Packaging Resource Center: Show Coverage: HealthPack Returns to New Orleans

Bourbon Street at Night, New Orleans, LA (Photo courtesy New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau. Photographer: Richard Nowitz)

Last spring, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, organizers of the HealthPack conference were forced to relocate the event to Dallas. But after struggling through a difficult recovery, The Big Easy is ready to welcome back the 17th annual conference for medical device professionals.

HealthPack 2007 will be held at the Astor Crowne Plaza in New Orleans on Thursday and Friday, March 8 and 9.

The conference will offer attendees three tracks of sessions over its two days, covering topics ranging from package design to the international packaging market. The Package Development track, consisting of seven sessions, will run all day Thursday. Steve Bunnell of Mocon will get things started with his presentation on “How to Get the Voice of the Customer with a Properly Designed Survey.” Guidelines on how to select and properly specify films used in sterile barrier systems will be explained by Alison Tyler of Beacon Converters. Hal Miller, of PACE Solutions and a member of PMP News’s Editorial Advisory Board (EAB), will discuss identifying and leveraging suppliers available for critical design and development materials, as well as package system information. The day will close with presentations from another EAB member, Nick Fotis, Cardinal Health, on choosing a package design; and Tom Blanck, Adalis Packaging Solutions Group, on tools for fast-track packaging development.

Friday will be split into two tracks, offering Standards and Technology sessions in the morning and International Packaging sessions in the afternoon. The Standards and Technology track will start with Randy Troutman, Oliver Medical, and his guidelines for how to validate an existing international test standard. Laura Bix, an assistant professor at Michigan State University School of Packaging and an EAB member, and Jane Severin, Med-Pack Systems LLC, will update attendees on the hole research study that the school has been engaged in to try to determine what size hole will compromise the integrity of a sterile package.

There will be two ASTM standards updates Friday morning: one from Pat Nolan of DDL Inc. for International Committee D10 on packaging, and the other from Michael Troedel, Troedel & Associates Inc., for International Committee F02 on flexible packaging. John Spitzley of the Spartan Design Group will update attendees on the latest news regarding ISO 11607 and TIR 22, and Curt Larsen, DuPont Medical Packaging, will speak for the IoPP’s medical device packaging technical committee. Both are also PMP News EAB members.

Friday afternoon will feature three sessions for the International Packaging track. Topics including opportunities for operating in China, European regulations, and problems and opportunities of an offshore packaging operation will be covered.

HealthPack 2007 is produced by Innovative Technology Conferences. For additional information, visit www.healthpack.net.