Product manufacturers looking to push “lean” processing and packaging in their operations often struggle with the challenges of small batch runs and planning for new product introductions. Small batch runs and new products can create inefficient operations. Both situations are perfect candidates for employing contract packagers (CPs).
Manufacturers consider bringing products back inside to package when they believe the cost per piece is lower.
As a CP, you may have to make an investment in your existing line before your cost of in-house manufacturing is actually lower than it would be at the manufacturer. New equipment can provide long-term savings in manufacturing efficiency, less scrap, and lower labor costs. The return on investment for new equipment purchases can be reached sooner by developing longer-term job contracts and longer product runs with customers.
Selling time
Contract packagers are fighting hard to sell their “time.” Manufacturers tend to send existing and declining product jobs to contract packers. Since CPs only make money when the line is running, if they get all the unwanted “cat and dog” projects from manufacturers, their lines are no longer efficient. They must in turn pass those added costs along to manufacturers.
Both manufacturers and CPs are in the same quandary in that they want smaller, faster equipment that permits easy, tool-less changeover and automation productivity tracking, with less labor to operate the machinery.
I wish I knew where this will all lead,
and who will U.S.-based packaging machinery manufacturers are all fighting for reduced business opportunities, with European firms still very much involved
in the process.
Puerto Rico
Consolidation continues in Puerto Rico and will for years, yet the industry is strong, and management teams are very positive. This was my impression after attending Interphex Puerto Rico and visiting various pharmaceutical facilities on the island.
There continues to be a steady automation and equipment upgrade focus in Puerto Rico. Those plants that survive the consolidation do so because they produce quality products efficiently at a competitive cost. The infrastructure to operate successfully on the island is there, so why move it?
The focus is on Operational Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and Total Cost of Ownership (TOC). Companies seek machinery that operates at higher speeds and with greater efficiency, requires less rework, produces less scrap, and runs with fewer people.
Many facilities I visited in Puerto Rico had bulletin boards with charts showing individual equipment OEE numbers. If a specific machine does not measure up and the supplier or supplier's agent is ignorant of the current equipment demands, the equipment is replaced. Puerto Rico still has an affinity to European packaging equipment. Although individual facilities and plants are sometimes involved in the equipment purchase decision-making processes, those decisions tend to be made by management based on global factors.
Process and packaging standards are prominent more so in pharmaceuticals than for diagnostics or medical devices, but all are globally influenced.
Automation continues to be the focus for machinery on the island. Many of the largest pharmaceutical and medical device companies employ talented, focused teams of individuals who evaluate automation integrators, looking for the top 5% of firms that understand the process, are willing to form a partnership with them, and offer the flexibility, responsiveness, and resiliency needed to work on a local level with the plant to develop material handling and automated solutions.
By Walt Langosch, Sales and Marketing Director, ESS Technologies
Walt Langosch is the sales and marketing director for ESS Technologies, Inc., a company that specializes in packaging line design, equipment manufacturing, and integration. ESS designs, manufactures, and integrates packaging machinery and robotics for the primary and secondary packaging of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, nutraceuticals, consumer products, and cosmetics, and assembles diagnostic products and medical devices.
Manufacturers consider bringing products back inside to package when they believe the cost per piece is lower.
As a CP, you may have to make an investment in your existing line before your cost of in-house manufacturing is actually lower than it would be at the manufacturer. New equipment can provide long-term savings in manufacturing efficiency, less scrap, and lower labor costs. The return on investment for new equipment purchases can be reached sooner by developing longer-term job contracts and longer product runs with customers.
Selling time
Contract packagers are fighting hard to sell their “time.” Manufacturers tend to send existing and declining product jobs to contract packers. Since CPs only make money when the line is running, if they get all the unwanted “cat and dog” projects from manufacturers, their lines are no longer efficient. They must in turn pass those added costs along to manufacturers.
Both manufacturers and CPs are in the same quandary in that they want smaller, faster equipment that permits easy, tool-less changeover and automation productivity tracking, with less labor to operate the machinery.
I wish I knew where this will all lead,
and who will U.S.-based packaging machinery manufacturers are all fighting for reduced business opportunities, with European firms still very much involved
in the process.
Puerto Rico
Consolidation continues in Puerto Rico and will for years, yet the industry is strong, and management teams are very positive. This was my impression after attending Interphex Puerto Rico and visiting various pharmaceutical facilities on the island.
There continues to be a steady automation and equipment upgrade focus in Puerto Rico. Those plants that survive the consolidation do so because they produce quality products efficiently at a competitive cost. The infrastructure to operate successfully on the island is there, so why move it?
The focus is on Operational Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and Total Cost of Ownership (TOC). Companies seek machinery that operates at higher speeds and with greater efficiency, requires less rework, produces less scrap, and runs with fewer people.
Many facilities I visited in Puerto Rico had bulletin boards with charts showing individual equipment OEE numbers. If a specific machine does not measure up and the supplier or supplier's agent is ignorant of the current equipment demands, the equipment is replaced. Puerto Rico still has an affinity to European packaging equipment. Although individual facilities and plants are sometimes involved in the equipment purchase decision-making processes, those decisions tend to be made by management based on global factors.
Process and packaging standards are prominent more so in pharmaceuticals than for diagnostics or medical devices, but all are globally influenced.
Automation continues to be the focus for machinery on the island. Many of the largest pharmaceutical and medical device companies employ talented, focused teams of individuals who evaluate automation integrators, looking for the top 5% of firms that understand the process, are willing to form a partnership with them, and offer the flexibility, responsiveness, and resiliency needed to work on a local level with the plant to develop material handling and automated solutions.
By Walt Langosch, Sales and Marketing Director, ESS Technologies
Walt Langosch is the sales and marketing director for ESS Technologies, Inc., a company that specializes in packaging line design, equipment manufacturing, and integration. ESS designs, manufactures, and integrates packaging machinery and robotics for the primary and secondary packaging of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, nutraceuticals, consumer products, and cosmetics, and assembles diagnostic products and medical devices.
![Alison Bryant, senior consultant at Antea Group and communications director for the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council (HPRC), addressed the crowd at the[PACK]out.](https://img.healthcarepackaging.com/files/base/pmmi/all/image/2024/05/Alison_Bryant.6644005a513b0.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
