Labelling on vials & ampoules

Labelling of vials and ampoules in the pharmaceutical industry – when highest production rates meet highest precision

Although vials and ampoules are often mentioned together, they differ in construction. An ampoule consists of a completely sealed glass container that is opened by breaking the glass. A vial, on the other hand, is a glass bottle that is sealed with a rubber stopper and an aluminum cap and can be punctured with a hypodermic needle.

What both types of products have in common is that they are small, fragile and produced in very high volumes, making labelling one of the most technically advanced parts of the entire production line.

The real challenge is not speed – but product density

It is easy to believe that vials and ampoules are transported extremely quickly through the production line. In practice, the transport speed is not always high. The challenge lies instead in the fact that the products are very small.

The same transport distance can accommodate significantly more vials than cartons or plastic cans. This means that even a relatively low belt speed can correspond to several hundred products per minute. For the labelling equipment, this means that very large quantities of products must be identified, positioned and labeled in a very short time.

That is why vials and ampoules are often perceived as the highest performing production lines in the pharmaceutical industry.

Small products pose big mechanical challenges

The small size also means that the products are significantly more difficult to handle.

Vials and ampoules are:

• lighten
• smala
• high in relation to its diameter
• sensitive to shocks

Many products also have a high center of gravity. For example, a vial has a glass container with liquid and a relatively heavy rubber stopper and aluminum seal at the top. This means that the product can easily tip over if it is not guided correctly through the production line.

To ensure stable transport, star wheels, guides and specially adapted solutions are often used to keep each individual product in the correct position throughout the labelling process.

The products must not be damaged.

Unlike many other types of packaging, vials and ampoules often contain very valuable or sensitive pharmaceuticals, so a mechanical failure can have far greater consequences than just a broken glass bottle.

A damaged vial can mean:

• product disposal
• contamination of the production line
• production stoppage
• extensive cleaning
• revalidation of the process

The labelling system must therefore not only work quickly but also handle each product with very high mechanical precision.

The label is the primary information carrier

On vials and ampoules, the available labelling space is very limited. At the same time, the product must carry the same important information as larger pharmaceutical packages. Therefore, the label is almost always used as the main information carrier.

The label usually includes:

• product name
• drug strength
• batch number
• expiration date
• Datamatrix code
• Serial Number
• regulatory information

Because the label has a very small surface area, high demands are placed on both printing resolution and application accuracy.

The properties of the glass affect the marking process

The properties of the glass also need to be taken into account in the design. Many vials are made of clear glass. For some light-sensitive drugs, brown or amber glass is used instead.

The purpose is to protect the contents from UV radiation and thereby preserve the stability of the drug during storage. The color of the glass also affects the contrast that can be achieved with direct labelling and therefore needs to be considered when choosing ink or laser technology.

The marking technique is chosen based on the entire production process

Labelling vials & ampoules is about much more than choosing a printer. The entire production line must function as a coherent system where:

• the products are positioned correctly
• labels are applied with high precision
• variable information is printed with high resolution
• vision cameras verify the result
• Incorrect products are sorted out automatically

Only when the entire process works together can the pharmaceutical industry's high demands on quality, traceability and patient safety be met.

At Logimark, we therefore always base our design of labelling solutions for vials and ampoules on the characteristics of the product, the design of the production line and the customer's quality requirements. It is the interaction between mechanics, labelling technology and automation that creates a robust and future-proof solution.