Owing to the multitude of uses for consumable products in a host of industries, the cleanroom consumables market is thriving. The global cleanroom market consists of a plethora of consumables and hard ware products having precision and quality.
Under consumables, gloves are the most purchased cleanroom consumable in the world, followed by wipes and disposable garments. Other widely purchased consumables include disinfectants and cleaning solutions, mops, and special pens. Cleanroom hardware includes ceilings, floors, modular rooms, HVAC, mini environments, and instrumentation.
While the pharmaceutical industry is considered as the number one major cleanroom hardware purchaser, the semiconductor industry is considered to be the largest user of cleanrooms worldwide.
In 2012 McIlvaine had forecast that the cleanroom consumables market would reach $7 billion in 2013 and may exceed $8 billion in 2015.According to TechNavio forecasts, the global cleanroom consumables market will have with a CAGR of 4.95 per cent for the period 2013-2018.
An increase in demand from the APAC region is one of the major drivers in the global cleanroom consumables market. The market has the presence of several well-known international and local players, which leads to competition in the market. The increasing threat of rivalry is one of the major challenges in the global cleanroom consumables market, according to a report.
Asia is projected to be the largest hub by 2015 witnessing growth in consumables and hard ware products. Asia is considered both, the largest and fastest growing region for clean room hardware and consumables.
Asian countries provide a significant cost advantage for pharmaceutical manufacturing accounting for almost 50 per cent cost reduction as compared to that in Europe or USA.
With regulatory authorities cracking whip on drug manufacturing specifications to enhance the export of medicines, the market for cleanrooms in India offers significant prospects due to its indispensable attribute.
India, in particular, is an attractive destination as it has a strong pool of qualified and skilled manpower with the knowledge to operate manufacturing facilities. In India, there are more than 100 FDA approved pharmaceutical facilities, the largest number of sites outside the US.
China and Taiwan are also gearing up to build more regulatory approved manufacturing sites that win confidence of the companies to outsource production services. According to a report, over the next decade, China will become the largest consumer of cleanroom products as well as one of the largest suppliers.
As a result of the increase in competition among the market vendors, some cleanroom consumable vendors are investigating opportunities to increase their market presence by differentiating their products from those of their competitors. This forces vendors to increase their focus on R&D activities, in order to provide superior quality and highly customized products that can effectively meet the specific requirements of their customers. Increasing R&D activities by vendors also enables them to investigate the opportunities to develop cost-effective products that could increase their competitiveness in the market.
The pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector is expected to be the third largest consumers of clean room products. The biotech and pharmaceutical sectors require cleanrooms and controlled environments which need to control the concentration of airborne particles, micro-organisms, temperature, humidity and pressure.
Pharmaceutical and biotechnological emphasis on complex disease areas, trends in disease control, growth in emerging markets, and reformulation of existing products have widened the scope of the contract manufacturing market.
As Indian pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry faces stringent manufacturing and export regulations from Indian and foreign regulatory bodies, companies now are seeking to match up with superior quality in their manufacturing processes, and the demand for cleanrooms is now catching up far more than ever before.
Cleanrooms and controlled environment play a crucial role in the bio technology industry. The sector is involved in multiple activities such as safety laboratories, production units, bio-exclusion, and animal supply facility to name a few.
The cleanroom trends began in the area of medicine and research where experts saw a close relationship between hygiene and manufacturing quality products. McIlvaine predicted that there will be 131 million sq. ft of cleanroom space in use across the world in 2014,which is an increase of five per cent in 2013.
Healthcare sector offers significant potential for the consumption of cleanrooms, which largely remains untapped in India, as the sector needs cleanroom technology to isolate patients carrying potential disease.
Cleanroom hardware is developed to match different stages of cleanliness such as High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters, special materials walls, perforated flooring for laminar room along with biological safety cabinets, clean benches or mini-environments.
In addition, Heat Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems are also required for close control of temperature, humidity and pressure on regular basis. Exclusively designed fans can be combined with separate filter modules to ensure smooth flow distribution. Cleanrooms consume a significant amount of power, which is fuelling the demand for smart technology that can minimize the energy loads in industry environments.
Quality hand hygiene is imperative for optimal contamination control practices in cleanroom environments.
The need to prevent and control healthcare acquired infections (HCAI) across Europe, which results in 4.5 to 5 million cases annually, is driving the hand hygiene market in Western Europe. Outbreaks of norovirus and bird flu over the past five years have also served to highlight the importance of hand hygiene in containing infectious diseases. Hand hygiene product manufacturers should take advantage of these trends by offering a one-stop solution for all disinfection requirements.
A new analysis from Frost & Sullivan's Hand Hygiene Market in Western Europe research finds the market earned revenue of $415.4 million in 2013 and estimates this to reach $680.8 million in 2019. The research covers hand wash, hand disinfectant and surgical hand antisepsis products across the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Benelux and Scandinavia.
Alcohol-based hand rubs are expected to become the most popular solution in the hand disinfectant and surgical hand antisepsis segments due to its proven efficiency and ease of use.
In the meanwhile K Ansell, a 50:50 JV between the Raymond Group and Ansell International - the global leader in protection solutions for medical community, recently launched Encore underglove and Micro-Touch N30 in the Indian glove market catering to peri-operative hospital segment. Both the products are specialist latex powder free surgical glove meant to encourage double gloving in procedures extending for over 30 minutes.
Encore underglove facilitates indicative and caring hand barrier protection while Micro-Touch N30¸ offers nitrile advantage with superior comfort levels and optimum tactile sensitivity.
Redefining the rules of the market that one fits all, JK Ansell has been instrumental in launching high quality glove products designed for each specialised field based on the expertise of the surgeon.
Being the pioneer in the powder-free gloves segment, JK Ansell aims to spread awareness about the side-effects of powdered gloves across hospitals. The exposure to starch used in powered gloves can lead to a number of undesirable reactions such as allergy systems. Based on many clinical studies, it has been found that surgeons tend to ignore such physical breaches in surgical gloves thus making them prone to blood borne pathogens.
Encore underglove comes in a special teal green colour which acts as an indicating system whenever there is a physical breach in surgical glove. Teal green colour of glove differentiates from the white or brown colour outer gloves, hence acts as an alarm for surgeon to change the outer glove timely.
Speaking about the double gloving concept, Ranju Mohan, director and business head, JK Ansell said, “Gloves as a protection gear for medical professionals has been long ignored by many hospitals, however it has always been seen as a valued investment by surgeons. Puncturing of gloves during surgical procedures has been found to occur at rates of 11 per cent to 43 per cent worldwide.
Every year 3 million out of 35 million healthcare professionals are exposed to blood borne pathogens. The value of premium high- end glove products enables surgeons to do their job better with a glove that fits perfectly, provides optimum tactile sensation, comfort and safeguards from infection. The concept of underglove has been doing well in other markets where Ansell operates and we aim to extend the offering of optimal hand barrier protection in India too.”
The second offering - Micro-Touch N30 examination glove is a step forward towards 'barrier protection for all', as these unique synthetic gloves offers optimum tactile sensation, superior comfort levels by retaining moisture and rehydrating the skin, while maintaining nitrile’s high resistance to blood born pathogen and chemicals, including chemotherapy drugs. Micro-Touch N30 are available in an innovative mini dispenser pack that contains 30 pieces of nitrile examination gloves which can be easily dispensed to an inpatient without any worry of glove wastage, at the same time providing protection without probable complications from latex powdered gloves.