The need to provide physical barrie

The need to provide physical barriers between packaging lines has already been mentioned. Particular attention needs to be paid to the online storage of bulk product, labeling, and filled but unlabeled containers. During packaging operations, it is not uncommon forindividual pieces of line equipment to break down. Under these circumstances, it may be economically viable to continue the operation and to accumulate part-packaged product until the effective unit is repaired. When the labeling unit breaks down, special caremust be taken to ensure that unlabeled containers do not get onto another line, or even intermixed with a different batch of the same product. Where possible, accumulation tables should be an integral part of a packaging line, thereby enabling short downtimes on equipment to be handled without the need to remove part -packaged product from the line. Protracted breakdown of labeling equipment may, on occasion, result in amounts of unlabeled product in excess of the capacity of accumulation tables. Also, some processes are designed to produce filled unlabeled product. This includes sterile products such as syringes, and vials, which are labeled outside of the sterile suite. Obviously, in such situations, great care must be taken to prevent mix-ups. When labeling is to be performed later, security can be enhanced by holding the unlabeled product in sealed or locked containers(see also Chapter 17).