Datalase marks success with expansion
UK facility, targeting the pharmaceutical industry by applying its
colour change technology in secondary packaging and on-product
tablet marking.
The investment in the facility in Widnes, Cheshire, which the company has not put a figure on, comes as Datalase is preparing to launch Casemark, a label replacement solution which it claims will greatly impact the secondary packaging logistics of pharmaceutical companies in a positive way.
Later in the year the British firm plans to launch a tablet marking system, Pharmamark, for recording medication, dosage, origin, and patient details with the goals of eliminating medication errors and counterfeiting and enhancing traceability.
DataLase has developed a laser light technique for marking products and protecting brands which is proving popular in applying virtual labels, anti-counterfeiting solutions, codes and other graphics to an array of materials at full production line speeds.
"The expansion is the result of significant successes in the Pharma, Food & Beverage, and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sectors, but mainly due to the development of a fully integrated label replacement technology," Andrew Jackson, Datalase's business development manager, told In-PharmaTechnologist.com.
"The Casemark solution will provide consumable cost savings of between 30 and 50 per cent and a capital investment payback of less than a year."
The Casemark material is applied directly to the packaging substrate in the required mark area and a computer controlled beam of laser light 'writes' the required data onto the mark area, which then undergoes a colour change reaction where the laser light strikes, so imaging occurs without contact with the substrate.
Pharmamark operates in a similar way, with a computer-controlled beam of laser light 'writing' the required data onto the tablet coating, triggering a colour change reaction and leading to imaging without contact with the tablet.
Thus, this technique ensures no cracked or damaged tablets, no extraneous undesired ink spots that affect machine readability or aesthetics and no issues with ink drying times.
DataLase hopes the expansion of its Widnes site will help it push Casemark and Pharmamark when they are launched.
The expanded facility features large new R&D and physics laboratories which have been fully equipped to enable major future product developments.
The redesigned facility also features a customer meeting area, a dedicated customer demo laboratory and a new sales office.
By the end of the year the company will also open a 'Centre of Excellence' in Atlanta, Georgia, for laser marking technology, incorporating sales and marketing, distribution, and ultimately applications laboratories to meet US customers needs.
