Pharmaceutical packaging machinery: driving growth for the next five years
According to 2021 industry research, the global pharma packaging machinery sector is predicted to continue growing at a compound annual rate of 7.28%. This translates, over the five-year forecast period to 2026, into $11.35 billion (USD) from $7.45 billion.
High demand for specialised pharma packaging is driving growth across the machinery sector, in addition to rising compliance requirements and medical standards. Machines and technologies have become a necessary part of the pharma industry, maintaining high levels of hygiene and anti-contamination standards that are simply not possible in a manual set-up anymore.
As packaging machinery manufacturers for over a century, we have worked in an evolving environment in the pharma industry. We follow the trends and have been looking at what is forecast for pharma packaging equipment around the world. Let’s take a closer look at some of the driving trends.
What’s driving pharmaceutical packaging machinery sector growth?
1. Rising hygiene standards further reduce human contact
Since the start of the global health crisis, Covid-19 has driven a necessary increase in required health and hygiene standards. While initially this effectively ground operations to a halt, automating key production and packaging processes immediately enabled social distancing, reducing the number of on-the-ground workers.
A fully automated pharma packaging machine can provide a completely hands-off approach from product placement to end-of-line case packing. This reduced human contact ticks vital hygiene boxes and contributes significantly to compliance.
2. The need for speed to meet the high demand
Increasing output with a reduced workforce proved a challenge at the start of 2020 as demand rose sharply across the pharma packaging sector. While full automation had been gaining ground in pre-pandemic times, the need for increased speed proved a catalyst for many pharma producers.
Automation has made harnessing the opportunities in pharma packaging easier. High-speed machines have enabled faster distribution and with higher accuracy than ever before, simplified quality control at the same time.
3. Increasing global health spending
The global pharmaceutical industry is growing at an accelerating pace as more developed and developing countries increase health spending. This has been attributed to a rise in government support at national levels, increased awareness of public health and hygiene and growing mandatory regulations.
4. Labelling and traceability mandates
Over the past few years and before the pandemic, labelling and traceability have been a hot topic across the pharma packaging industry. A hint that standards for serialisation may change has effectively held back many manufacturers from upgrading packaging processes.
As a result, pharma packaging machines have been developed to offer flexibility and scalability in design and functionality, integrating solutions to suit the exact needs of the client in terms of dedicated labelling, printing and packaging materials.
This has become a sticking point, however, in some corners of the industry, in terms of a predicted growth trend. Whether the collectively-held deep breath surrounding labelling and traceability becomes a hindrance or a sigh of relief, remains to be seen.
The importance of choosing the right pharma packaging machinery
There is little doubt that investing in fully automated pharma packaging machinery can provide some reassuring future-proofing for producers. However, there is still uncertainty, as we have seen, surrounding some areas of the sector.
This is why it is so important to select the right machinery for the production line at every stage. Making poor choices in this competitive sector could prove not only expensive but restrictive for future progress.
Today’s business climate dictates a great deal more flexibility than we have seen before. Future-proofing is essential, but the ability to adapt and scale production to meet unique requirements during uncertain times could be a gift to producers of all sizes.
How Jacob White can help
Jacob White has over a century of packaging machinery expertise, manufacturing custom solutions for pharma and a wide range of other sectors since 1911. We are world-renowned for product handling and tailor every machine to the unique needs of the client.
Pharmaceutical packaging machinery has evolved over the years and is today almost unrecognisable from its historical counterparts. Our machines quickly and finely handle blister packs, sachets, medical bottles and face masks and everything in between with precision and accuracy.
We enable the flexibility you need today by producing pharma packaging machines capable of multiple product runs with no parts changeover. This minimises downtime and allows manufacturers to harness the opportunities in the sector, taking on contracts and products they otherwise would not.
Talk to us if you’ve been considering updating pharma packaging machinery on your production line. With unmatched experience and knowledge, a friendly and professional team and a unique approach to machine design, you’re in safe hands with Jacob White.
