KL1 Tablet Counter Reduces QC Time by 50%; ROI in 10 Months for Pharmaceutical Packager

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The KL1 devices decrease counting time and improve accuracy.

Lake Forest, IL (PRWEB) August 20, 2014

Kirby Lester, LLC, a leading counting technology provider, announced its best-selling KL1 tablet counter reduced quality control (QC) time by 50% and increased counting accuracy for an international contract pharmaceutical packager. The KL1 was the subject of a thorough validation study performed by Sharp Packaging Solutions.

Sharp also found that a positive return on investment (ROI) would be met in only 10 months. Based on the successful completion of its validation study, Sharp now uses KL1 tablet counters for hourly QC checks on all bottling lines and for small quantity bottle filling.

Sharp fulfills greater than 100 pharmaceutical bottling projects per month on fully automated bottling lines. A major compliance requirement for a bottling line is to assure accurate product counts. Manual counting and QC methods with hand-counting trays and scales are commonly used in pharmaceutical packaging processes, but these manual processes can negatively affect accuracy, customer satisfaction, and FDA/GMP compliance. The KL1 was found to decrease QA inspection time during commercial bottling and increase filling accuracy.

“After we completed validation testing, we found the KL1 met every expectation,” says Ron Bates, Sharp’s Senior Project Engineer for New Business Development. “The KL1 devices decrease counting time and improve accuracy. If you are in the business of verifying in-process counts of bottles, the KL1 should get a serious examination.”

High-level findings from the Sharp Packaging Solutions' validation study include:

• Accuracy: Three different oval tablets were selected for validation activities. Each size was tested for the following counts: 1, 10, 25, 40, 75, 195, 260 and 300, with no count errors. A repeatability test was conducted using 300 tablets; no counting errors were documented over 10 repeatability trials.
• Labor savings: Sharp Quality’s validation study included financial impact; ROI is expected to be reached within 10 months per device in labor savings alone (not including product loss that was known to occur with manual methods and ensuing customer financial penalties).
• Superior to the counting tray and scale, in terms of accuracy and time.
• Removable contact parts: The top funnel, inside channel and bottom tray can be removed from the KL1, and Sharp maintains an inventory of dedicated “contact part kits” for every product they package.
• Versatility: The KL1 can be used for a wide variety of processes, including smaller count runs, return counts, reconciliation counts, and waste counts. The KL1 is also portable and is used by multiple Sharp departments.

About Kirby Lester
Kirby Lester is the world’s leading counting technology provider. Established in 1971, Kirby Lester maintains the largest market share of automatic tablet/capsule counter sales in the United States, plus 40 other countries. More Kirby Lester counters are used to dispense prescriptions in pharmacies and manufacturing facilities than all other automated dispensing systems combined; over 40,000 companies worldwide rely on Kirby Lester for their counting needs…exactly! For more information, contact Kirby Lester at 800.641.3961 or http://www.kirbylester.com.

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