2020 will go down in the books as the year COVID-19 changed everything. Virtually no industry was untouched. Some benefited, but many did not.
As a packaging OEM with a medical device practice that includes syringe, test kit and PPE packaging, we've had a front row seat to Operation WARP Speed. Medical device producers, scrambling to deliver equipment to front-line workers under previously unheard-of time pressure, have had to press the envelope of traditional packaging approaches. Little can be done in that time frame to accelerate the production of new packaging machines. Instead, producers have looked to work arounds and embraced changing customer requirements to meet that demand.
We’ll focus our discussion in three areas that have made a difference in the short run: alternative packaging methods employed, automation, and individual versus bulk product packaging.