The pharmaceutical and medical device communities had a powerful presence during Pack Expo International 2012 in Chicago—despite the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy.
During the Oct. 28-31 event, the Healthcare Packaging staff—and the Summit Media team—shot more than 100 videos of packaging-centric machinery, controls, and technologies, many of which were introduced at the event. Thanks to VP/Digital & Custom Media David Newcorn, Claudia Smith, Yajaira Marie and others, you can sample a taste of Pack Expo’s pharmaceutical and medical device here and throughout the Healthcare Packaging Web site.
Among key healthcare-related Pack Expo developments were the following:
• A “2012 Pharmaceutical/Medical Device Industry Segment Report” presentation revealed that in a recent survey, 69% of responding medical device makers and 64% of pharmaceutical manufacturers intend to purchase more packaging equipment in the next 12 to 24 months. New products were the top reason for pharmaceutical equipment purchase plans, while medical device makers cited replacing aging or obsolete equipment as the number one reason for future machine buys. Watch for more on this report to come.
• Packaging veteran and automation blogger Keith Campbell’s podcast noted that despite Hurricane Sandy, “the aisles were filled and exhibitors were excited about the business they did and the leads they generated.” Campbell noticed an emphasis on clean, open, sanitary equipment design, driven in part by pharmaceutical industry needs. He also noted that many robotic manufacturers are increasing offerings for packaging applications, with several exhibitors offering component systems and software to help machine builders build their own robots. Listen to his podcast here.
• As always, PMMI and Pack Expo emphasized education and training, as Campbell noted in his video. Not only does PMMI offer students and packaging pros educational and training opportunities, but it also gives them an outlet to share their expertise and further advance the function of packaging throughout multiple industries. In the medical device community, for example, Pack Expo hosted a meeting of the Institute of Packaging Professionals’ Medical Device Packaging Technical Committee. Industry veteran Karen Greene provided details on MDPTC in this video taken during Pack Expo.
(Shown here is Angela Roggenhofer of Tekni-Plex, the subject of one of the videos noted above.)
