Medical Device Link.

PACKAGING RESOURCE CENTER: SHOW COVERAGE

Thousands of pharmaceutical industry professionals will meet in New York City to discuss the future of packaging drugs and devices used by people around the world. Interphex 2007 will bring together packagers, manufacturers, suppliers, technical experts, and others to see new products and equipment, find resources, and learn about trends in the industry. The conference and exhibition will be held at the Jacob K. Javits Center from Tuesday, April 24, through Thursday, April 26.

This year’s event includes three new session tracks covering biotechnology, management, and supply-chain security. The biotechnology track will consist of sessions addressing issues in commercial scale bioprocessing, including disposables and single-use technologies, prefilled syringes, and more. The management conference track is structured to help attendees develop skills to reduce waste, maximize productivity, and implement lean manufacturing techniques and Six Sigma quality. In addition to covering the current fundamentals of RFID technology, the supply chain and security track will feature sessions updating attendees on tagging regulations and e-pedigree as well as one company’s experience with real-world item-level tagging.

Interphex also offers new educational courses this year. An ISA-Certified Automation Professional review course will take place over three days, starting on Monday, April 23, and ending on the second day of the trade show, April 25.

Also on Monday, the International RFID Business Association, in collaboration with the RFID Technical Institute, will present an RFID Master Class. The preconference workshop, “Leveraging RFID, Sensor, and Wireless Technologies for Manufacturing Process Improvement and Supply-Chain Efficiency,” will take attendees through a series of modules designed to build technical competency and business awareness of various RFID solutions.

The morning half of the workshop will cover the next wave of RFID concepts and mandates, and the afternoon will include case studies and live system demonstrations and will cover emerging auto-identification technologies. Speakers will include Liz Churchill, vice president, Visible Assets Inc.; David DeJean, director of global PPM sales at Systech International; Gene Fedors, vice president, education programs, RFID Technical Institute; Peter Maysek, vice president, business development, Sensitech; and Narendra Srivatsa, business development manager, brand authentication, New Jersey Packaging.

Also new at this year’s show is the collocated event PharmaMedDevice. The event consists of sessions and exhibits addressing the needs of the emerging combination-product market and innovations in drug-delivery technology and healthcare.

The conference is produced by Reed Exhibitions. For more information, visit www.interphex.com.