Pharmaceutical companies today are dealing with the challenges of a tight economy, plant closings and consolidations. In this environment, finding the right packaging partner can make a big difference. Companies need to bring products to market quickly, create packaging that accommodates different customer needs, and keep costs down and quality up. 

For many companies, these needs have led to outsourcing packaging to Contract Packaging Organizations (CPOs) that offer turnkey solutions, can develop eye-catching packaging designs that boost sales and improve compliance, have invested in the technology to support high speed production, and cultivated a skilled support team that can ensure a quality product.

Outsourcing enables clients to launch new products or enter new markets more quickly without being limited to their existing systems. CPOs can help compress the speed to market by managing multiple steps in the process depending on the client’s needs.

Responding to Customer Needs
Packaging pharma products today requires the nimbleness to respond to diverse customer needs. On one hand, consumers buy very high-count packages at club or discount stores; on the other customers want small pocket-sized packages to carry with them.  Households may need child resistant packaging or senior-friendly packaging with gear caps. To succeed, companies need to package their products in many sizes and configurations, which requires the use of multiple types of equipment, tooling, materials and expertise.

Pharma companies are also moving toward packaging that encourages or improves compliance of drug therapy. This means more blister packages with multiple products, or packages that put sample vials alongside established products. With so much variation in the market needs, it may be too costly for companies to manage their own packaging operations or they may not have all the skills needed on staff.

Packaging Starts with a Concept
Whether you want to launch a new product or re-invigorate an existing brand, packaging is key to increasing consumer awareness and sales. Given the complexity of the packaging process and the need to appeal to such a diverse range of consumers, many companies now look to their CPOs for help in the creative and design process – long before the actual packaging even starts.

Packaging includes a wide range of solutions — boxes, blister cards, solid-dose bottling, seasonal displays, trade shows, new product launches, and in-store aprons with a full pallet display. Working with CPOs from the very beginning of the product development process allows them to integrate input from multiple perspectives, including marketing, manufacturing, operations and quality control departments.

Equipment Matters
The right infrastructure is critical to meeting packaging requirements and deadlines, so CPOs are often early adopters of the most advanced technology systems to support consistent quality, efficient production, multiple packaging options
and the ability to handle runs from sample sizes through full production.

CPO partners should offer segregated, positive pressure, HEPA-filtered, temperature- and humidity-controlled pharmaceutical packaging suites for regulated drugs or drugs that require special handling. Facilities should be cGMP-compliant and FDA-registered.

In addition, companies should outfit their packaging lines with the most recent technological and automation advances, such as Optical Character Recognition to efficiently ensure compliance with date and lot tracking, and vision systems to provide reliable performance in embedded identification and inspection applications.

After quality — which is expected — what customers now want is speed, and that is made possible by using the most
current equipment and having the systems in place to support production line efficiency and allow runs of any size. Interchangeable tooling provides flexibility and prevents bottlenecks.

For example, investing in an all-in-one blister cartoning line fully automates what used to involve several separate processes. This helps expedite customer needs in a timely fashion and keep costs in line by eliminating multiple steps. Many pharma firms simply can’t justify the investment in this type
of equipment.

Efficiency doesn’t stop with the packaging lines. Modern warehousing must allow efficient and suitable storage utilizing approaches such as very narrow aisle design as well as temperature and humidity controls. Some CPOs also have an automated distribution system so that clients automatically get the best freight rates from preapproved national freight carriers.

The Human Element
The best equipment available is only as good as the people who operate it. A well-trained and engaged workforce is one of the most important keys to success. A sponsor should look for a CPO that has best practices training in place — one that has on-site training, and which has adopted six sigma and lean manufacturing principles. Companies should foster an environment that emphasizes continuous improvement and offers its employees the skills to achieve that. A low turnover rate is a good indicator of both stability and a trained workforce.

Strategic Partnerships
Contract packaging has become a strategic advantage to companies who work to bring their products to market in a timely fashion. For their clients to stay competitive, CPOs must too. A good CPO will stick to the mantra of being creative, urgent, flexible and innovative. This is a business where it’s easy to become stagnant or antiquated, and it requires an overriding commitment to continuous improvement and the willingness to invest to remain in contention.

Pharmaceutical companies are looking for CPOs that offer the experience, equipment and expertise to bring their products to market in a timely fashion and allow them to focus on the aspects of the product development process that they do best.