Yet, those challenges are being met in commercial applications by both an end user of blow/fill/seal liquid vials in the pharmaceutical industry and by companies providing diagnostic products, through the use of Autobahn™ Tear-Open Flow Wrap from Rollprint Packaging Products. Autobahn was awarded Flexible Packaging Association’s Gold Award for Technical Innovation March 13, 2018 during FPA’s 62nd Annual Flexible Packaging Achievement Awards ceremony in Naples, FL.
Although those end-user companies prefer not to be identified, Rollprint quotes a product line manager at a major pharmaceutical company that packages blow/fill/seal liquid vials, who says, “You turn the flow wrapper on and this Autobahn material just works. …We chose [Autobahn] because we have multiple product changes per day. Starts and stops are part of our business model. A must-have for us in the selection process was a material that allows incredible forgiveness without sacrificing the flow wrappers’ maximum speed capability.”
Reportedly, the company’s use of Autobahn allowed them to move from a rigid tray with a barrier lid that was packaged in a pouch to the use of a flow wrap. As a result, a two-step packaging process was transformed into a faster single step that uses about 60% less material by weight.
Rollprint indicates the flow wrap is used for packaging “everything from small, single vials to ‘boxes’ with a large format” that stand several inches tall.
The flow-wrapping process itself presents competing goals in that to minimize user costs, the packaging line needs to run as fast as possible, yet deliver hermetic seals that are easy for consumers to open to access the product inside. Autobahn, which Rollprint refers to as “the next generation in flow-wrap packaging,” achieves these dual goals via the use of sealants designed with low-seal initiation temperature, excellent hot tack, and high-caulkability characteristics.
