Custom app for packaging and appearance data in the notification dossier
A notification to the poison centres requires the packaging type and packaging size from a fixed list, and a colour from fourteen options. Those who know exactly which packaging is coming off the line for the German market, and what colour the product actually has, are not in the department that submits the notification.
Where the file and reality diverge
The notification format offers a list of different packaging types and sizes to choose from. For colour, there are fourteen options, into which the company's colour names must be translated. These are not data from a recipe system but observations of a product.
Those observations arise where the product is packed. That is where it is known which bottle is actually in use now, whether the filling from the last run came out lighter, and which variant goes to which market. For the department that submits, all of that is second-hand information.
Resubmission is mandatory if the product identification changes, including the UFI code, if the hazard classification for health or physical hazards changes, or if new information becomes available about the hazardous properties. What changes on the line can therefore carry through to a submission.
The reverse is equally relevant. If a different packaging is used on the line than was notified, the file no longer matches what is on the market. That is the kind of discrepancy that goes unnoticed for months, until someone places the two side by side.
How we build this
The core is the market variant. One formulation can be on the market in different countries in a different pack and with a different label, and each of those variants has its own data.
A code on the order or the pallet opens the correct market variant, with the notified data alongside it.
Packaging type and size, colour and physical state, chosen from the same lists the format uses.
If reality deviates from what was notified, this is visible immediately rather than at an audit.
A deviation or change goes, with a picture, to whoever manages the submission.
What the app does in practice
Recording at the line carries the whole. What else you need depends on the number of markets and the number of packaging variants.
Selection lists from the format
Packaging and colour are chosen from the same lists the submission uses, so no after-the-fact translation step is needed.
Photo per market variant
A picture of the packaging as it leaves the door is the only thing that can later show what was actually on it.
Comparison with the file
The notified data sits alongside, so a difference stands out the moment it arises.
Physical state and colour
Observations of the product itself, recorded by someone who has it in front of them rather than working from a specification.
Works without signal
Packing halls rarely have good coverage. The app works offline and syncs as soon as there is a connection.
Passing on a deviation
Any packaging other than what was notified goes straight to regulatory, with the photo and timestamp attached.
Who we build for
Who records this data varies from company to company. Four situations.
Packaging developers
They choose the packaging and are the first to know when something changes, usually before regulatory hears about it.
Production managers
They see which variant is running and which market it serves, and notice when something different is being used.
Quality staff
They check the execution and are used to comparing against a specification, which here means the action itself.
Regulatory affairs
They submit, and depend on what others have observed, usually via an email afterwards.
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The format gets extended, dropdown lists get revised and variants are added. Lists, fields and markets should be configurable and not hard-coded into the app.
Why Appfront
The dropdown list belongs on the line
Whoever has the packaging in front of them can select from the fixed list. Whoever describes it in an email leaves the translation step to someone else.
Colour is an observation
Fourteen options and a product that has to be seen. That is work for the place where the product is, not for a specification sheet.
You only spot a difference if you compare
That is why we place the notified version alongside it at the moment of recording.
We do not submit the notification
That stays with you. We make sure the data you submit comes from the place where it originates.
Security and privacy
What is recorded on the line shows which variants you make for which markets and in what volumes. That is commercially sensitive, especially for contract packaging for third parties. We set access by role and by location, show an operator only the order they are working on, and log every access. Anything stored locally on the device is encrypted and can be wiped remotely if a device is lost.
For this subject, the reliability of the moment is the crux. Packaging data that has been altered after the fact to match what was notified hides exactly the difference you wanted to find. We record observations as unalterable entries with time, place and person, even when synchronisation happens later, and any correction appears as a visible correction next to the original entry. How we handle security ourselves is set out in our information security policy.
Frequently asked questions about packaging and appearance data
Because the notification format requires it: a packaging type and size from a fixed list, and a colour from fourteen options. That data does not come from a formulation system but from an observation of the product.
Because that is where it is known which packaging is actually being used and what the product actually looks like. In the office, that information is second-hand.
If the product identification changes, including the UFI code, if the hazard classification for health or physical hazards changes, or if new information becomes available about the hazardous properties.
We're going through the file against what's on the market. The app puts the notified version side by side with it, so any difference shows up the moment it arises.
That covers verifying the code on the label against the file. We have a separate page about the UFI verification app for that.
In the notification file, where submissions are managed per market. We describe that on our page about PCN dossier software.
Does the line match the packaging you notified?
Take one market variant, walk to the packaging line and compare the type and size with what is in the file. If it differs, it has been differing for some time. We build this as a standalone app and as part of a broader custom app development project.