Easy to Open Approval and the European Standardization Work

Lena Lorentzen
Tel: +46 702 985 368
Email: lena.lorentzen@unicum.se

Stina Wallström
SIS Swedish Standards Institute
Sankt Paulsgatan 6,SE-118 80 Stockholm, Sweden
Tel: +46 8 555 520 43  Fax: +46 8 555 520 05

Biography

Lena Lorentzen
Industrial designer specialized in Design for All*.
*Products designed so that as many persons as possible can use them
regardless of age, sex, cultural background or functional disabilities.

Founder and development manager at Unicum, Nordic Design for All-Centre.

Professor in Industrial Design at Mid Sweden University

Responsible for development of methods for measuring how to handle packaging. Label “Approved by the Swedish Rheumatism Association”

Responsible for ongoing development of new methods for involvement of user panels in product development 

Stina Wallström
Project manager at SIS, Swedish Standards Institute since 2005. Areas of expertise; plastics and packaging. Secretary for CEN/TC 261/WG 2 Packaging – Ease of opening.

Doctor of engineering in 2005 from the School of Chemical Science and Engineering (division of  Fibre and  Polymer Technology), of Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, Sweden. Thesis titled “Biological growth on silicone rubber for high voltage insulators”.

Masters degree in chemistry in 2000 from the School of Chemical Science and Engineering of Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.

Abstract

Reduced hand function is a big problem for many. The pharmaceutical products users often have reduced hand function.

If you want to develop or test we have a test panel with reduced hand function. They test the ability to open and handle all aspects and we have a focus group discussion where the company is be involved in. The package can be approved by the Swedish Rheumatism Association. Our industrial designer analyzes the product, the result and give advice how to develop the product.

The Tetra Brick Edge, a new milk package from Tetra Pak is developed together with us. Tetra Pak use our approved logotype and our contexture in their marketing.

The SRA took the initiative to start a European standardization work. The Swedish Standards Institute, chair the work in Packaging – Ease of opening, a sub committee named CEN/TC 261WG2. WG2 begun to work in January 2007. The work item was approved in a voting among European national standardization committees in May 2007. In the first half of 2009 the proposal will be voted in all CEN countries in Europe and late in 2009 the standard can be published.