The packaging industry never stops evolving. When it comes to pharmaceuticals, these evolutions matter, as lives are on the line.
As the year comes to a close, it is worth looking back at some of the packaging trends that arose this year to determine which ones may carry forward into 2017.
UDI adoption proceeds
Adoption of Universal Device Identifiers began in 2015 and continued this year. Ensuring that these codes are readable is a crucial point. One survey by Packaging Digest found that 45 percent of pharmaceutical packaging professionals expect their companies to spend more on labeling and digital printing in the coming months.
Pharmaceutical packaging professionals expect their companies to spend more on labeling and digital printing.
Greater focus on the patient
Pharmaceutical products and medical devices cannot help people if they aren’t easy to use. There has been a growing push in 2016 to create packages that are not unwieldy or confusing – as well as affixing them with labels that are clear and easy to read and understand. In particular, readability reduces the risk that patients will misuse medications or devices and accidentally do harm to themselves.
Better product tracking through supply chains
New technology has made it easier to track pharmaceutical packages throughout the supply chain. For instance, GPS trackers can follow freight as it travels around the world, to a high degree of accuracy.
“As pharma becomes more business-to-consumer, we need to have control over where drugs are,” Gary Keatings, vice president global solutions Design Center of Excellence and Product Development, DHL Supply Chain, told Packaging Digest earlier this year.
Being able to scan labels and keep accurate count of products is also important as drug manufacturers seek to keep costs low and improve availability around the world.
Durafast offers a number of different printing solutions to help you develop the labels you need to stand out from the competition and appeal to your customer base. Contact us today for more information!