By Don Alip, Product manager, Healthcare – Winpak Ltd.
Medical device packaging must do more than protect a product. It must maintain sterility, perform consistently on high-speed packaging equipment, withstand demanding sterilization processes and open cleanly at the point of use.
For global medical device manufacturers, the challenge becomes even more complex. Packaging materials may need to perform consistently across multiple production lines, contract manufacturing sites and geographic regions. Procurement teams must manage lead times, freight costs and supply continuity, while packaging engineers and operations teams need materials that run reliably.
Wiicare addresses these challenges through its global Fitform® and Medform® forming film platforms for horizontal form-fill-seal medical device packaging. Produced in North America and Europe, these harmonized product families help healthcare manufacturers simplify material specifications, support regional supply strategies and maintain consistent packaging performance across global operations.
Why Global Medical Device Manufacturers Need Harmonized Packaging Materials
Global healthcare companies often manufacture the same or similar devices at several locations. When different packaging materials are used at each plant, the result can be increased complexity.
Packaging engineers may need to qualify multiple specifications. Operations teams may have to manage different machine settings. Procurement groups may carry additional inventory or depend on materials shipped over long distances.
A harmonized medical packaging film platform can reduce this complexity by providing comparable materials from regional manufacturing locations. Wiicare’s forming film portfolio is designed to support customers that are expanding production, transferring products between sites or seeking a stronger business continuity plan.
Regional production can also help customers manage lead times, freight costs and landed costs when trade policies, tariffs or transportation conditions change. Just as important, customers receive coordinated support from global and regional account teams throughout product transitions, scale-ups and ongoing commercial supply.
Fitform: Versatile Performance for Sterilizable Medical Packaging
Fitform is a high-performance forming film designed for a broad range of medical device packaging applications.
Its proprietary 11-layer nylon and polyethylene structure provides an effective balance of forming performance, clarity and mechanical strength. The multilayer construction offers resistance to puncture and abrasion, helping protect devices throughout sterilization, distribution and handling.
Fitform is engineered for shallow to deep cavities and consistent forming across a variety of package geometries and horizontal form-fill-seal equipment. Its excellent transparency also supports visual inspection, allowing users to confirm product features and package condition through the formed cavity.
The platform is compatible with ethylene oxide, gamma and electron-beam sterilization. It can also be sealed to several commonly used healthcare lidding materials, including:
This lidding flexibility makes Fitform a practical choice for products such as syringes, pipettes, urinary catheters, IV sets, tubing sets and smaller orthopedic devices.
For high-volume medical disposables, the combination of Fitform and direct seal paper can offer an especially attractive total package solution. Direct seal papers eliminate the need for a separate heat-seal coating and are widely available in the medical packaging market. When matched to the proper application, this combination can help customers balance package performance with a competitive total package cost.
Medform: Recycle-Ready Polyethylene Forming Films
While Fitform provides highly versatile performance, Medform offers healthcare manufacturers an option designed to support recyclable packaging structures. Medform is produced from a multilayer, 100% polyethylene construction. The material is designed to withstand EO, gamma and e-beam sterilization while providing reliable forming and seal performance for sterilizable healthcare applications.
Medform is compatible with coated Tyvek, coated medical paper and peelable film lidding. It is available in multiple thicknesses to support applications ranging from shallow cavities to deeper package designs.
The polyethylene construction can help customers reduce material complexity and support packaging design objectives related to recyclability and material simplification. When Medform is paired with a compatible polyethylene top web, the package can be designed as a polyethylene-based structure intended for recycling where suitable collection and recycling infrastructure exists.
Typical applications include syringes, surgical kits, IV sets and tubing products where customers need dependable forming performance, sterilization compatibility and good contact clarity.
Medform DT: Designed to Seal Directly to Uncoated Tyvek®
Medform DT expands the Medform platform by addressing one of the most difficult challenges in packaging structures designed for recycling: developing a forming film that seals directly to uncoated Tyvek.
Medform DT is a 100% polyethylene forming film engineered to provide strong seals and a clean, fiber-free peel from uncoated DuPont™ Tyvek® healthcare grades. Because the lidding does not require a heat-seal coating, Medform DT and uncoated Tyvek can create a polyethylene package structure designed for recycling, subject to local collection and recycling systems. The platform has also been prequalified by How2Recycle® for recyclability labeling.
This structure can provide several advantages:
Combining Medform DT with uncoated Tyvek compared to traditional coated Tyvek package structures drives an estimated 27% savings on a total package cost perspective. Actual savings will depend on film gauge, package design, lidding specification and commercial conditions.
Medform DT is best suited for shallow- to medium-depth packages such as prefilled syringes, pipettes, swabs, diagnostic labware, non-invasive catheters, sterile gloves, wound care products and sterile fluid pathway components.
More Than a Film Supplier
Medical device manufacturers need more than access to packaging materials. They need technical documentation, validation assistance and responsive support.
Wiicare’s global forming film platforms are supported by technical data sheets and detailed product information covering regulatory statements, material properties, stability, cytotoxicity and microbial barrier testing. This documentation helps packaging teams evaluate materials and plan validation activities with greater confidence.
Wiicare Field Technical Services professionals are also available to support on-site trials, equipment setup, troubleshooting and process optimization. Global and regional account teams coordinate closely so customers receive consistent support regardless of where a product is developed or manufactured.
Selecting the Right Medical Packaging Film
No single forming film is ideal for every application.
Fitform offers excellent versatility, clarity and puncture resistance for a wide range of medical devices. Medform provides a 100% polyethylene option for customers pursuing packaging designs intended to support recycling. Medform DT extends that capability by sealing directly to uncoated Tyvek for one of Wiicare’s most advanced recycle-ready horizontal form-fill-seal package structures.
By combining global manufacturing, proven healthcare packaging materials and experienced technical support, Wiicare helps customers select solutions based on device protection, sterilization method, package geometry, operating requirements, cost and sustainability goals.
Connect with a Wiicare healthcare packaging specialist to discuss your application and identify the Fitform or Medform solution best aligned with your global packaging strategy.
