Abstract: The Indian pharmaceutical companies, specially the bulk drug manufacturing companies, may have made rapid strides in developing new molecules and in production techniques, conforming to world standards, and even increasing manufacturing capacities, but have a long way to go when it comes to packaging. In fact, as of now, packaging still takes a back seat in the whole process. Several factors have contributed to the same but more than anything it is the attitude of the pharmaceutical companies that makes them stick to their old routine in packaging.
For long, drums have been the in-thing for packing and storing bulk drugs and their intermediates. Though rapid technological advances have been made on the packaging front, the Indian pharmaceutical companies still prefer drums for packing and storing rather than go in for the latest. Manufacturing companies in other countries have switched over from drums to the latest in packaging, the HDPE bags and the like even going to the extent of using polypropylene bags.
An example would be enough to show how progressive our pharma packaging industry is. Jumbo Bags Limited, a Chennai based company, after intensive in-house research and development developed for the first time in the country polypropylene bags with corrugated box linings that could hold weight from 500 to 2000 kg. The company embarked on developing this latest packaging keeping in mind some of the manufacturing companies, which had bulk packing requirements. The company had targeted the bulk drug manufacturing companies for their requirements were almost on similar lines as that of the other manufacturing companies. Since the latter were still using drums the company felt that the superior quality bags would ease pressure on the bulk drug companies in that they could do away with the large number of drums and replace them with the polypropylene bags developed by it. The rationale behind the thinking was this. The drums normally can hold weight of 70 to 75 kg. If bulk drug companies were to pack 2000 kg of a bulk drug or its intermediates, it would have had to go for about 30 drums. But by using their packaging bags the bulk drug company would have used only one bag. The stackability of the drums was not in doubt however, but the quantity did make a difference. The new packaging bag had the same stackability but had an added advantage in that it could be folded when not in use which was not the case with the drums. On the pricing front, unlike the thinking of the manufacturers, there is also a drastic fall. A drum costs Rs. 120 to Rs. 150. If a company were to go in for 30 drums, taking the price at the minimum, the total cost would be Rs. 3600. The bag manufactured by Jumbo Bags would cost only Rs. 2500. |
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