Bähren Packaging: Innovation and quality with a young management team and MediaCheck support
NEW PRODUCTS 2IN1, 3IN1 OR T[W]O TEAR ®
Developments in leaflets?! Bähren Druck shows that innovation is possible even in such an established market. Outserts 2in1 or 3in1 or t[w]o tear ® are gladly accepted by customers in order to fulfil the readability guideline.
Outserts 2in1 and 3in1 are two or three products that are produced from a single printed sheet, folded and sealed with a label. By opening the closure label, 2in1 and 3in1 separate into their individual parts. This means that several leaflets can be dispensed in just one step.
t[w]o tear ® consists of two or more products made from just one printed sheet. Tearing the products at the perforation produces practical, book-like products. This means that several pieces of information can be dispensed for different addressees (doctor, pharmacist and customer sections or device and medication sections or several language versions) in just one step.
BÄHREN QUALITY GUIDELINES: IN PROCESS, NOT JUST THERE!
Product requirements are carefully checked right from the start, clear product labelling is assigned and traceability back to the supplier's paper machine is guaranteed. Recorded results for all process steps, materials used and tests are recorded and archived for each batch. In addition, Bähren scrutinises every single product during the in-process checks using camera inspections. All production lines and employees are qualified at all operational levels to ensure that production runs smoothly. Bähren achieves this with validations, qualifications and regular training courses. As with production itself, Bähren consistently invests in making processes and in-process controls more efficient and increasing the quality of its products. This is of course also reflected in further processing, which moved to a new production hall in December 2017. The workstations were designed with the results of the 5S processes in mind.
PDF COMPARISON INTEGRATED INTO THE PREPRESS WORKFLOW
The customer requirement for pharmaceutical quality naturally includes ensuring that the text that the customer approves for printing is actually printed. On the other hand, the files are prepared in the prepress process for the various printing processes and positioned on a print sheet/roll with several copies.
Bähren uses the Media Check system from tec4check for this. As part of the automated prepress workflow, the customer's original files and the internal working files are made available for comparison (connectivity module). As soon as Media Check finds the pairs of customer reference and internal PDF in the designated directory, so-called hotfolders, the comparison starts. In the background, the reference and the file to be checked are compared pixel by pixel. Deviations are determined and shown to the user. The user is then guided from one deviation to the next in the user interface. The user can see at any time what has already been completed and what is still outstanding. A PDF report on the check is then created. If no deviations are found, Media Check sends the corresponding status message to the prepress workflow. Processing there can continue without anyone having to intervene.
To monitor the system, the individual hotfolders can be viewed and monitored in a cockpit, in which the reference and check files are provided by the workflow for Media Check. For example, each user can see in the pre-press stage whether something is still missing for their job or whether the comparison has already begun. With the cockpit, every user can view the files themselves and does not have to ask the administrator for help.
PRINT SHEET CHECK AGAINST THE REFERENCE PDF
Media Check is set up as a server-client system so that several workstations can access the jobs and files. This means that the check job that is to be checked against the printed sheet can be created while the printing plates are being created. In quality control or in the pressroom, the printed sheets or even individual copies can be scanned. They are then compared pixel by pixel against the reference file. Deviations are evaluated by the user. A PDF report is created and can be saved with the order documents. A short form of the report can be created for the customer and sent to the customer on request. If the same deviations are detected on several copies on the printed sheet, these are displayed in an overview and can be evaluated simultaneously by the user with a click of the mouse. This is a great relief, especially for folding carton printed sheets. This essential quality check is carried out for every batch at Bähren, but is also part of the incoming goods inspection of many pharmaceutical companies. Thanks to the automatic provision of inspection certificates and scan protocols for customers, various pharmaceutical companies have streamlined their incoming goods inspections and rely on the documents from Bähren. This has saved on staff and equipment qualification and shortened throughput times!