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Sepha wins at
Belfast Telegraph Northern Ireland Business Awards 2007
 INNOVATION
FOR BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT AWARD
Belfast Telegraph Business Supplement, 2nd April 2007
Blister packs are very much part of our everyday lives –
pharmacists are dependent on them and millions of people in the UK
use them daily. However, it took an innovative Co Down company to
devise an effective and reliable product to improve the testing of
blister packs.
Sepha provides niche packaging solutions to the global
pharmaceuticals industry. The Newtownards-based firm specialises in
blister packs (tablet and capsule packaging) and identified the need
for a non-destructive leak testing system to provide customers with
a more cost-effective, objective and accurate test method.
Traditionally the only recognised test method for blister packs was
the Methylene Blue Dye Test which had several drawbacks – it was
time-consuming, expensive, environmentally unfriendly and, perhaps
most significantly, neither repeatable nor reliable.
Sepha developed innovative technology to solve the problem in the
form of BlisterScan, a non-destructive leak testing machine for
pharmaceutical blister packs. Using novel laser technology, the
equipment identifies leaks and weak seals in finished blister packs.
Through BlisterScan, Sepha was able to reinvent the value chain and
generate significant additional revenue streams even after initial
capital purchase. These include validation and installation services
provided at the time of delivery, custom-made tooling for each
different product format and the introduction of maintenance
agreements.
BlisterScan has resulted in additional job opportunities within the
company and the product has been sold globally, including in China,
USA, Italy and Eastern Europe. By the end of 2006 BlisterScan
represented 28% of Sepha’s total turnover.
The judging panel applauded Sepha for its culture of innovation and
for designing, developing and implementing a product which
ultimately affects the quality of life for the end user.
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