As new medical devices are introduced to the market in ever-increasing numbers, it is increasing critical to have effective and concise brand identity on the packaging.  Between sterile barrier issues, tamper indicating features, and FDA mandated label information, ensuring the label and package both complement and advance a device manufacturer’s brand identity becomes more difficult.  A label printer with industry experience who knows how to balance the competing issues is vital for quality, cost effectiveness, and FDA compliance.

As brand identity becomes more sophisticated and important, it has increasing impact on labeling, especially with package real estate being at a premium.  Corporate branding standards and thick guides detailing proper usage of logos on printed media are now the norm.  ‘Making it attractive’ is not that simple anymore, even on food, hard goods, and consumer packaging. On terminally sterilized medical device packages it is significantly more complex.  In development of the packaging and labeling for a medical device, it may be instructive to imagine the final product and work backwards.

With a device package, the “finish line” is usually when the shelf carton hits the garbage (or recycling bin!) in pre-op and the device gets dumped from the tray or pouch into the sterile field.  A panel of nurses would likely tell you that the only thing OR nurses really look at is whether it is indeed the correct device, and that package integrity is in evidence.  Going back a step from that point is the warehouse in the hospital that needs everything clearly marked and legible for storage.  One more step back to hospital product sourcing and we begin to see brand identity influencing decisions between competing devices, with manufacturers’ expertise and reputations conveyed by branding holding more sway.  Going further back to stores of finished goods inventory at the device manufacturer and legibility and ease of picking product are important considerations.

The other important item is when devices come back from the hospital for restock.  A robust and well-designed tamper evident label on returned product packages can save money by preventing unnecessary repackaging and re-sterilization costs.  On the manufacturing floor, ease of adding variable data, whether by thermal transfer or laser printing, is very important for good throughput on the line.  Which brings us to the genesis of the whole process, label design.

Design for a new device label should involve a host of different functions; from design engineers, packaging engineers, marketing and branding, regulatory affairs, and (sometimes forgotten) the people who are going to have to execute the design; the label printer.  If the label printer has that 2” thick corporate style guidebook, they can incorporate those elements into a functional package. This is where the ‘real estate’ factor becomes an issue. Fortunately, there are solutions. Extended content labels (ECLs) can carry much of the load when it comes to IFUs and other required information. This leaves more space on the primary package for brand identity items and those corporate style elements.  Universal symbols and icons can also be very useful for conveying information in a compact manner, saving more space.

A label printer with experience in the medical device field can ensure the process is both efficient and cost-effective, and that you end up with a package that works from start to finish. AWT Labels & Packaging has been assisting some of the most recognizable medical device brands in the world with their on-package branding. And we can help you.

AWT labels & Packaging
Attn: Blake Insteness
binsteness@awtlabelpack.com
(612) 706-3775