When did that carton pass this spot on the production line?

Packaging pharmaceutical drugs that have been Serialized requires you follow strict processes, track everything, and know whether you actually used an assigned serial number or not.

Our client properly used the Serialization software and hardware that we helped them implement, but because of the nature of the packaging process, it was possible for a serial number to be assigned to a carton or bottle, but the actual product/bottle/carton might not get used.

A set of manual processes were in place to prevent discrepancies, but it was still possible for a pallet to be short or have too many serial numbers assigned due to human error. If an error happens, the production line must be shut down until the discrepancy is resolved and that costs money.

To improve their tracking capability, we created the PASS system.

PASS is a standalone system created with off-the-shelf hardware and custom software to record arbitrary pharma 2D (GS1) serialization barcodes on products as they move along a conveyor. It tracks serial numbers, records barcode data, verifies readability, and provides reports for any time period.

The system includes a touchscreen HMI, 2D barcode reader, a database of all barcode data, a report generator, read fail/pass statistics, and is mounted on a conveyor with automatic kickoff of defective reads.

Since Serialization must be perfectly executed every time, tracking where and when a serialized product passed a point on the production line is critical. By tracking and reporting serialized product just before it is placed in a shipper box, we can confirm a serial number was there ready to be boxed up without re-opening the shippers.

If at some point the numbers don't tie out, we save a huge amount of staff time that would have been spent searching for missing product across multiple pallets.

The PASS system has saved us countless hours in the rare case when our Serialization counts don't tie out. We know instantly whether a serial number made it to that point on the line or not allowing us to focus the search at the right place at the right time.