The increasing menace of counterfeit drugs and the pharma industry's efforts to counter it has given the much needed fillip to the growth of packaging and labelling industry. As a result, the industry has seen the birth of several sophisticated and innovative packaging and labelling solutions for the pharma industry. Avery Dennison is one such player, which is moving heaven and earth to come up with innovative products for pharma. In an e-mail interview to Gireesh Babu, Raj Srinivasan, managing director, roll materials, Avery Dennison (India) Pvt Ltd threw light on the company's current activities, its product portfolio and R&D efforts. Excerpts:
Could you brief us on the current activities of Avery Dennison in India?
Avery Dennison is a global leader in self-adhesive labelling technology. We are manufacturer of self adhesive label materials, which are made up of paper or filmic material. We started operations in India in 1997 at Gurgaon with our first manufacturing plant. Recently, our second state-of-the-art manufacturing plant was inaugurated on Jan 2008 at Pune.
We at Avery Dennison supply label materials in roll form to customers, who are typically narrow web and offset printers. They in turn print and die cut the label which is finally sent to end users in all major industries like pharma, home and personal care, durables, automobiles and food and beverage.
Signalling a new era and direction in the company's approach to charitable giving, the Avery Dennison Foundation was established in 1978 by the Avery Dennison Corporation, as its philanthropic arm. It seeks to enhance global economic stability by fostering the spirit of invention and innovation in business leadership and technological advancement. In India, taking the Foundation's vision in the field of education forward, the Company proposed the creation of a faculty chair position in 2008 at the SIES School of Packaging, Mumbai. The 'Avery Dennison Foundation Chair' aims to facilitate innovation and foster the development of talent in the packaging space. This initiative, which includes an investment of US $125,000 over a period of five years, is slated to be the first of its kind. Through this pilot initiative, the chair seeks to expose students to self-adhesive technology, thus creating long-term strategic benefits for the university, students, packaging industry, local businesses and customers.
What are the packaging and labelling products offered by the company for the Indian pharma sector?
Avery Dennison is a global company with presence in almost 32 countries. Our products are used by all major companies worldwide. With regards to the pharmaceutical industry, we have a broad range of products that cater to various requirements, which are used by all major pharma companies across the country.
We have labels that can be classified into paper and filmic. The adhesives used are Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and BGVV compliant. We also have security products that can be used against counterfeit drugs. We also make products, which can be used for high-speed label applications by increasing packing productivity at the plant level.
What are the current trends in pharma packaging and labelling?
The Indian pharma industry is growing at a healthy rate but a major concern is the counterfeit drugs that are being sold in the market. It is here that Avery Dennison can play an important role by providing special tamper evident and security labels to solve some of the major problems faced due to this. However, the primary drive would be needed from the major Pharma companies to counter such menace.
Another issue faced by pharma companies is that the DPCO, NPPA usually limit the packaging cost of the drug. So at times these companies usually opt for labels, which have wet glue which do not have any regulatory compliance. The authorities can play a stellar role by ensuring that the label used is of good quality, since a good label will not only benefit the consumer, but the company as well.
Packaging and labelling have a major role in ensuring the quality of products. With the current concerns over the counterfeit drugs, what are the technologies that the industry can bring in to make a change?
Counterfeit drugs from India are a major concern and in the US, it is found that 45 per cent of drugs bought outside are counterfeit. Avery Dennison offers a wide range of security products to cater to the growing needs of the industry. They can be classified into the following categories:
■Frangible: This category consists of products such as polystyrenes, destructible vinyl's, acetate films etc
■Overt: This category of labels would include voids, checkerboard etc
■Covert: This is our latest range of products, which have covert features like microscopic text, encrypted text, digital water markings, RFID etc
■Forensic: This category of products would include high forensic, chemical, etc
While we do have an all-encompassing range of products, we believe the primary push has to come from the pharma companies and their willingness to invest in such security labels.
What are the technologies developed by Avery Dennison to meet the demands from pharma industry?
Avery Dennison pioneered the self adhesive label when our founder Stan Avery invented the pricing label way back in 1935. Since then, our company has been able to pioneer various technologies like:
■First US self adhesive postage stamp
■First print your own label on Microsoft office software
■First content intensive RFID label
However, since the pharma industry is one of the major industries which uses labels, we constantly innovate to offer the latest products. In addition to the above mentioned security solutions, we have also developed RFID labels to cater to this market.
What are the latest trends in pharma packaging and labelling R&D? Elaborate on the R&D operations of Avery Dennison?
Avery Dennison's R&D centre for the Asia Pacific region is at Kunshan, China.
The Philip M. Neal Asia Pacific Research Centre dedicated to pioneering research in materials science, polymerisation, precision coating and printing processes, reflects Avery Dennison's commitment to - and strong growth - in the Asia Pacific region. Named in honour of Avery Dennison's fourth chief executive officer, the 4,000 square meter facility has been designed to enable the company to accelerate the transfer of established technologies and products customised for local use to Asia Pacific and China. The new centre not only makes it possible for Avery Dennison to develop, analyse and test new products designed specifically for the Asia Pacific market, but also allows it to enhance its ability to understand regional needs, respond to customer requests and provide faster service.
Looking forward, how do you find the Indian pharma packaging market? What is the strategy of your company to win this market?
The pharma industry is growing at a healthy rate, and with major players already being our key clients, we see tremendous potential. Our comprehensive range of products can help pharma companies from counterfeit drugs and the consumers from buying counterfeit drugs. These products are the need of the hour, and at Avery Dennison we believe our duty is to ensure that we meet these needs by providing best quality and with consistency.
What are the future plans of Avery Dennison in India? Brief us on the current market performance and expected growth in near future?
We invested in our first plant at Gurgaon in 1997 and our second plant at Pune in January 2008. Our plant at Pune is one of our key investments. It is located on a 28 acre site and covers more than 100,000 square meters. It contains state-of-the-art hot melt tandem coater with the latest global technology.