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Computer Solutions Sealing the deal


Carly Barry reveals how Boston Scientific validates changes to its packaging process.


W


hen physicians around the world count on your products to diagnose and treat countless patients, you need to make sure


those products are safe and as affordable as possible.


That’s why Boston Scientific evaluates its operations regularly, to maintain process efficiency and contribute to affordable healthcare by reducing costs. The company has developed, manufactured and marketed medical technology for over 30 years, and serves a broad range of medical specialities.


At its Heredia, Costa Rica facility, packaging engineer Daniel Camacho led an effort to streamline packaging for guidewires – which are used during procedures such as catheter placement or endoscopic diagnoses – with the introduction of a new, smaller plastic pouch.


Engineers at the facility used Minitab statistical software to help assess and validate their packaging process, which allowed Boston Scientific to proceed with the cost-saving redesign of its pouches with total confidence.


The challenge


Using smaller packaging for its Amplatz Super Stiff Guidewires would substantially reduce Boston Scientific’s material costs, but the company needed to make sure the new pouches would work with its sealing process, which creates a barrier that keeps the guidewires sterile until they’re ready for use.


In a clean room, operators load the guidewires into pouches, then place the


30 www.engineerlive.com


pouches upside-down on the sealer- conveyer. The open edge of each pouch passes through front and rear bands that apply heat and pressure, creating a peelable seal.


Fig.1. The Pareto chart identifies the factors that significantly affect seal strength: front temperature, rear temperature, and their respective two-way interaction.


Fig.2. The team also used Minitab to create contour plots that reveal the temperature ranges under which seal strength met or exceeded specifications.


The packaging engineers needed to ensure that the strength of the seal on the smaller pouches still met or exceeded


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