Awarded by the Institute of Packaging Professionals

Prent Corporation, designer and manufacturer of custom plastic, rigid thermoform packaging for the medical world, bagged the 2020 Ameristar Packaging award by the Institute of Packaging Professionals for its clamshell tray collection. 

Michelle Rademacher, the project’s lead designer, said the package, which was a result of the partnership between Prent’s development team and customers, exceeded the expectations with regard to product protection, creativity, and environmental impact.

The new clamshell tray was made from recycled APET (amorphous-polyethylene terephthalate) material. Feasibility was the main element in this package. Prent has won 16 WorlsStar awards and 11 AmeriStar awards.

Michael Rademacher said they learned about the issues and concerns of end users and came up with a design solution that could house the devices and not damage them during the transition. Fewer components were included for sustainability purposes, and they came up with a collection method that showed better performance over the previous large packs.

The design on the tray enables the front end to remain firm in position while the base end has a joint within the large lid to help the user in opening only the handle end and insert and remove the device easily.

Rademacher said finger tabs were added to help the users differentiate the opening to make it easier to use. This design allows easy use and storage in customer facilities and hospitals.

Users could check if each part starts from the dilator to the stopcock of the handle through the information provided at the bottom of the tray. This data at the bottom helped improve its use at the hospitals.

The clamshell helps easy organization and storage of the device and helps protect it and the dilator from damage. Previously, these used devices were transported from the hospital to the consumer facility loosely in a collection container for them to be re-sterilized. 

These devices could not be reused as the tips of the devices were damaged. Currently, the end user can release the handle portion of the clamshell to slip the dilator or catheter into the proper location and close it when these medical devices are not used.

The Covid-19 pandemic led to the country-wide lockdown on 25 March 2020. It will be two years tomorrow as I write this. What have we learned in this time? Maybe the meaning of resilience since small companies like us have had to rely on our resources and the forbearance of our employees as we have struggled to produce our trade platforms.

The print and packaging industries have been fortunate, although the commercial printing industry is still to recover. We have learned more about the digital transformation that affects commercial printing and packaging. Ultimately digital will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future.

Web analytics show that we now have readership in North America and Europe amongst the 90 countries where our five platforms reach. Our traffic which more than doubled in 2020, has at times gone up by another 50% in 2021. And advertising which had fallen to pieces in 2020 and 2021, has started its return since January 2022.

As the economy approaches real growth with unevenness and shortages a given, we are looking forward to the PrintPack India exhibition in Greater Noida. We are again appointed to produce the Show Daily on all five days of the show from 26 to 30 May 2022.

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