Glass tubes are widely used for pharmaceutical products, because of their excellent credentials. Recently, considerable attention has been paid to the quality of glass containers used for pharmaceuticals. The Food and Drug Administration has demanded improved quality, while the Parenteral Drug Association has published a guide to the inspection of glass containers (PDA Technical Report 43 - www.pda.org/Publications_1.aspx) Defects found in this type of glass packaging include stone, knots, cracks and chips. To produce vials and syringes, good quality glass tubing is required. Many defects can be found at the drawing line, where sections of tubes with defects can be discarded, just after the rough cut. In this article the author shows how glass tube manufacturers serving the pharmaceutical industry can achieve improved market share by using the best available inspection systems.
