Thermo Fisher Scientific has opened a new product contamination evaluation facility in Sugar Land, Texas, US to help pharmaceutical and food manufacturers address safety and quality issues.
The Product Assurance Services and Solutions (PASS) facility, Thermo Fisher’s second in the US, offers rapid response for companies requiring thorough offsite packaged product evaluation due to foreign object contamination concerns. Additionally, the PASS facility can review products for processing anomalies (such as clumps), as well as missing components (such as empty pharmaceutical blisters or partially-filled confectionery trays).
‘We are here to help customers get answers quickly and accurately so that product recalls are avoided,’ said Carl Palmer, PASS Manager, North America. ‘Since we manufacture and sell state-of-the art metal detectors and X-ray equipment globally, we have access to the very latest technology and know the ideal operating parameters. If needed, we also can quickly obtain additional equipment to facilitate rapid evaluation of multiple truckload quantities.’
Typically, food and pharmaceutical manufacturers do not have the time, capability, access to multiple idle detection machines and/or the floor space required to carry out a thorough review so they look to an off-site solutions provider. The objective is to evaluate, identify contaminants, remove the problematic packages and return the ‘good’ product back to the manufacturer as quickly as possible so that it can continue on its distribution journey. Thermo Fisher says it offers food and pharmaceutical manufacturers multiple advantages over small local and regional entities offering similar services.
PASS facility inspection capabilities can handle a range of metal, glass, plastic or paper packaging types. This includes both rigid and flexible structures such as steel cans, metallised film, plastic bottles, blister packs, folding cartons, multilayer materials and more.
As well as the two PASS facilities in the US, Thermo Fisher has one in Rugby, Warwickshire, which serves the UK and mainland Europe.