Blog #6: Man beats machine - 10 years of syringe sighting

By Lars Dörhage
reading time: 5 Minutes

Med-X-Press broke new ground a decade ago with its syringe triage service. Today, we are successfully active in a niche that is considered the "gold standard" due to its high requirements. 

Our blog is slowly filling up 

As it turns out, this format offers many opportunities to shed light on our topics from a new perspective. This applies in particular to our "syringe inspection" service, to which I am dedicating our sixth blog post to mark the occasion: We launched this business area exactly ten years ago, so we are celebrating a small company anniversary today. 

We have every reason to be proud 

"Syringe sighting" - which has also included vial sighting since the end of 2021 - is a real entrepreneurial success story "made by Med-X-Press". Even the bare figures prove this: We currently have 32 employees - mostly women from the surrounding area - who put their keen eyes and high level of expertise at our disposal. They now work in two shifts to inspect over two million syringes and vials per month. By way of comparison, we started out with a team of 15. With our idea of establishing the "syringe inspection" area ten years ago, we have created a service that is relevant to the industry and which we are constantly perfecting and expanding. 

Good things always follow good things 

The fact that we have been offering "vial sifting" since 2021 is thanks to our excellent reputation in syringe sifting, which was brought to the attention of a major pharmaceutical manufacturer. When he commissioned us to sift his vials in an "emergency situation", we worked with him to establish this area at Med-X-Press in record time. Together, we trained our staff on the product. Thanks to the high level of qualification and now many years of experience of our classifiers, they were able to be deployed for vial classification after a short but intensive training period. 

Whether syringes or vials - customers appreciate our commitment 

With the special premises and the well-coordinated, highly professional process, we guarantee the high quality and safety of your products. The qualifications of our classifiers are now known beyond the borders of Goslar. External companies therefore want to "borrow" our staff time and again for emergency assignments.

For those who are interested: The correct technical term for our service is "visual inspection of parenterals". This term covers all sterile drugs (i.e. syringes and vials) for infusion and injection bypassing the gastrointestinal tract - i.e. everything that does not enter the body via the mouth or intestine. 

The hurdles are high 

Because syringe and vial inspection is extremely demanding from a technical point of view, requires a sharp, incorruptible eye and is also subject to particularly strict legislation, it bears the "gold standard" quality seal. Because only an absolutely flawless product guarantees the safety of the patient. The European Pharmacopoeia and the GMP guidelines of the EU - as well as those of the USA - stipulate 100% control of parenterals. This means a mandatory quality check on every single syringe and every vial. The entire batch can be checked visually, automatically, semi-automatically or fully automatically. Each visual inspection is based on a defined catalog of defects. For example, checks are made for visible particles within the solution, undamaged syringes/damaged vials or correct filling. 

Time and again, it turns out that man beats machine 

Machine inspection using semi-automatic or fully automatic inspection machines is extremely complex and demanding, presenting operators with particularly high challenges. Because the machine can never be as accurate as the human eye, the products often have to be manually re-inspected by trained personnel after automatic sorting. 

A visual inspection by our excellently trained staff is therefore worthwhile for all customers for several reasons: 

1. Med-X-Press has the quality management system required for the inspection
2. Med-X-Press has the necessary manufacturing authorization for visual inspection (issued after regular inspection by the responsible state authority).
3. We have a highly trained, qualified team that is ready for action quickly.
4. There are currently 32 highly motivated, committed and reliable classifiers to ensure fast processing.
5. Our team works continuously and reliably, so machine downtimes due to regular maintenance work and inspections are not an issue.
6. The client has no investment costs for automated systems (and their expensive maintenance)
7. The visual inspection confirms the product quality and protects the manufacturer from costly recalls. 

People keep asking me: How did you actually come up with this idea back then? Quite simply, we were constantly receiving complaints from manufacturers who lacked the machinery and personnel to carry out the legally required visual inspections. This information from various sources was enough for us to know at some point: This is where we can create real added value for our clients - and establish a valid, sustainable business model for Med-X-Press.

However, an idea is only ever as good as its implementation: as always when we conquer new territory in our still young company, we took an extremely systematic approach to setting up this new department. In addition to the legal framework, we also had to create the spatial conditions for the screening process. And above all, we had to find and train suitable staff. We had to create screening stations in a darkened room: Each sifter enters their workstation wearing special GMP clothing prescribed for the pharmaceutical industry - i.e. smocks, hoods (which enclose the entire hair), protective gloves and overshoes. They sit in front of a black and white background, in front of which they examine each individual syringe or vial closely under a high-tech inspection lamp. Using customized inspection tongs, they can grasp not just one, but up to ten syringes at a time and inspect them one after the other. This optimizes the process - for us as well as for the customer. This makes it possible to achieve two million sightings per month. It also goes without saying that the rooms are subject to a strict cleaning program.

Here too, people are the key to success: I would therefore like to take this opportunity to celebrate our fantastic team, without whose dedication and professionalism we would not be able to offer this demanding service. We are proud of our classifiers, who meet the high demands of this job every day anew. And we look forward to welcoming new employees who are interested in this demanding job. We provide them with special training - both on GMP standards and on the inspection procedure. After our special training, they complete a "test" in which they have to identify the intentionally incorrectly prepared products among many correct syringes. This "test" is repeated regularly, and at the same time our company doctor regularly checks the eyesight of all team members. 

Syringes and vials create jobs 

All of our employees come from the region in and around Goslar. We have therefore created many secure jobs with our syringe and vial inspection service. Many interested parties apply in response to our advertisements or are recruited by our team members themselves. Of course, we prefer this because our employees know exactly who in their circle of friends and acquaintances they can trust with this challenging task. And above all, it shows us that there is a good, respectful working atmosphere in our team.  In light of this positive development and the great potential of this department, I am very much looking forward to the next ten years! 

Do you have any questions or would you like advice on our services? We look forward to hearing from you. 
Please feel free to write to us at:  vertrieb@med-x-press.de

You can find more information on syringe sighting here.