Systech upgrades packaging software

The provider of packaging execution systems for the pharmaceutical industry, has added an updated serialized product tracking (SPT) functionality and a global visibility function of the packaging line data.

The system works to collect and distribute production line data and business intelligence to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications and allows manufacturing managers to make better-informed business decisions by having greater visibility of the manufacturing line.

"The pharmaceutical industry is focusing more and more on efficiencies and product profitability," Systech International vice president of sales and operations Joe Ringwood told US-PharmaTechnologist.com.

"There is very little in the way of information available in the packaging arena.

This allows the packaging side of the business [to have the technology] that companies have been looking at from the process side for some time."

While similar to manufacturing execution systems (MES), Guardian, which has been on the market for a couple of years, has more of a focus on the packaging line, Ringwood said.

The advantages were that the engine that drove the software worked in a millisecond time-line to meet the packaging line and had no need for an intermediary to feed data into the system, unlike MES, he said.

"We're not looking at Guardian as competing with MES, but enhancing the MES system."

The SPT function reduces counterfeiting and provides security to the supply chain by enabling item, case and pallet level serialization.

Manufacturers can assign, encode and record EPC serial numbers for both radio frequency identification (RFID) and 2D barcode track and trace initiatives.

Any type of tracking device can be used with Guardian, the system just enables the attaching of the device at whatever packaging level the manufacturer requires.

"For Systech customers utilizing our machine and line-level solutions, Guardian represents a strategic addition into packaging operations," Ringwood said.

"By offering a plant-level solution that integrates with EPCIS [electronic product code information service] and ERP business applications, we are able to arm manufacturers with the intelligence to achieve protection, optimization and clarity in their packaging environment," he said.

Guardian is a standards-based developed product that is compliant with US Food and Drug Administration 21CFR Part 11 and current good manufacturing practices, as well as with International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) good automated manufacturing practice (GAMP) guidelines.