*Updated 1-4-18

Bagging System for the medical industry

This manufacturer of laboratory disposables—test tubes and pipettes—was hand-loading bags as pieces came off an injection molder. A bagging system would soon help them increase their productivity.

The company’s method of production processing was to hand load bags, which is not efficient way to package products for shipment.

Besides the inherent inefficiency of hand loading, the process utilized flat bags, which required employees to try to push out as much air as possible once the bag was loaded. The loading rate was just 480 bags per hour per employee. Stringent standards for gamma sterilization also had to be met to comply with the laboratory environments in which parts would ultimately be used.

bagging system helps increase productivity

The Sharp MAX™ 20-inch bagging systembagging system with a custom dual-stage funnel allows this manufacturer to count / accumulate product and then seal the bag in one continuous process. As the product stream continues uninterrupted, the entire line keeps running even as the bag is sealed.

Our all-in-one system evacuates air from the bag and allows the product to be gamma irradiated right in the bag.

We provided the other half of the solution—gamma sterilization—with the Sharp Gamma E-Z Bags™. The “Gamma Patient” material is specifically designed for the medical industry. The all-in-one system evacuates air from the bag and allows the product to be gamma irradiated right in the bag.

When the bag reaches the point of end use, its contents can be accessed by a transverse tear, similar to a cut made by a knife. This ease of opening, with no perforations required, reduces the chance of releasing package particles into the laboratory environment.  Thermal imprinting of barcodes and variable information directly on the bag eliminates the cost of paper labels. Typically, customers can save between $10 and $15 per thousand in labels by printing right on the bag.

Outcome

Production for a single employee went from 480 bags per hour previously to 540 bags per hour with the Sharp MAX™. This increase in productivity allowed the manufacturer to reduce staffing in this area from 14 to 7 employees. Formerly, the company produced 4,000 packages in a 17-hour workday. It now produces the same number in 4.67 hours.

Total Packaging Cost Summary

  • 30% increase in hourly productivity
  • Reduced labor costs

*Editors note. This post was originally published on June 14, 2016 and has been updated with the most up to date content.

Follow our Knowledge Base for the latest blogs on packaging supplies, equipment, case studies, and more ways to save money.
Don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook and click those share buttons below if this post helped you.