The production and processing of pharmaceuticals requires specialist equipment. This is especially true if you’re creating the products from scratch or have an R&D team who are constantly experimenting with chemical compounds that your competitors haven’t figured out yet.
Once your products have been created, they need to be safely packaged. With pharmaceuticals and healthcare products, it isn’t as simple as putting them in a bottle, box, or other container and shipping them out. Not only do the packages need to be safe, secure, and well-tested, the labels applied to each also need to be high quality.
Labelling is a crucial part of the process for any pharmaceutical company. Today we’re going to discuss what labels should be used for healthcare products, which labelling machines are best, and what you should expect from your labels.
Which Healthcare and Pharmaceutical products need Labels?
In short, almost all of them. Labels are essential for all healthcare products, as you need to include a lot of information for legal reasons, and for the consumers’ benefit.
This is similar to the food and drink industry where you need to list ingredients, use-by dates, storage information, and any potential health risks (usually allergens in this case).
Pharmaceutical products, even those that are bought in stores without the need for a prescription, must contain all of this information and more. You have to make it clear who these products are for, and highlight any potential risks involved with taking them. Dosages also need to be clear to prevent any ill effects on the buyer.
It isn’t just consumable products either. The packaging for medical devices, everything from needles to a back massager, need clear information on the labels. If you’re also producing the tools needed to take medicines or use healthcare products, there is a lot of information you need to include, which presents an issue.
Including Information on Labels
With so much information, it can be difficult to cram it all onto a small label. Even larger products can quickly become full of text as you cover all bases.
Some of this is alleviated by including information within the packaging. This can be a folded leaflet or a small booklet, depending on how much is needed. When this is included, the labels only need to contain the most important information, and the layout can be much easier to design.
For pharmaceuticals, you must always include the following on the exterior labels:
- Product Name
- Product Purpose
- Ingredients (both active and inactive)
- Dosage and/or Instructions
- Warnings and Potential Side Effects
- Demographic-Specific Guidance (such as if you can take it while pregnant)
Failing to include any of this could put people at risk, and your company at risk of legal action.
With so much important information, the labels you need must be high quality.
The Best Labels for Pharmaceutical Products
There are two main factors you should consider when printing labels. First is the clarity of the text. There is a lot you must include, which means that some of the text will end up being very small for many labels.
If your label printer can’t create clear text in that size, your labels will become much less informative, and your products could be recalled until you upgrade your machines.
Quality thermal printers will create high-definition text that can be clearly seen even on labels that have been slightly worn. Inkjet printing isn’t recommended for pharmaceutical labels as the ink can smudge. Thermal printers don’t need ink cartridges, instead their print heads use a heated pad that creates perfect images and clear text every time (until the parts start to wear out). They’re also much cheaper long term, making them the go-to for companies that need hundreds or thousands of labels per day.
Thermal printers need specialist materials to print onto; regular paper won’t handle the heat. These are both easy to order and cheap, at least compared to ink cartridges, but they also come with another, more important benefit.
The other factor you need to consider is durability. Your products may be consumable, but your labels should be easy to read for as long as they are being used, which can be weeks, months, or even years in some cases. There’s also shipping to consider. During lengthy journeys labels can be scratched, torn, or could become damp in bad weather.
By using tough labels, they’ll still be fit for purpose no matter what happens, and they will take a long time to fade, even in direct sunlight.
Thermal Label Printers for Pharmaceutical Labels
We’ve already established that thermal printers are the way to go, but every thermal label printer is different. For large pharmaceutical companies you’ll want a specialist machine that will label the products on your behalf, doing the job much faster than human workers, and with more accuracy overall.
If you’re a smaller company or prefer the human touch, there are thermal label printers that are perfect for you. These are smaller machines that can be placed on or under a desk/table, ready to use any time.
However, if you plan on expanding your company, you may want to invest in a larger machine that will keep up with increased demand. It’s also worth investing in a well-reviewed machine from a leading brand, as that comes with more reliability.
If your printer does start to let you down, call Label Line for help.
Thermal Label Printer Repair and Maintenance
Our expert team can service and repair any labelling machine, no matter what its purpose may be. We help pharmaceutical companies all the time with their machines, keeping them running at max efficiency.
We also provide regular servicing agreements. During these services, which require minimal downtime, our team will clean your machine and look for any wear or potential faults so that your printer doesn’t stop working unexpectedly. If new parts are needed, we’ll help you order and even fit them if necessary, so you can continue doing what you do best with the support of your printer.