The talking box
Trend: Alliances and new packaging designs shorten lead times

Globalization has become a well-established reality for packaging manufacturers. The pharmaceutical industry expects its suppliers to provide excellent quality, short lead times, a high degree of flexibility and international availability at low cost. The response from cardboard packaging manufacturers has been to forge global alliances such as Copapharm Europe and the Global Packaging Alliance (GPA), and the manufacturers have also developed new packaging management strategies.
Up to now, pharmaceutical manufacturers have sourced items such as folding cartons, labels and patient information leaflets from different suppliers. This means that they have had to place multiple orders and receive multiple deliveries, and there has been a significant amount of coordination, data transfer and acceptance effort associated with these activities. Costs related to warehousing and management of residual stock have also been substantial. A one-stop shopping approach to packaging management offers a new way forward.