ScanCARE Blog

The shift from AS/NZS 4187:2014 to AS 5369:2023 introduces notable changes in the implementation of Product Families, especially with the detailed guidance presented in section A.5.2 of Appendix A.

In contrast to AS/NZS 4187:2014, AS 5369:2023 offers comprehensive guidance along with a supporting flowchart.

This blog aims to explore the guidance provided and highlight the differences in managing product family classifications between these two standards, making it easier to understand the adjustments required.

ScanCARE QuickShots offer a condensed version of our in-depth blog posts, summarising the key takeaways and presenting them in a quick, easy-to-read format. Each QuickShots blog will cover essential information on surgical instrument tracking, sterilization, and management, helping you stay up to date on industry best practices and innovations.

In my last blog, we looked at the complex and confusing nature of Product Families and looked at a way to simplify the categorisation process for assigning instruments and instrument sets to product families.

In it we provided a free Product Families Toolkit containing a matrix and a six-part video series, demonstrating how to use it.

Introduction

We are proud to announce the Scancare Academy and our very first course, Understanding & Implementing Product Families, is available now and its completely free to enroll.

By far the most perplexing issue for customers and delegates I talk to at conferences is Product Families.

This topic is the most read on my blog and our free guide to product family categorisation is by far the most downloaded resource on our web site.

The purpose of this post is to challenge the methodology used in the ISO/TS 17665-3 (ISO) standard by asking ‘Why does it need to be that way?’

Blog posts and downloads related to product families blogs are by far the most accessed content on our website. By a long way.

And it’s with good reason. The concept of product families can be extremely complicated and confusing.

The new version of AS/NZS 4187 released on the 15^th December last year brought some very significant changes to the previous standard. One of the most significant ones being the standards reference to Product Families.

With the deadline for implementation of AS4187 2014 coming up fast, I thought that it may be worthwhile to take another look at product families.

There seems to be a lot of interest in AS4187 and product families and my blog of August 2015 is by far our most read page on our website. The helpful categorisation guide gets downloaded several times each week.

The latest version of AS/NZS 4187 released on the 15^th December 2014  brought some very significant changes to the previous standard. One of the most significant changes is the standards reference to Product Families.

In my blog "Here's how to make sense of the AS4187 categorisation of instrument product families", I provided an overview of ISO/TS 17665-3:2013 - Sterilization of health care products - Moist heat - Part 3: Guidance on the designation of a medical device to a product family and processing category for steam sterilization.

In today's post I will get into the specifics of how to apply the standard to a dental assessment tray.

The new version of AS4187 (AS/NZS 4187) released on the 15^th December last year brought some very significant changes to the previous standard. One of the most significant changes is the standards reference to Product Families.