Part 2: Tips for Revamping Your Artwork Approval Process

Overhauling the artwork approval process? A senior labeling manager at Bausch Health shares tips about what to consider before you start including allocating resources and time, and the importance of work instructions.

An artwork or label management system can play a major role in tracking the review process with so many stakeholders.
An artwork or label management system can play a major role in tracking the review process with so many stakeholders.

In label management, breakdowns in communication and bottlenecks can cause delays in packaging implementation and can even lead to product recalls if the approved content isn’t correctly incorporated during production.

Nicole Quallis, Senior Labeling Manager at Bausch Health, recently spoke on a panel at Pharma Packaging and Labeling East Coast 2019 about her experience with overhauling the artwork approval process. In Part 2 of this two-part series, she’s sharing tips on what to consider before you start. For Part 1, click here.

  1. Remove “what we've always done” from the vocab

It’s easy to keep moving with the current process, but in order to improve processes, you have to question each step. “Sometimes that's the hardest thing because you may just do what you've been doing, but there is always an opportunity for improvement,” notes Quallis. “Putting in the resources to analyze your process is obviously difficult, because everyone’s day-to-day work still has to get done. These sessions take time. It really takes a mindset that this is a priority for us as a company and therefore we want to address this and we're willing to put the resources around it.”

  1. Make sure your label management is customized to your workflow

An artwork or label management system can play a major role in tracking the review process with so many stakeholders. Quallis says that Bausch uses an Esko Artwork Management System that they implemented prior to streamlining their process, adding, “Esko has and continues to be a big part of our process and the system has been customized to meet our new process for artwork changes. We’re happy with this software and the flexibility it allows.

“Once the team came up with a proposal to streamline the process, the graphics group worked directly with the vendor to make all the changes we wanted in the new system. Esko gave us additional project fields and entry fields so that the software fit our new process,” she adds.

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