Redesign Saves Costs

Kassandra Kania

When Medtronic Sofamor Danek (Memphis), a manufacturer of spinal implants, decided to redesign the inner tray of a sterile package used to hold drill bits, it had several goals in mind. Foremost, the company wanted to reduce material costs and processing lead times. The original tray design consisted of numerous components, explains Randy Troutman, packaging development engineer for Medtronic. The company wanted to reduce the number of components, specifically targeting the foam from the packaging configuration, thereby making it quicker and easier to assemble. Removing the foam would also reduce the risk of particulate or debris in the cleanroom and final package.

The original package, currently supplied by Barger Plastics Inc. (Elkhart, IN), consisted of an inner tray, 3 pieces of foam, 2 plastisol caps, and 2 ratcheting tubes. The caps were placed on each end of the drill bit, and the assembly was put into a ratcheting tube. The tubes were placed into the foam inserts and then placed inside an inner tray and sealed with a Tyvek lid. 

With the new design, �we eliminated the foam components and incorporated snap features into the tray to hold the product in place,� explains Paul Giczewski, general manager of Barger Plastics. The new tray design consists of an inner tray, a snapping insert, and a plastisol cap. �There are approximately 14 various-length drill bits with three different diameters,� explains Troutman. �Working with Barger, we came up with a tray that had a snapping insert to accommodate the three different diameters,� he says. The snapping insert can be placed at various points along the tray to accommodate the different lengths of drill bits. �The one inner tray accommodates the various product lines, in turn reducing package components and cost,� he explains.

The use of the snapping insert replaced the need for the foam and the different lengths of tubes used to hold the drill bits in place. 

�One of the design constraints we had was the need to use the existing seal tool and lid stock, because we did not want to revalidate the entire package,� says Troutman.

The tray is made of PETG, which is �firm, but flexible,� says Giczewski. �It�s a very rigid package,� adds Troutman, �yet it�s pliable enough to snap the drill bit in and out.�

Medtronic also had to address its concern that packagers might put the wrong drill bit in the wrong-diameter slot. To remedy this, Barger Plastics added the diameter number to the cavities so the packagers would know which slot to snap the bit into. �This helps to reduce error during processing and makes training and inspection much easier,� says Troutman.
The new design has reduced material costs by about 50% per package, says Troutman, and also reduced processing time. End-users are happy with the change as well. �There were a lot of complaints about the waste�the foam and the amount of unpacking required,� says Troutman. �When [healthcare professionals] open it, they like to dump the inner tray into the sterile field and then open that when needed. With the old design, they still had to unwrap the product in the sterile field. The new design reduces a lot of waste and steps in surgery prep. Now, when they dump the inner tray into the sterile field, all they have to do is remove the lid, and the part�s ready to be snapped out and used.�