Tokyo, Japan - November, 2005

At the very center of the Van der Stähl Scientific, Inc. mission statement is an unrelenting quest for the latest technology in medical device packaging. Beyond our interest in understanding new and emerging sterile device packaging technology is also a strong core belief in the importance of continuing education for our entire staff. And it is in that spirit we visited the Japan Pack tradeshow. The Japan Pack tradeshow offered our new product development and engineering staff the opportunity to look into emerging technologies in the fast-paced electronic and microprocessor centered Asian market. It was very edifying to see the various microprocessor-controlled units utilized on a variety of packaging equipment.

We had the great opportunity to meet up with our friends in the engineering department at Fuji Impulse and put our heads together and collaborate on what we believe to be the next generation in sterile device packaging. The new Viu™ sealer will integrate multiple patents within a single machine designed to streamline the process of sterile device packaging in terms of managing the packaging processes of regulatory and quality assurance controls. There is a great deal of synergy between the design vision of Van der Stähl Scientific, Inc. and the incredibly innovative and clever engineering style that Fuji Impulse brings to the table. Again, this joint collaboration will cumulate into a sealing machine that will rival all such sealers available in North America and Western Europe. Our goal is to offer this new technology in late 2006. Therefore, we will be visiting Japan multiple times in order to synchronize our developmental effort.

[Collage of Rock Climbing]Our time in Japan, however, was not all work and no play. During our trip of one week, we had the opportunity to visit a variety of interesting sights in Tokyo. In pure American fashion, our first tour was to Tokyo Disneyland. Because it’s October, the entire place was decorated in all things Halloween. The level of cleanliness throughout the park amazed us. As frequent visitors to the Anaheim Disneyland, it was interesting to compare and contrast the different aspects of the two parks. We also visited the Harajuku shopping area, recently made famous among Americans by Gwen Stefani of No Doubt Fame’s song, “Harajuku Girls.” We spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the sun people watching. The Harajuku area is a must see for anyone interested in style and fashion.

Some other areas we visited during the trip include the Tokyo tower and some of the many interesting side streets throughout the city. Tokyo is a beautiful city with world-class transportation infrastructure and gracious and attractive people. We look forward to our visit next year and we bring back with us a new appreciation of the Japanese culture.