Rose O’ Doherty
Sales & Marketing Director
Daniel Flynn
Sales & Marketing Coordinator
Using lean methodologies to optimise chemical packaging enables manufacturers to maximise customer value, minimise waste, enhance efficiency and improve quality.
Researching, developing and manufacturing chemical formulations isn’t the only challenge facing companies. Once a new chemistry has been developed — used in the manufacturing process of anything from coronary stents to semiconductor chips — it must be brought to the production line in the most efficient, cost-effective and sustainable way.
Getting this part wrong by using unsuitable and unsustainable packaging isn’t just bad for the environment — it could adversely affect the product integrity and patient safety. Incorrect packaging could malfunction if it’s damaged by the product’s chemistry, or the packaging material could leach into — and contaminate — the product it’s supposed to be protecting.
Holistic approach to Chemical packaging
This is why packaging optimisation — the process of ensuring packaging is the best fit for the products it contains — “should be central to both chemical manufacturers and the ir customers”, explains Rose O’Doherty, Sales & Marketing Director at Schlötter Ireland, a 50-year-old contract manufacturing firm specialising in bespoke high-purity chemical solutions for the medical device, semiconductor, electronics and surface finishing industries.
To save time and resources in the long run, it’s critical to consider chemistry packaging at the R&D product development stage, with extensive stability studies and stringent testing. “Lean manufacturing methodologies are key to this,” says O’Doherty. “These are principles that maximise customer value while minimising waste, enhancing efficiency and improving product quality.” “And in healthcare, we should never forget that ‘customers’ are, ultimately, patientswho need these products to improve their day-to-day lives.”
Schlötter Ireland recently collaborated with a manufacturer of medical devices, using standard UN-approved 25LTR packaging that required multiple changes during a production shift. But by switching to larger 250LTR packaging with a sterile liner and reusable plastic outer structure, a changeout was only necessary once per shift. This shrank production cycle times, reduced plastic material, water consumption and costs and improved operator safety by eliminating manual handling.
packaging optimisation — the process of ensuring packaging is the best fit for the products it contains
— “should be central to both chemical manufacturers and their customers
Continuous improvement to ensure competitive advantage
To promote continuous improvement, Schlötter ensures all its staff have training in lean methodologies. “After all, some of the best ideas come from the people who are manufacturing our products daily,” says O’Doherty.
However, she stresses that, in the highly regulated medical devices industry, change can’t simply be done on a whim. Close collaboration with customers is crucial because all change approvals need cross-departmental cooperation from sales, quality, engineering, production and regulatory.
In this fast-paced sector, O’Doherty advises firms to constantly review their packaging. “Markets change, and new products are always being developed,” she says. “With that in mind, it’s important to create sustainable packaging solutions that will improve your efficiency, productivity, quality and competitive advantage.”
