We have been providing Braille embossing on pharmaceutical cartons at IPB for many years, so many in fact that I can’t even remember when we started!
In the beginning, the braille was embossed directly on the diecutter. We had developed a system to check the cartons and it was mostly done by eye. The operators had to be extremely careful during the manufacturing process. The tooling costs were very high and the set up times were very long. A lot has changed in our industry and the technology advancements are incredible.
During my recent travel throughout Europe it was very evident that Braille is much more widely used in Europe than it is in America or Canada - But like most things, it takes a few more years for ideas to be implemented on this side of the pond.
The experience led me to start thinking about
how we need to be more prepared for what is coming down the pipe. 2 years ago
we purchased a new piece of equipment that brought braille embossing in line
with the gluing process. The system not
only embosses our cartons but also checks each box after it has been embossed
for 100% accuracy. It offers a very low
tooling cost and almost no extra set up costs are incurred.
So why not put Braille on all of your cartons? It’s been a question that I have been asking myself for a while now. There are currently over *1 million Canadians who have significant sight loss. Having Braille on cartons could help them be more independent in their everyday life.
Some people believe that Braille is
becoming an obsolete form of communication because of technology - but the
argument can also go the other way as well.
It is critically important to everyone to have the ability to read and
write. Braille opens the door to
literacy, intellectual freedom, equal opportunity, and personal security.
By incorporating Braille as we have with
modern technology, we can then provide the consumers with necessary knowledge
of the product they are buying, without adding additional costs.
So the question remains, to Braille or not
to Braille. Please ask your IPB sales
representative more about this service that we offer.
