Manufacturing and distribution centers are responsible for the development, production and shipment of medications and other health-related products. With thousands of medications in production in virtually inconceivable quantities, manufactures rely on bar code scanning systems to insure the correct drug is produced with the correct ingredients and packaged and sent to the correct hospital, pharmacy or patient.
Manufacturers place a huge emphasis on keeping equipment and work areas clean because of the danger of contamination; therefore, bar code readers need to be regularly cleaned using harsh cleaning solutions. This is especially important for areas where employees work with communicable cultures and toxic chemicals. Datalogic ADC's Disinfectant-Ready enclosures were specifically developed for this purpose with the ability to withstand daily cleaning with harsh disinfectant chemical solutions.

	Work-in-Progress (WIP) Using scanners in pharmaceutical manufacturing is one of the best methods to improve both quality and yield, especially in multi-step processes. Scanners can also monitor the complete production system, tracking material through each step of production and keeping detailed records on each prescription batch. This creates efficient and accountable system. When a problem occurs in the output, managers can quickly resolve the issues, which is critical for the pharmaceutical industry. Bar code scanning can also be used to measure throughput (flow rate) for cost budgeting and forecasting.
	Drug Tracking and Traceability The traditional role of bar code scanning is traceability and tracking applications in which medications can be managed during production at any given time. This data is critical for management and productivity challenges as well as patient safety. For instance, if the manufacturer discovers a certain lot of prescriptions are made with the wrong components, the drugs can be quickly identified and the company can launch a recall campaign. If the plant is forced to guess which items to recall, there will be a significant loss in productivity, unnecessary warranty expenses, and some patients could be potentially harmed.
	Inventory Management Using mobile computers or bar code scanners, a cost-saving inventory management system can be created to track important supplies, materials and equipment. A reliable and accurate database for complete and partial inventory levels can be maintained by simply scanning items when used and when new materials are received. The collected data can be uploaded to a central computer system in regular batches or in real time. This allows for better forecasting, reducing the chance of stock-outs, overstocks, and emergency shipments.
	Document Handling Bar code scanners are replacing manual document handling activities by automatically tracking the movement, filing, location, archival, maintenance and destruction of documents. This comprehensive system allows pharmaceutical manufactures to identify documents by reading a unique bar code, improving speed of service and enhancing productivity. Manufacturers will also experience a significant reduction in errors through automatic data capture, which is critical for patient safety.
	Productivity Measurement Systems Productivity measurement is a practice that can drastically reduce labor costs. Since it is often difficult for management to track labor activities in large pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, bar code scanners can be used to measure productivity by tracking every activity, step-by-step, related to a prescription batch. This information allows supervisors to compare the completed work to the expected output. When the results do not measure up, the problem can be isolated and corrective action can be taken. This information has many uses for product costing, establishing labor standards and measuring employee performance and can typically cut department costs by 15 to 20 percent.