Change control in pharma, in particular, is often seen as a major obstacle to changing from one form of packaging to another. But the process doesn’t have to be lengthy and painful, it just has to be logical and robust – and Industrial Packaging can help.

Change control

It may be a good idea to change your bulk packaging for a variety of reasons: to save money, to solve a problem related to existing packaging, or to move to a more environmentally sustainable option, for example. When a better packaging solution is identified for any of these reasons, the advantages will justify the time spent implementing the change.A controlled change process, while it may seem daunting, can be your friend, to ensure a successful transition.

 

What is change control?

Change control is a systematic approach to managing all changes made to a product or system.

The purpose of this is to ensure that no unnecessary changes are made, that all changes are documented, that services are not unnecessarily disrupted and that resources are used efficiently.

Change control procedures clarify what all parties involved are to expect and deliver.

How long does packaging change control take?

The length of time a change control process takes depends on the culture of the companies involved, industry regulations and other factors.

For example, in the case of bulk packaging in the pharma industry, even a change from one HDPE drum to an identical one from a different manufacturer may involve trials to ensure the drum meets requirements. The trial results, together with the business case for changing manufacturer, may then need to be reviewed and approved by management and/or central services.

How Industrial Packaging can help with change control

Rob Lee with industrial containers for dangerous goods

We understand change control, as we have assisted many of our customers with it.

We can help in the following ways:

  •  Once we know all your requirements, we can quickly identify the alternatives to your current product, and provide you with all the information needed to determine which options best meet your performance needs. We have Dangerous Goods Safety Advisors (DGSAs) on site, as well as experts with decades of experience working with multiple bulk packaging types.
  • As well as being a manufacturer for over 70 years, we have distribution agreements with many other reputable manufacturers of quality bulk packaging across Europe, so we can offer a wide variety of options, saving you time consulting different manufacturers.
  • Our own manufacturing team and our third-party manufacturers can be available to provide information, answer questions and run tests, bringing a wealth of technical knowledge to the change control process.
  • In many cases we may already have stability study data: for some products, we have undertaken generic stability studies, for example, studies testing moisture vapour transmission rates. This data will be available to you to help speed up the process.
  • We are always happy to work with you to find the most cost-effective solutions.

So, if you think there might be a better packaging solution for your product, but have been putting it off for fear of the change control process, give us a call! We will do our best to make the process quicker and easier than it may otherwise have been.

 

 

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