Safety 1st Medical Breaks Into U.S. Syringe Market With Innovative Rollstock Packaging Solution
"Multivac provided a complete solution," says E. Craig Wilhelm, President-CEO of Safety 1st Medical. "They worked with us to design a package that enhanced our product, and then implemented a fully automated and integrated packaging line to produce it. This has helped us successfully enter the U.S. market, grow our business, and meet increased demand."
With the congressional passage of the 2000 Needlestick Safety & Prevention Act, the company saw an opportunity in an entirely new market segment. To succeed, the company needed unique, easy-open packaging and an automated line to get the product on the market quickly. Multivac consulted with the company to help them create packaging with maximum sterility, ease-of-use, functionality and flexibility.
INNOVATIVE PRODUCT; INNOVATIVE PACKAGE
The innovative Safe-1® Safety Syringe features one-hand operation, requires minimal training, and is easily locked and unlocked with a built-in safety sheath to discourage reuse and to prevent injury. The company further enhanced its product for the U.S. market to include large finger flanges for greater syringe control. Dosage markings were placed on the plunger to make reading the dosage easier and to reduce errors, and a plunger tip using butyl rubber eliminates risks of latex incompatibility.
"It was essential that the packaging be safe and easy-to-open, but also rigid enough to prevent the sterility from being compromised," says Wilhelm. "Assembling the equipment to cost effectively and quickly produce these packages was the real value in working with Multivac. Since we didn't have a packaging engineer and were new to the U.S. market, we needed a partner who would work with us to assemble a total packaging solution. Multivac helped us determine what type of packaging features we needed in an end product and helped us design a complete line to create it quickly and cost effectively."
The thermoform-fill-seal packaging that Multivac offers, a polymer film and laminated paper, gives Safety 1st the ability to maintain a sterile barrier and significantly reduce material costs. The package design includes a flexible see-through polymer film on the bottom, forming web that makes the product visible to the user. A top web of laminated paper that enables printing of graphics.
Production Value
In order to ship and produce the high product volumes needed to effectively compete, Safety 1st uses two Multivac R530's rollstock systems and an earlier model, the R330 rollstock system. The two R530's are integrated with loading and unloading equipment for complete automation.
"The capacity of the machines meet and, in fact, exceed our initial production requirements. This allows us to meet peak demand and gives us the room we need to grow in this market," says Wilhelm who also considered Multivac's service when deciding which packaging manufacturer to work with.
"We considered purchasing previously owned and used/re-built machines from other suppliers, but Multivac's service and integration support provide the production edge we needed to compete in this industry," says Wilhelm. "Our products have to arrive in pristine condition and Multivac packaging systems and service help us to accomplish our goals on time and on budget."
Integration of other packaging equipment was also an important part of the process that would contribute to overall efficiency.
"Multivac worked with manufacturers of automatic loading and unload equipment to design a complete line for us," says Wilhelm. "This minimizes human contact with our product, contributing to sterility and product integrity."
Integration also enhanced other vital areas of the operation. Videojet and Bellmark 2 color printers were integrated into the line to create fixed and variable text on the syringe package. The Videojet printer is specifically used to print lot code on each package.
"Integrated printing was vital because it allows us to efficiently trace every syringe we package, and to maximize production time and costs," says Wilhelm. "A complete integration solution was ideal for us. We didn't have to spend our staff time and resources to configure, connect and test additional equipment."
Success in the Market
Safety 1st has successfully entered the United States market with the new product. In fact, demand is growing rapidly. Effective packaging, combined with the company's unique product offering, has enabled Safety 1st to meet customer demand, exceed requirements, significantly increase monthly sales, and capture a solid position in the safety syringe market.
"Through effective packaging, we can communicate our brand image and maintain customer confidence in our product," says Wilhelm. "Multivac's combination of consultation, reliability, support, and strong vendor relationships helped us quickly break into this market and grow our business."
Multivac