Nelipak and OPTEL to demonstrate new seal inspection technology for vacuum-formed trays

Nelipak® Healthcare Packaging ("Nelipak"), a full-service global provider of custom thermoformed packaging for medical devices and pharmaceuticals, has entered into an agreement of intent with OPTEL GROUP, a leading global provider of vision inspection and traceability systems, to explore commercial opportunities to bring a new seal inspection technology to the medical device market.

When it comes to medical devices, the quality of the packaging seal is paramount to maintaining the necessary sterility of the entire product. Leveraging OPTEL's technology and Nelipak's deep understanding of the healthcare packaging market's sealing needs, the two companies are pursuing commercialization of a solution that will allow the quality of a seal to be verified in real time, controlled environments while detecting contaminants and other anomalies such as creases. The process will take only seconds, minimizing impact on production and OEE figures, while also eliminating the risk of human error during visual inspection.

"Foreign-body contaminants or poorly sealed vacuum-formed trays can create major setbacks for getting a product to market or cause time-consuming and costly product recalls," said Michael Butler, senior account director at OPTEL. "The market stands to benefit significantly from a more precise and consistent method of inspecting and validating seal quality using algorithms preconfigured to a company's exact specifications."

"We are solely focused on understanding the specific needs and stringent requirements of the healthcare packaging market in the design and manufacture of rigid trays sealed on Nelipak heat tray sealers and other platforms," said Seán Egan, director of global marketing at Nelipak. "We're pleased to apply our deep understanding of sealing processes and challenges to working with OPTEL to bring to market a highly efficient and effective way to ensure seal quality."

Both companies will be exhibiting at MedtecLIVE May 21-23, 2019 in Nuremberg, Germany.

About the company

With facilities in Cranston, RI; Phoenix, AZ: Whitehall, PA; Liberty, NC; Venray, the Netherlands; Galway, Ireland; Humacao, Puerto Rico; and San Jose, Costa Rica, Nelipak® Healthcare Packaging designs, develops and manufactures custom thermoformed packaging products that provide superior protection for medical devices and pharmaceuticals. The company offers medical trays and blisters, surgical procedure trays, pharmaceutical handling trays, custom built sealing machines and other value-added services.