NC Saha, director of the Indian Institute of Packaging speaking as the guest of honor, described some of the Indian packaging trends as well as the trends in pharma packaging globally. He said that the Indian packaging industry is growing at the rate of 13% a year and is expected to reach US$32 billion by 2020. Talking about pharma packaging, Saha said that while the earlier aim of packaging was to just preserve the quality of enclosed medications, now the aim is also to prevent tampering and counterfeiting while at the same time facilitating dispensing accuracy. He noted that sustainability, cost effectiveness, robotics in primary packaging, radio frequency identification (RFID), unit dosage packaging, child-resistant packaging and senior citizen or accessible packaging are some of the growing trends in the pharma packaging space.
Sealing and closures
In the first conference session, Datwyler Sealing Solutions spoke of its Satara plant for manufacturing pharmaceutical closures and informed that a second plant could be in the offing in 2018. Its most advanced manufacturing solutions facility―FirstLine―is expected to start mid-2018.
Dessicants
In the session after lunch, Sakamoto’s manager of international sales Roger Lan spoke about his company’s innovative desiccant for pharmaceutical packaging. He explained, “Sakamoto Lime is a product which is highly suited as a replacement to silica being used as desiccant in pharma packaging. The major difference between silica and our product (Sakamoto Lime) is that our product is much cheaper than silica. Further, as we are all aware of the phenomenon known as container rain, which can lead to disastrous consequences of spoiling consignments loaded in containers for shipping, the use of lime (CaO) as a desiccant is also not advised as water contact with lime can create heat to rise up to 250 degree C.” Lan showed comparative results of Sakamoto’s Lime and how it fairs in comparison with other desiccants.
Blister-making
Shehul Seth, director, Accupack, explained the company’s three solutions―Victory & Galaxy, Plexus and Blister Draw. Designed in Europe, Victory & Galaxy are the two machines which can be combined for better results. The machine combination is called Harmony by Accupack. The company also offers an operational intelligence tool named Plexus, which can be helpful for connecting and managing plant operations while simultaneously tracking all activities and generating reports. The MIS-type of tool helps in optimizing utilization of manpower, machinery and other resources.
Seth then spoke of a third innovation―Blister Draw, a blister making software tool. By entering detailed blister requirements, 3D and 2D models are generated and displayed by the software.
