DataLase (formerly Sherwood Technology) is working with Qiagen in order to apply variable information onto the lid of blister packs. DataLase Packmark is a unique, patent-pending, coding and marking solution for applying on-demand variable information to primary packaging materials, said an official release.

Qiagen, who is a leading provider of innovative sample and assay technologies and products for the life science and diagnostic market, needed to apply variable information such as lot codes, date of manufacturing, expiry dates and storage details onto the packaging of its cleanroom produced blister packs.

Traditionally the company used a thermal transfer printer to apply the required data to the steripaper which forms the lid; however the image produced was not of a reproducible high enough quality. The company then employed traditional laser printing methods in order to ablate the information, but image quality and cost were still found to be issues. As a result, Qiagen requested that DataLase work with Siegwerk in order to develop an "ink" featuring the DataLase chemistry which is specifically adapted to the company's requirements.

The solution sees the entire paper lid being flexo printed and treated with the DataLase chemistry. The chemistry is then activated by a very low power CO2 laser which causes a positive image to be formed on the lid, which cannot be tampered with. By adopting the DataLase process, Qiagen was able to produce very high quality data in a cost effective way. The adoption of this solution has also resulted in fast production run times and removed the need for expensive consumables on the production line.

"By using the DataLase process to apply variable information directly onto our blister packs we have been able to consistently produce packaging that features high grade data and that is also cost-effective", comments Rene Hess at Qiagen. "We researched all of the potential technologies that could be used to apply data to our packs, and found that DataLase Paackmark was the only viable solution to our challenges."