Faubel
Smart Labels for Smart Business

In today’s technology-driven business landscape, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is one of the most sought after auto-identification and data capture technologies. A befitting example is RFID labels used for tagging, tracking, and monitoring consumer products and inventories. What makes RFID tags superior is its ability to transmit information to a networked system. For years, manufacturers have used RFID labels to track their products through different stages of production, and sales such as shipping, delivery, and purchasing process. RFID labels have become critical component of the retail chain; being used in baggage tracking, pharmaceuticals, security applications, retail, medical devices, clinical trials, healthcare products, and many more.

Founded in 1855, Faubel is a family-owned business operating internationally in the print, paper, and foil-processing industry. By incorporating RFID technology in printing and labeling, the company brings to the table a range of products, including booklet labels, single-and multi-layer labels. As a leading supplier of special labels for the pharmaceutical and chemical industry, the company offers comprehensive support to its customers with individual and market-oriented solutions for all the challenges that labels present – from the creative to the highly complex.

Frank Jäger, Managing Director of Faubel, shares his valuable insights about the company and its 160 years history of success

Could you provide a brief overview of your company?

As an organization positioned in the print, paper, and foil-processing industry, Faubel’s mission is to provide innovative labeling and printing solutions. We cater to the evolving requirements of the pharmaceutical industry and have established ourselves as RFID technology leaders. At Faubel, we print labels by combining our experience in printing with different features of RFID technology. We understand that traditional labeling and tagging systems arecurrently obsolete as they have weaknesses to cater to the increasing industry demands. To that end, we combine RFID technology with traditional labeling and make it innovative. We call this combination hybrid smart labels and offer these solutions not only for pharma but in addition to medical companies who are facing similar challenges. But also other industries like intralogistics benefits from our cutting edge technologies.

What are some of the challenges your clients in the pharmaceutical sector face? How do Faubel’s solutions help them overcome them?

The pharmaceutical industry is our key market, as many companies still use traditional paper-based labeling systems. While catering to this niche sector, our priority is to provide comprehensive patient and supply chain information with all markings and texts. While printing the booklet labels, we strive to use an easy-to-read, point font sizing, and an appropriate layout.

As we cater to a global clientele, we use multiple languages while we print the labels to serve all the target markets segments. Our production process is monitored by a very comprehensive monitoring system that guarantees wrinkle-free and efficient packaging process. Another aspect that makes us different from the lot is our capability to produce multi-page labels—booklet label—even on the smallest containers. Our technology enables us to wrap the label around the containers while meeting the minimum technical requirements—type size, pictographs. We have an in-house product development team to work on tailored strategies for unique projects. Moreover, when it comes to other quality parameters such as the selection of materials and storage locations, we make no compromise on standards. Our production unit is certified with DIN EN ISO 9001, and we work according to the requirements of the GMP guidelines. Above all, we execute all the processes from the pre-printing stage to shipping at a single location.

A lot of regulations and policies govern the pharma industry as it is a sensitive area. While bringing the latest RFID technology and incorporating the same in printing labels, we also make sure that our company follows all the regulations and compliance practices mandated by different regulatory agencies.

What are the services Faubel offers for clinical trials?

Faubel has developed a range of solutions designed specifically for clinical trials; this includes solutions for blinding, overprinting, and routing. When it comes to “blinding clinical trials,” we have built innovative labeling that can be used for both single and double-blind trials. Additionally, we give the provision to add variable data, safety features such as tamper-proofing, and documentation. As pre-produced bulk goods are printed subsequently with variable data during overprinting, Faubel takes over the process of data preparation making use of a validated software system. To ensure correctness while printing, Faubel makes use of two UV inkjet systems that are powered by cameras to detect errors.

To facilitate clinical research globally, we deliver service routing through by compiling the research information for the client’s projects. This is necessary for country-specific approvals of clinical trials.

Clinical trial labeling is a niche area where we excel. We have transformed ourselves from being a label manufacturer for clinical trial samples to a multi-service provider along the clinical trial supply chain. We understand that effective communication, quality structures, efficient process interlocking are decisive for success in clinical trial labeling. As our in-house product development team specialized in clinical studies takes charge of label designs, we can create innovative and user-friendly label solutions.

What does the future hold for your company?

We have been serving a diverse clientele for the past 160 years, and we know the pulse of the industry. To stay ahead of the competition, Faubel keeps innovating and updates its products frequently. Recently, we have developed an IoT platform that allows us to communicate with all our solutions. Alongside that, we have collaborations with various other tech companies to integrate their technology with our solutions. We understand that automation and digitalization are at the forefront of our client’s initiatives to transform the business. We pre-empt this opportunity to implement RFID technology with their business processes and thereby help them achieve success in the digital transformation initiatives. We have already developed e-paper capable of displaying information digitally. The technology can hide change information on the display of the label as often as necessary, e. g. if a new expiry date is available, if new instructions need to be displayed or if you want to change an address. We also work with different research institutes in Germany on using AI in the development of a new product with smart features like patient adherence and time-temperature-monitoring. Our vision as a company is to achieve sustainable growth, quality standards, and innovations, and a long-term partnership with employees, customers, and suppliers.