Originally Published PMPN January 2006
News
DuPont Debuts Next-Generation Tyvek
DuPont Medical Packaging has launched a new material in its Tyvek family of products, Tyvek Asuron. DuPont developed Tyvek Asuron after consulting medical device manufacturers, sterile-packaging manufacturers, and other experts about how a next-generation product could improve upon its widely used Tyvek 1073B. The new material is available for coated and uncoated applications, including bags, pouches, lidding, and rollstock. After debuting Tyvek Asuron at MEDICA 2005 in Düsseldorf, DuPont will introduce it to U.S. medical device manufacturers at Medical Design & Manufacturing West 2006 in Anaheim, CA.
John Richard, DuPont Medical Packaging’s North American business manager, says that the new material is equivalent to Tyvek 1073B in terms of base performance, with several enhancements. These enhancements were decided upon after giving the customer an “extensive voice” before and during product development, Richard says. DuPont focused on four areas of improvement:
• Appearance. DuPont has formulated the material so that it is more uniform in appearance than Tyvek 1073B. “It is whiter and brighter, and exhibits a more homogeneous appearance,” says Richard.
• Seal performance. “Tyvek Asuron exhibits better visual appearance over a broader temperature range,” says Richard. The material can now accommodate wider variability in sealing equipment, such as temperature variations across a heat-sealing platen. He adds that “the reduced propensity for transparentized seals could lead to fewer rejects for seal appearance.”
• Printability. “We have improved overall print quality across all typical printing methods, including flexographic and thermal transfer,” Richard says. For instance, “the improved properties of Tyvek Asuron now enable consistent verifiable B-grade bar codes using thermal transfer methods.”
• Global Production Capability. DuPont has expanded its fulfillment locations by manufacturing Tyvek Asuron at both its Luxembourg and Richmond, VA, locations. “Currently, Tyvek Asuron is the only medical-grade [Tyvek] that is manufactured and supplied from two separate locations. DuPont decided to manufacture Tyvek Asuron in two locations “for companies worrying about contingency planning, especially applicable to large global medical device manufacturers,” he says.
Sterile-packaging manufacturers got a chance to evaluate the product during the last calendar year. These included Amcor Flexibles (Mundelein, IL), Mangar Industries (New Britain, PA), Perfecseal (Oshkosh, WI), Oliver Products (Grand Rapids, MI), and Tolas Health Care Packaging (Feasterville, PA). “For the last 12 to 18 months, we have focused on ensuring the product improvements met the voice of the customer,” Richard says.
Richard adds that DuPont is targeting the material for new products. “We expect some Tyvek 1073B users will make the switch, but it will more likely be adopted for new devices.”
At MEDICA, several sterile-packaging manufacturers showed Tyvek Asuron. “Attendees were excited about being able to get another Tyvek grade from our European manufacturing location and provided us with very positive reactions to Tyvek Asuron’s enhanced bar code readability and improved print clarity,” says Richard.
In terms of pricing, Richard notes that while converters determine prices because of all the converting they do, such as die cutting, slitting, and coating, unconverted Tyvek Asuron will be priced similarly to Tyvek 1073B.”
DuPont expects that many sterile-packaging manufacturers will be showing Tyvek Asuron at MD&M West and that some printers may even be running the material. —Daphne Allen
Copyright ©2006 Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News
