August Faller: new combination product for package inserts

August Faller GmbH & Co. KG is expanding its combined product portfolio: Previously, several information carriers for medicines could be combined using a band, label or adhesive dots. Now the specialist for pharmaceutical packaging also offers a film-wrapped combination of package leaflet and Patient Alert Card.

Pharmacists benefit from a more efficient packaging process and a higher Product protection. In addition to the regulatory package leaflet, more and more folding cartons for certain medicines contain additional information carriers, such as Patient Alert Cards or Medical Alert Cards. These patient cards, which can be carried on the patient, quickly provide treating organisations and doctors with important information in an emergency.

Combined for more efficiency

At its plant in Binzen, the August Faller Group develops and produces solutions for Combined package inserts in different versions: banded, labelled or with adhesive dots. Faller realised the new product combination for a large pharmaceutical manufacturer. In this solution, an Outsert is combined with a Patient Alert Card written in up to three languages and shrink-wrapped in film. The film protects the combined information carriers from contamination and makes them more resistant to wear and tear. The low shrinkage tension of the film, which was selected after thorough testing, ensures that the product does not bend. An integrated Perforation makes it easier for the patient to open. At the same time, the information is bundled and ready to hand for the patient.

The new combined product is also intended to offer considerable Cost benefits for the pharmacist in the packaging process. As the combination of leaflets can be dispensed into the folding carton like a single product, two work steps are eliminated. The folding of a leaflet and the additional insertion of an information carrier are no longer necessary. This saves the customer the cost of a dispensing unit in the packaging line, while at the same time increasing the efficiency of the packaging process.

A simple solution thanks to precision

The combined product is dispensed into the customer's packaging with an exact fit. The customer specified a maximum product tolerance of one millimetre for the manufacture of the combination product. Faller fulfilled this requirement of the pharmaceutical manufacturer by processing the product in the correct format on the collating line. The two information carriers are initially placed exactly on top of each other.

„With several high-performance Camera inspection systems we ensure that the correct information carriers are precisely combined during production. The system recognises faulty products and ejects them pneumatically after the shrink tunnel without interrupting production,“ explains Christiana Klüppelberg, application and process technician at Faller.

Stable weld seams are created during subsequent shrink-wrapping in the packaging machine with shrink tunnel. These seal the film reliably, but are fine enough that they do not affect the product tolerance.

Scope for other applications

In future, many other flexible combinations of different components will be possible with the new combination solution with protective film. For example, information carriers such as allergy cards or medication cards with inserts for self-medication for inhalers or auto-injectors can be combined with the regulatory leaflet.