Pharma Packing Questions for the Interview

The Packing of drugs is a very crucial part because the safety of drugs is a must at every stage from manufacturing to packaging. Packaging helps the drugs to prevent from the external environment. Today there is numerous job available in the pharmaceutical field, and you have lots of option to choose your carrier in pharma according to your interest. so based on that we have prepared the list of Pharma Packing Questions with answers, Check it below:

Pharma packaging has a waste opportunity to work, but you need to be well prepared before getting into it. We have prepared a list of all Questions Related to Pharma Packing/production. Questions and answers are prepared based on Fresher and more Experienced Persons that are generally asked in Pharmaceutical Interviews. Packing questions are Related to Machinery and Technical rounds.

NOTE-More Pharma Packing Questions will be added periodically, so visit again:

Packing Questions for Freshers:

Q1. What are the Packing and types of packing in pharmaceuticals?

Ans: Packing is an art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sales, and use.

Packing is mainly of three types.

• Primary packaging: Primary packing is the material that carries the drug product or fills the drugs inside.
• Secondary packaging: Secondary packing encloses the drugs inside the carton, bottle, etc.
• Tertiary packing: A Tertiary is used for bulk handling of drugs like storage in a warehouse.

Q2. The objective of packaging?

The primary purpose of drugs packaging is the protection of drugs from;

• Physical protection
• Barrier protection
• Containment or agglomeration
• Security
• Portion control
• Convenience.

Q3. What is the primary Packing material used for the blister pack:

Ans: Lidding foil likes aluminum foil, paper aluminum foil, and glasin paper foil.

Base foil- PVC( polyvinyl chloride) and PVDC (polyvinylidene chloride).

Q4. Advantages and Disadvantages of PVC:

Ans: Advantage: Low cost and Ease of thermoforming

Disadvantage: Poor barrier against moisture ingress and oxygen ingress.

Q5. How do we overcome the lack of barrier properties of PVC?

Ans: To overcome this PVC coating is done with PVDC/ laminated to PCTFE (Polychlorotrifluoroethylene) or COC (Cyclic olefin copolymers) to increase protective properties.

Q6. What are WVTR and OTR?

Ans: WVTR is water vapor transmission Rate

OTR is an oxygen transmission rate.

Q7. WVTR and OTR of PVC?

Ans: WVTR 250 Micro PVC =3.0g/m2/day at 38 °C/90% RH.

OTR around =20 ml/m2/day.

Q8. What is GSM?

Ans: GSM is Gram per square meter, coating of PVC expressed in GSM, more GSM means more barrier property against moisture and gases.

Q9. How to calculate GSM?

Weight of sample ✕ 1000/ Area of the sample

Q10. What is thermoforming and cold forming?

Ans: Thermoforming– PVC/PVDC passage through a heating station, then PVC/PVDC took desired shape at a temperature of around 115°C to 130 °C. The heating temperature may vary according to pocket size and shape.

Cold forming is the formation of pockets without heating PVC. Cold-forming PVC is soft and made of aluminum between PVC and polyamide.

Pharma Packing Questions for experienced persons

Q11. The machine used for blister pack and strip pack?

Ans: BQS (blister quickly through servo) and elmach are mainly used in the case of product packs by using PVC/PVDC material. ALU-ALU(arithmetic logical unit) machine used for strip packing(aluminum foil used for both sides)

Q12. Dismantle parts of the blister machine?

• Forming dia set
• Web index Roller
• Channel
• Guide track
• CSR
• Heater (PSR)
• Printing (BCP)
• Printing gears
• Perforation guide track
• Perforation tool
• Embossing tool
• Punching tool
• Cutting gears
• Sealing gear
• Punching indexing roller

Q13. Different types of machines used for tablets in primary Packing?

• Blister machine eg. alu-alu (BQS), elmach EPI 2000,2500,3010,3015 and 3522 grand etc.
• Stripe Packing machine.

Read Also: BQS Machine Interview Questions and Answers

Q14. Some important Terms and full forms:

Ans: BFR– Blister forming Roller, CSR– Counter sealing Roller, PHR– Peripheral Heating Roller, PSR– Pressure sealing Roller, BCP– Batch Coding and Printing, PRC– Print Registration control,

Q15. Checking of dispensing raw and packing materials:

Ans: Follow FEFO (First expiry first out) rule, AR.No. (analytical report number), the quantity of material, product code, and affix of approved labels from quality control.

Q16. Pharmaceutical barcode system:

Ans: Barcode is an image of lines and lines denoted with a specific number; lines may be thick, wide, or thin lines.

The code represents a sequence of lines for a particular number. A bar code symbol typically consists of five-zone, a quiet zone, a start character, data digits, a stop character, and another quiet zone.

Q17. Track and trace system in pharmaceuticals:

Ans: Track and trace systems are effectively used for serialization in pharmaceuticals, identification, and prevention of counterfeit drugs throughout the supply chain.

Q18. Difference between 1D, 2D, and 3D Bar-code:

1D BARCODE:

ID Barcode is Also called one dimension barcode and consists of a parallel linear line with a white background. it stores 8-15 character data information

2D BARCODE:

2D Barcode is Also called two dimensions or matrix barcode having box types structure. it can store up to 2000 characters.

3D BARCODE:

Uses the peak of the lines to insert information. The information in the 3D barcode is mostly correct and can’t be seen by the eye. This makes it tamper-proof and a great aid for business setups. 3D barcode is a superb resolution for rectifying varied issues, like inaccurate valuation, inventory errors, and overstocking, that is common within the case of 2D barcodes.

Q19. Explain 2D Barcode:

Ans: It looks like squares or rectangular with small dots.

Q20. How many sensors were used in the BQS machine:

• Lidding foil sensor
• Sensor for forming foil
• Inlet water sensor
• Hopper sensor for checking product level
• Heating plate sensor

Q21. Name of Sensors used in cartonator machine:

Ans: Product magazine sensor, product count sensor, carton call, low carton call, pusher call, loading safety, a sensor for rotary, the in-counter sensor for the position, hand-wheel sensor, hand wheel out sensor, empty carton rejection sensor.

22. Principle of Blister packing machine (BQS)?

Ans: For BQS (in the case of the heating plate and sealing plate) works on the Principle of flat sealing and flat forming.

For blister machine (in the case of the heating plate and sealing Roller) works on flat forming and roller sealing.

23. How Many Servo motors are in the Blister machine?

Ans: Blister Quick Through (BQS) has a total of 5 servo motors:

• Main cam
• Feeding drum
• Printing drum
• Puller drum
• Punching cam

Q24. How many Challenge tests for the Camera vision system:

Ans: challenge test for Empty cavity, Broken Tablet, Discolored tablet, and foreign Particles.

Q25. Thermal Test for thermally affected Blister:

Ans: Stop the machine and mark all the blisters which are contacted with a hot or sealing plate / Roller with a marker. Ensure that all contracted blisters are rejected.

Q26. What is knurling

Ans: Dotes are found on blister /strips, which comes during sealing of blister/ Strips due to the presence of dotes on the Sealing plate/Roller. Knurling prevents the failure of leak test and also contribute to maintaining good-quality blisters.

Q27. Types of knurling

Ans: Knurling types: Cross net type, dote type, and Diamond shape

Q28. What is stiffener, and why is it used?

Ans: The presence of extra empty pockets or grooves on the Blister is known as a stiffener and is used to protect products from getting damaged during Packing and transport

Q29. Which Test is done to test for PVDC:

Ans: The morpholine test is done for checking the PVDC layer, use one drop of morpholine solution on either PVDC to check the property if the color of the foil changes to yellowish its means it passes the Test.

Q30. What is NFD stand for?

ANS: NFD stands for non-fill detector

Q31. What is the Role of a Pinhole detector?

Ans: The pinhole detection system uses to identify holes as small as 25 microns (0.001 inches). It has high infrared-sensitive radiation to detect a very small hole.

Q32. Tell the name of the Ink used to detect leakage in the Blister:

Ans: Methylene blue solution is used during the leak test process. The percentage of uses is 2% v/v.

Q33. How many blisters/strips were used for the leak test?

Ans: It depends on the number of pockets present in sealing plates/rollers.

Q34. How do a challenge test for leak test apparatus?

Ans: Puncher the blister/strips with the help of a small sharp needle and perform the leak test process, then visually check by opening the blister/strips, if the tablet is found to leak Means the Test is a pass.

Q35. How much vacuum is required for the check leak test?

Ans: The standard vacuum used for leak test apparatus is 280±10. It may vary from region to region.

Q36. What is the frequency of the leak test?

• Start of batch and then after every one hour
• After the change of printing./PVC/pvdc foil.
• After every break
• At the start of the shift
• After power failure

Q37. The setting of weight limit for cartons:

Ans: Take individual 20 cartons weight and calculate avg. Weight of 20 cartons, now take half weight of blister/strips and leaflets (lower in weight).

Q38. How to calculate the minimum and maximum weight of the carton:

Ans: Minimum weight: standard weight of carton- 50% weight of blister/leaflet (lower in weight)

Maximum weight: standard weight of carton+ 50% weight of blister/leaflet (lower in weight)

Q39. Die Depth of forming Roller?

Ans: In case of PVC: At for Flat forming and sealing- 12mm

In the case of Alu- Alu: Cold forming- 09mm

Q40. Rubber Stereo Size used in Packing?

Ans: Generally used rubber stereo size is 1.75 to 2.5mm.

Q41. Types of Rubber stereo used in Packing

Ans: Flate and Groove

Q42. Monthly Calibration of weighing balance done for?

Ans: Monthly Calibration of weighing balance is done for Accuracy, Reproducibility, and Eccentricity.

Q43. Why do the Calibration of balance?

Ans: Calibration is done for measurement accuracy of the instrument compared to specified limits.

Q44. Defects Related to Blister Pack

Ans: Empty Blister, cut pocket, knurling defects, printing defects on foil, overprinting defects, embossing defects, pocket cut, I mark defects, cutting defects, and pinhole.

Q45. Validation criteria for batch packing

Ans: Validate the batch as per the given validation protocol. Some common criteria are:

• High forming, high sealing, and low machine speed.
• Low forming, Low sealing, and High machine speed
• Moderate forming and sealing with moderate speed
• Perform in-process and leak tests at every stage and fill in details in BPR.

Q46. How to create a batch in a camera vision system

Ans: Read SOP for the Camera vision system and pinhole detector

Q47. Which coating is done on Heating drums and their purposes?

Ans: Teflon coating is done to prevent the sticking of thermoplastic foil with a heating roller or plate.

Note: More Pharma packing questions for the interview will be added soon here. Comment if any Questions to get an answer and also share valuable information.