MEDICAL DAY 2025

A review of the SHN from 11.04.25
Read the article on www.shn.ch

 

How a sandwich film saves CO₂ - a tour of Medipack AG

Last Wednesday was all about sustainable medical technology. The Medical Day organised by the Industrie- und Technozentrum Schaffhausen ITS offered exciting keynote speeches and live demonstrations for companies in the sector. The morning began with a tour of the Schaffhausen-based company Medipack, which surprised visitors with innovative packaging solutions.

The Mühlental business centre, where the company is based, looks back on a long industrial history. Today, the entire site belongs to Medipack AG, which has grown steadily since it was founded by Aldo Artusi in 1977 and now employs over 240 people. The company develops and produces packaging used for sterile implants and surgical instruments - an area in which absolute reliability counts.

The sustainable use of materials and the consistent further development of processes make Medipack a leading company in the production of environmentally friendly packaging for medical technology. A look behind the scenes at the company showed how innovation and sustainability are combined. Felix Neidhart, Head of Sales, guided the guests through the production facilities and gave an insight into the processes.

 

Customised packaging solutions

The tour took us through the various areas of the factory, which Medipack has been continuously expanding for decades. The company offers a wide range of packaging solutions: from development and blister production in a clean room to sealing technology and comprehensive packaging services. "Thanks to our own development department, our own mould construction and decades of experience, we can offer our customers professional packaging solutions that are precisely tailored to their individual requirements within a very short space of time," explains Neidhart.

"Thanks to our own development department, in-house mould construction and decades of experience, we can offer our customers professional packaging solutions that are precisely tailored to their individual requirements in the shortest possible time" - Felix Neidhart, Head of Sales at Medipack AG

In the machine room, modern CNC milling machines produce precisely customised tools for the packaging solutions. The guests were also given an insight into the clean rooms, where employees in light blue full-body suits count, clean and pack the products under strictly controlled conditions.

 

What makes a film sustainable?

During the tour, particular attention was paid to the production of the innovative thermo film used for packaging. In the in-house film extrusion process, plastic granules are dried, melted and extruded in several layers, i.e. pressed through a die to produce a film. The special thing about it? The centre layer of this thermal film consists entirely of recycled material, while the outer layers are made of new plastic - necessary for product safety and sealing.

The middle layer accounts for around 80 per cent of the film thickness. The granulate for the centre layer comes from internal production residues such as edge strips and punching grids, which are shredded, processed into flakes and reused - a closed loop. "This saves us around 1.5 tonnes of CO₂ per week," says Neidhart.

 

Medical technology and environmental protection

Reto Artusi, CEO of Medipack AG, explained how this significant milestone in in-house film extrusion came about in the subsequent presentation. Ten years ago, the topic of "sustainability" was not yet central, but Artusi was already bothered by the long transport routes: "This step was triggered when our Swiss supplier at the time announced that it was relocating its production to Portugal. Instead of relying on a new supplier, we asked ourselves: 'Can't we do it ourselves - precisely tailored to our niche market?"

A CO₂ balance sheet revealed that it was not electricity or gas, but the purchased thermal film and granulate that were responsible for around 70 per cent of emissions. This realisation was decisive for the development of the "WPG Eco-Friendly film", which Medipack claims is environmentally friendly. According to Artusi, the company demonstrates that sustainable processes can be reconciled with the high demands of medical technology. "This brings us closer to our joint climate target and makes an active contribution to environmental protection."

MEDIPACK AG as guest of FischerSöhne at the Pharmapack in Paris

At this year's Pharmapack in Paris, we have the pleasure of being guests at the FischerSöhne AG stand. Together we will be presenting a comprehensive solution for packaging and sealing in the pharmaceutical industry.

Two experts, one perfect system solution
FischerSöhne AG from Muri is a leading supplier of plastic packaging. With its many years of experience in injection moulding and extrusion blow moulding, the company develops and produces high-quality tubs and nests that protect sensitive pharmaceutical products safely and efficiently.

As a specialist in heat-sealing machines and Tyvek® sealing lids, MEDIPACK AG ideally complements these competences. The collaboration results in a holistic solution:

TWO EXPERTS - ONE SYSTEM SOLUTION - FischerSöhne supplies the packaging and MEDIPACK provides the perfect seal.

Visit us in Paris! We look forward to exciting discussions.

 

 

Why wander into the distance? ........

As part of the annual team event, our order management team visited the imposing Munot in Schaffhausen and was initiated into the secrets of the Munot by the Munot guardian.

The purpose of the go tec Schaffhausen foundation is to familiarise a broad target group with mathematics, IT, natural sciences and, in particular, technology (MINT) in order to sustainably promote young talent in these professional fields in the Schaffhausen region. To this end, it offers various leisure and school programmes. To this end, the foundation offers a wide range of leisure and school programmes that meet with great interest and are regularly fully booked.
As part of this year's summer camp, 27 young people and 4 accompanying adults visited our company and gained an insight into the processes of a medical company. In our development department, the participants learnt how a drawing is created using CAD. They were able to thermoform their own blisters on our sample thermoforming machine, which they then sealed with a Tyvek® sealing lid on our heat-sealing machine.

We are delighted to be able to offer young people an insight into technical professions and thus help to combat the shortage of skilled labour. By giving them hands-on experience and fascinating insights into the world of technology, we want to spark their interest in these professions and encourage them to pursue a career in this field. We are convinced that initiatives such as these play a key role in nurturing the skilled workers of tomorrow and strengthening the region in the longterm.

What more could you want ?
MedtecLIVE in Stuttgart was a complete success.
We were able to hold many exciting discussions with customers and around 300 footballs were handed in at the scavenger hunt organized with six other exhibitors. ⚽
And we saved the best for last: the Swiss national team put in a solid performance and deserved to reach the quarter-finals.

⚽️Football meets Medical Technology
During MedtecLIVE, Stuttgart will not only be a center for innovation and networking, but also a hotspot for football fans. The European Football Championship will take place at the same time as the trade fair!

To celebrate this special event in style, seven exhibitors have come up with something very special: a scavenger hunt along the entire value chain.
From component production, cleaning, labeling and passivation to packaging, you can visit the various suppliers.

Here's how it works:

1. pick up your stamp card from one of the participating exhibitors.
2. visit all seven exhibitors and have your card stamped at each
    of them.

3. when your card is complete, exchange it for a brand new
    football! ⚽️

Take advantage of this opportunity and come and visit us. We will be happy to show you our product range and advise you in a personal meeting. Let's celebrate the trade fair season and the football championship together.

See you at our stand no. 1-502 and of course very important:
"Hopp Schweiz"

The 28th Karl Storz Sport Event took place in Tuttlingen on April 13 and 14, 2024.
Instead of an entry fee, participating companies can donate an amount to a good cause. This year, the proceeds will go to the Tuttlingen Women's Shelter.
MEDIPACK took part with a football team and finished 4th out of a total of 21 teams. Of course, this brilliant result had to be celebrated. CONGRATULATIONS !

The Easter Bunny found his way to us "Medipäcklers" again this year and brought a nice surprise for every employee.

Autonomous, efficient and space-saving - with our ZSM 40AL automatic cutting machine, you can separate pre-sealed blister sheets (MRP system) with high output. It also requires very little space.

Find out more about our interesting ZSM 40AL cutting machine.

Our annual dinner was held in a festive setting in January 2024. ur employees enjoyed the delicious meal and the cosy get-together outside the company. It's always interesting and amazing to see our employees in their "noble guise" and not in their everyday cleanroom outfits. Some of them are hardly recognisable.

A Croatian folklore dance group led by one of our employees performed as a surprise guest. Under guidance, a few brave souls also dared to take their first dance steps.

COMPAMED took place in Düsseldorf from 13 - 16 November 2023.
Four busy, exciting and successful trade fair days are over. Our team had many interesting discussions and, of course, our give-away was once again a big hit. COMPAMED is a highlight for us every year.

After work, we enjoyed being together among colleagues over a cozy barbecue. As we we work in shifts, the event took place on two different evenings so that as many employees as possible could take part.

Our photovoltaic system will soon go into operation and will cover a considerable part of our basic electricity needs.
It is planned to install further systems on our roof surfaces.

We really like our new image film. It is dynamic, fresh and shows our competences in beautiful pictures.
Take a look - we are sure you will like it as much as we do.

After four years of apprenticeship, Branko Macura successfully completed his apprenticeship as a polymechanic EFZ in June 2023. A first milestone in his professional career has been reached. We are proud of his achievement and are pleased that he will continue to use what he has learned with us.

MedtecLIVE in Nuremberg gave us the opportunity to present our latest products and innovations to a wide audience. We welcomed many interested trade fair visitors to our stand.

We are particularly proud of the presentation of our new MEDPUR product range. Our dedicated team has worked hard to develop innovative solutions that meet the needs of our customers. The positive feedback and enthusiastic reactions to our MEDPUR products have shown us that we are on the right track.

 

The "Stars in Town" in Schaffhausen is probably known as the most beautiful festival in Switzerland. At least that is the opinion of us locals in Schaffhausen. Every year, the organisers succeed in bringing top acts to the charming old town of Schaffhausen and delighting over 50,000 visitors.
MEDIPACK AG enables its employees to buy tickets at half price. It is a big hello every year when "Medipäckler" meet on the Herrenacker, move to the beat of the music, enjoy a beer or a fine drink together and just have a good time. We are already looking forward to the start of the festival in August.

Sustainability, conserving resources - buzzwords that are on everyone's lips at the moment. We also want to do our part. Thanks to digitalisation and optimisation of processes and the introduction of paperless filing, we were able to reduce our paper consumption by almost half compared to the previous year. Of course, this is only one step of many, but we'll stay on it.

Santa Claus flew by and brought a great surprise for every "Medipäckler". The poor Claus had to carry a heavy load; after all, we are about 240 employees.

This year we "Medipäckler" were allowed to celebrate a very special annual dinner. Finally, we were able to redeem the prize for winning 3rd place at the SVC Awards 2020. The prize, sponsored by Swisscom, included a contribution to our company event.
"Las Vegas meets Medipack" was the motto. Animated by experienced croupiers, roulette, blackjack and poker were played at various tables. If we had played for real money, many a millionaire would have gone home.
Many thanks to Swisscom for the generous support and assistance in the organization and to the company Events 4 Rent for the sympathetic and competent casino implementation.

 

We are now on the road throughout the city of Schaffhausen. We prominently draw attention to ourselves on one of the new electric buses of the Schaffhausen public transport company (vbsh).

Compamed took place in Düsseldorf from 14 - 17 November 2022. After last year's fair was not yet at the "pre-Corona stand" in terms of size and number of visitors, this year it was like old times again. We were able to present our extensive range to many interested visitors and, as always, our much sought-after, blister-packed "Toblerönli" were in great demand.

Do you have a product and are you looking for the right packaging for it?
It's easy - with our blister configurator, a solution is quickly and easily suggested to you in a 3D visualisation.

Our team will be happy to advise you personally. Fill in all the necessary details and your enquiry will automatically be sent to our sales team. Based on your information, we will be happy to submit a suitable packaging proposal.

We are very proud - Luca Kellenberger has completed his apprenticeship as a design engineer EFZ with an excellent ranking grade*.
We congratulate him on his successful graduation and wish him all the best for the future.

* Ranking grade from 5.3

MedtecLive took place in Stuttgart from 3 - 5 May 2022. We were also represented with a stand. In keeping with tradition, we once again distributed a number of "Toblerönli" to the visitors and answered interesting questions about packaging solutions.

With our specially developed Blister finder you will find the suitable blister. Enter the dimensions of your product and suitable standard solutions will be suggested to you in a 3D visualisation. Of course, we are still at your disposal for personal advice.

MEDIPACK AG is one of the eleven finalists for the IVS Innovation Award of the banks of Schaffhausen.
We applied with the project "New packaging process for high-quality medical instruments and implants".

What is it about?
We have developed a process to produce medical packaging for sharp-edged implants and instruments with the material MEDPUR. This tested material is particularly suitable because there is no abrasion from friction. The product or instruments are not contaminated and remain sterile.

We use this material to produce MEDPURPOUCHES and FIX TRAYs.

 

It was not only the coronavirus which characterised 2020 – there were also other topics, which we tackled.
"Going against the flow" – we have taken this expression to heart and – contrary to what normally happens in a crisis – we are investing in the construction of a new cleanroom.
What prompted us to implement such a project during these uncertain and difficult times?
The increased demand for medicinal packaging requires a larger production area. In addition, our first cleanroom has reached the end of its lifetime and needs to be replaced.

We are aware of our responsibility towards society and the environment. Sustainability and resource-saving production are important aspects for Medipack, which we allow to flow into our innovations, developments and processes.
We go into more detail in our document Environment & Energy.

All our employees own a personalized Medipack thermos flask. During the vacation season we launched a competition. The task was to take an original photo together with the medipack bottle. See for yourself what great photos were taken.
(Images submitted by employees - more to follow)

 

At the Prix SVC award ceremony held in the Hallenstadion in Zurich, MEDIPACK AG was ranked at an outstanding 3rd place.

The Prix SVC for the Zurich Economic Area (Prix SVC Wirtschaftsraum Zürich) is awarded to leading SMEs, which impress with their innovative products and services, their corporate culture, the quality of their employees and management, and their enduring record of success.

A jury comprised of seven experts chose six finalists from roughly 100 companies from the Zurich economic area.

An audience of around 1800 eagerly awaited the announcement of the winners along with the nominees. The radio and television personality Nik Hartmann expertly moderated the programme, keeping everyone captivated until the announcements were made. For the delegation from Medipack the evening was an unforgettable experience. The award fills us with pride and is a confirmation of our many years of high quality work.

We are committed to renewable energies and have been purchasing electricity exclusively from Swiss hydropower since 2020.

MEDIPACK was nominated for the Prix SVC Zurich Economic Area 2020 Award

The sponsor and initiator of the Prix SVC awards is the Swiss Venture Club, an independent association for the promotion and support of SMEs in Switzerland. The Prix SVC Zurich Economic Area Award celebrates outstanding SMEs whose innovative products and services, corporate culture, quality of employees and management, and sustainable track record make them stand out from the crowd. Organisations must be strongly anchored in the region in order to be nominated by the jury.

The award ceremony will take place on 16 January 2020 at the Hallenstadion Zurich.

We are delighted and honoured to have been nominated and would love to come home with the award in January.

For the third time this summer, the bench campaign will take place in Schaffhausen. Almost 70 creative works enrich the old town of Schaffhausen and offer additional seating. There are no limits to the imagination; the main thing is colourful and cheerful.

The MEDIPACK company also took part in the campaign and designed its own MEDIPACK bench. A group of creative and motivated "Medipäcklern" went on a search for ideas and then implemented them artistically - not so easy with so many good ideas.

See for yourself what came out of it. We think our bench is the most beautiful!

Are you familiar with the hit show on the German TV channel VOX called "Die Höhlen der Löwen"? People with exciting business propositions, but who are short on funding, are given a chance here to find investors. On one of these episodes the aspUraclip® project was featured, which captured the interest of the investors.

aspUraclip® is a mini-inhaler for the nose. While inhaling, suitable amounts of the essential oils continuously find their way to the mucous membranes in the nose, helping you to breathe clearly.

The success story had its origins at the Compamed trade fair in Düsseldorf. The inventors of the aspUraclip® were looking for suitable packaging and found it at the MEDIPACK stand. As system supplier we quickly came up with a blister pack for the new product, so the customer obtained everything from one source – including design, film production, tool creation, deep drawing process, right to the production of the sealing lids.

Demand shot up astronomically after the episode was broadcast.

From 11th to 15th November 2018 the Compamed took place in Dusseldorf. This exhibition has established itself as a trade fair for the medical supply industry and takes place together with the world's largest medical exhibition Medica. For many years, MEDIPACK AG has successfully participated in the Compamed. In addition to our high-quality products and services for the medical industry, our "blister-packed Toblerönli" are loved by visitors. We had distributed around 3000 pieces during the four days of the fair, and in return we harvested many grateful smiles.

If you visit us in Schaffhausen, you can recharge your electric car with us. There are two charging stations available.

For years we have been training young professional people with great enthusiasm and success in our company. Veton Grajcevci sucessfully finished his apprenticeship as Mechanical Engineer (VET) this summer and can now begin his working life with a good professional knowledge.

We are proud of his achievement and congratulate him on the sucess.

To find packaging for sharp-edged products is a challenge - We find the solution.
The material MEDPUR is the particularly suitable solution for packages containing sharp-edged implants, because there is no abrasion if rubbing occurs.

Please find more information HERE.

As a system supplier of medical packaging, we also offer foam inlays for packaging. The foam is cut precisely to shape using the latest water jet technology. In the clean room, which has been designed specifically for this purpose, the cut-to-size foam inlays receive subsequent thermal treatment. The treated foam parts are packed together with the product and hold sensitive medical parts securely in the packaging and eliminate the risk of slipping.

MEDIPACK AG engaged the company SKZ-Testing GmbH to test abrasion according to ISO 9353:2012-04. A blueish/transparent film with thickness of 0.5 mm, one side rough and one flat, was tested. Testing shows that neither the rough side nor the flat side resulted in any abrasion.

Tests show that the material MEDPUR is most qualified for user-friendly packaging for sharp-edged implants like blisters, pouches (MEDPURPOUCH) etc.

In 2017 we are celebrating a remarkable road to success based on 40 years of innovative and entrepreneurial thinking and action.

It all started 40 years ago in a small production facility and has since developed into a genuine success story. Today, MEDIPACK AG has a workforce of around 145 employees and delivers high-quality products around the world.

We are particularly proud of our staff. Thanks to their expertise, loyalty and engagement, the company has continued to develop into what we are today – an internationally recognised system supplier of medical packaging.