packs fit in the same overpack, just in different quantities,” explains Ammer.
Ammer was able to implement proportional packaging utilizing one standard overpack to sterilize multiple products in batches. She says she was able to reduce the pack size by 47% and saw $200k packaging materials cost avoidance in one year.The best part? She was no longer paying to sterilize air.
Later on, Santiago Beltran, Principal Engineer, Blue Anchor Consulting andCory Layman, Business Development Engineer for Guardian Medical presented a case study session titled, Implementation of an Alternative Packaging Technology for Sterile Implants.
A spinal implant OEM was looking for a new and impactful solution since sterile pouches and trays weren’t fitting the solution criteria. Beltran explained how he found a new solution inspired by a trip to Home Depot. The tube package that the team chose requires no secondary packaging, no sealing equipment, and no seal integrity testing because it’s a 100% in-process verification.
Hutter broke down designing for circularity, advising, "Take a close look at the pack; don’t keep doing it one way because you've always done it that way."Finally,Samantha SmithfromMedtronic &Christian HutterfromB. Braun Medical Inc. (US) presented, “Beyond the Device- Rethinking Sustainable Packaging in MedTech,” addressing current sustainability issues in medical device packaging. Smith said that clinicians are demanding less waste and more circular product, and EPP (environmentally preferable purchasing) is a high consideration. While sustainability is a key consideration in hospitals, she said that current challenges show that significant change is needed to bring circularity to Medtech.
Hutter brought some suggestions to addressing these challenges. He broke down designing for circularity in these five ways:
1. Right size: choose the appropriate size pack, avoiding making it too big. "Take a close look at the pack; don’t keep doing it one way because you've always done it that way."
2. Eliminate the unnecessary pieces or materials, for example in a kit, reduce what you can.
3. Choose recyclable materials if you can, opt for mono-material solutions.
4. Choose renewable materials like paper fibers or bio-based plastics, if applicable.
5. Design for the future state: determine where you want to be. And, be clear about the materials chosen; indicate that clearly on pack.
An audience question asked both speakers, “What one thing should MDMs focus on?” Hutter: Fit for purpose… design for purpose and minimize. Do we need it? Can I use renewable materials? Do I need this packaging elements? Smith: Learn your value chain, learn who your customer is, walk in their shoes as much as you can.
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