Do you know about the ongoing packaging trends in the pharmaceutical industry? No! don’t worry. In this article, we will discuss how you can develop trending pharma packaging boxes. This will bring various benefits to the producers of pharmaceutical products manufacturers.
The main benefit of adopting these solutions is that they keep the enclosed products safe and secure till they are consumed by the users. The second benefit of using them is that they make the presentation of products substantial. Therefore, adopting them is not a bad idea for modern-day pharmaceutical manufacturers. These innovative packaging solutions will provide them a way to achieve excellence in their work and impress their customers by delivering products in their actual shape and form.
Now the question arises how would you develop efficient and trending packaging boxes? What are the features they should possess to impress the customers? Let’s discuss them below. First, we talk about the emerging pharmaceutical packaging trends.
Need for Efficient Pharma Packaging Solutions:
You can present your product in different kinds of packaging solutions but making this presentation effective and efficient is the main case. Pharmaceutical products are very sensitive by nature. They can get contaminated easily and could wreak unrepairable damage to the users. This is why we are emphasizing an efficient packaging solution, not only a packaging solution.
What are the main features possessed by an efficient pharma packaging box?
- Readability
- Protection
- Sustainability
These three features enhance the efficiency of any pharma packaging to a great extent. Therefore, designers need to concentrate on these three points while designing it.
How do these features impact the performance of the packaging solution? Let’s check it out.
Readability:
It is one of the most important features in the designing of any pharma packaging. This is related to the textual printed material on the packaging. It is the most important part of the printed artwork for any pharma product as it works as the main source of information for the users.
Whenever they buy any pharma product, they will check its packaging first to read the information printed on it. This check will tell them whether it is suitable for them or not. After that, they will make a buying decision. Therefore, this information must be correct and accurate by all means. Otherwise, it can cause huge harm to the end-users.
Normally, this information contains the following things.
- Brand Name.
- Manufacturing date.
- Expiry Date.
- Usage directions.
- Information about salts and other ingredients used in its making.
- Information about the dosage as per adult, child, and others.
- Storage precautions.
Every drug label must possess this above-mentioned information. It helps the buyers in getting the right medicine for their problems. A slight mistake in this information could cause a huge loss.
Protection:
Drugs are highly sensitive products. They are directly linked to the health of humans. Therefore, drugs and everything should be designed and manufactured with immense care. Even their packaging has immense importance in their work. A slight mistake in its manufacturing could lead to a big disaster.
Every drug is quite sensitive to environmental factors. They need a packaging solution that protects them from those environmental factors like heat, moisture, and others. Otherwise, they get contaminated easily and will cause more damage than cure.
Normally, we see drugs packed in dual packaging solutions. First, they are packed in bottles or blister packaging solutions, and as secondary packaging cardboard or cardstock boxes are used. This keeps the drugs completely protected from getting contaminated.
Sustainability:
It is important to understand the importance of environmental sustainability. The use of non-biodegradable materials like plastic in the making of packaging can cause damage to the environment. This is why it has always been suggested to pharmaceutical manufacturers to use biodegradable materials such as cardboard, Kraft paper, and others for the making of packaging solutions.
The same policy goes with the glass bottle used for pharmaceutical products. Now, you might be thinking about how you can recycle these glass bottles. There are two ways of doing it. One, there are recycling centers available for this purpose. They collect the bottles and paperboard boxes to recycle them.
A study shows “Approximately 46 million tons of paper and paperboard were recycled in 2018 for a recycling rate of 68.2 percent, which was the highest compared to other materials in MSW. Paper containers and packaging, excluding corrugated boxes, had a recycling rate of 20.8 percent, while corrugated boxes had a recycling rate of 96.5 percent in 2018.”.
Second, some pharmaceutical companies have adopted policies to take back these bottles. They do the recycling of the bottles for themselves.
Trending Pharma Packaging Solutions:
Some packaging solutions are always in trend for pharmaceutical products.
- Blister Packaging.
- Glass Bottles with labels.
- Medication Patches.
- Foil and Paper packaging solution.
Their design and structure keep the drugs safe and secure as they move through the supply chain. The performance of these packaging solutions keeps them trending for a long time.
Blister Packaging:
This is a packaging solution that is mostly used to pack drugs in tablet form. It is made from a single plastic sheet. The back of this packaging is covered with printed foil paper. The printing of the foil paper contains all the information about the drug like ingredients, brand name, dosage information, and others. An important part of this information is the expiry and manufacturing dates of the product. The only drawback with this packaging is its non-biodegradable material. It is not an eco-friendly material.
Glass Bottles with labels:
Glass bottles are considered as highly efficient packaging solution in the pharma packaging companies. The glass bottle packaging remains incomplete without its medication labels. The labels pasted on the bottles contain important information about the product. This helps the customers in buying the right product according to their problem.
Medication Patches:
It is the new way to deliver drugs into the bloodstream through the skin. These medication patches come with printed labels on them. The ink used in these labels should be the right one approved by the regulatory authority. The use of incorrect inks may contaminate the drug and therefore, is not recommended to use for it.
Foil and Paper Packaging Solutions:
The paper packaging is getting approval from the manufacturers due to its eco-friendly nature. Paper material is a biodegradable material that helps maintain the sustainability of the environment. With that, foil covering in many packaging solutions also provides the same kind of results as paper packaging is providing.
Pharma Packaging with Customized Printing Solutions:
There are different types of printing methods available to the manufacturers to print their pharma packaging. Some of them are cost-effective while some are expensive. Therefore, manufacturers need to understand the difference between them before selecting them.
The most utilized printing technique for pharma packaging is flexography printing. There are different reasons behind its selection which are defined below.
- Durability: flexography printing technique provides long-lasting and durable printing solutions on pharma packaging. They do not get dull and remain in their actual look after a long time of their printing.
- Economical: Flexography is an economical printing method to get custom printed pharma packaging in bulk quantities. It is less expensive than lithography and, in some cases, digital printing as well.
- Quality: The printing quality you will get from flexography is far better than other printing methods. It allows you to print 1 to 3 colors of artwork on the packaging with ease. The cost of printing raises by almost 10% with the addition of the second color then a further 10% with the addition of the third color. Therefore, single-color printing is cheaper than 3-color printing material.
- Speed: Another important factor that makes flexography the first option of many designers is the speed of printing you will get with this method. You will get bulk printing jobs done with this method in no time.
- Productivity: The wastage of material during this printing method remains minimal. This enhances the efficiency of this printing method to a great extent. Less wastage means more productivity.
Emerging Pharma Packaging Trends:
With the development of stocks and printing technologies, the methods of designing product packaging have been revolutionized. Especially, the use of cardboard, Kraft paper, and cardstock material has changed the concept of packaging completely.
These materials are eco-friendly and 100% recyclable. Their biodegradable feature makes them a perfect choice to design any kind of packaging solution. The Pharma packaging companies are also getting benefits from these materials and developing unique and novel designs of drug packaging.
The flexibility and suppleness of these materials allow the designers to mold them into any desired shape and style easily. This helps in developing eye-catching packaging boxes. Most pharmaceutical products use cardboard or cardstock boxes as their secondary packaging solutions. Therefore, designing them with style improves their look to a great extent.
What do modern-day pharma manufacturers expect from their product packaging?
- Convenient Production of packaging.
- Environment-friendly packaging.
- User-friendliness
All these qualities can be achieved with packaging boxes made from new-era building materials like cardboard, cardstock, or Kraft paper. This is why modern packaging trends are changing with time.
Final Thoughts:
Custom printed pharma packaging has great importance due to the nature of the product they are carrying. This is why it is always been designed with great care. It starts from the selection of an appropriate material, then comes its printing, and then it’s delivery to the customer.
A packaging solution is not worthy of appreciation if it is beautiful in look but not capable of delivering a product in its actual shape to the buyer. Therefore, it is necessary to produce packaging that provides safety and beauty both at the same time.
An efficient pharma packaging solution must protect the enclosed drug from getting contaminated during its supply chain. With that, the packaging must bring convenience to the customers in its usage. They should get the desired information about the product from its printed artwork on the packaging. All these features come together and produce an efficient packaging solution for products.