Just in time manufacturing is a practice carried out across many industries, which aims to generate product as efficiently as possible with low cost, minimal personnel, and low waste.
In the world of pharmaceutical powder handling, just in time manufacturing is a very important process when hydrating cell culture media.
Most small-scale media and buffer operations can be carried out using small, pre-prepared bottles of liquid media, but when processes are scaled up to manufacturing levels, this is rarely a viable option due to the costs of shipping liquid.
In fact, 90% of cell-culture media and buffer for sale is now kept in powder form, and must be hydrated, mixed and packaged at the manufacturing side to be used in bioprocessing. This “just in time” hydration allows for increased compliance and process efficiency.
Single-use powder handling solutions can reduce the time spent on cell-culture hydration and ensure regulatory compliance every step of the way by keeping product pure and free of contaminants.
Transport and management of powdered solutions is made quick and easy, with products such as the EZ BioPac from ILC Dover designed to optimise and enhance the powder handling process.
How can the EZ BioPac help with “just in time” hydration?
The EZ BioPac is a single-use plastic containment and transfer system designed to easily adjust to different bulk weights of powder, promising a speedy and precise fill time and clean dispensing.
It sets itself apart from competitor products by being faster to fill accurately through the large top opening, while its innovative outer skirt folds down around the support frame to keep the outside of the bag clean.
Manufacturer testing demonstrated that as little as 0.04% of media and buffer will be left inside of the bag following use, ensuring near-complete product recovery.
The highly effective discharging is due in part to the unique 3D cone construction of the bottom section of the EZ BioPac powder bag, in combination with the inherently anti-static ArmorFlex film. Three independent trials comparing the EZ BioPac against a competitor’s 2D transfer bag also indicated a 71% faster total fill time.
In fact, the EZ BioPac not only reduces the time used to retrieve raw materials and verify quality, but completely eliminates the two-person, five-hour dispensing process of scooping, weighing and measuring powder into different containers.
The total man hours saved across all production steps with the EZ BioPac clocks in at around 20 or more, meaning single-use powder handling solutions such as these are a significant investment.
ILC Dover is always available to work with pharmaceutical producers to find out just how useful the EZ BioPac and its other single-use powder handling solutions can be to their operation.
