Ajay Mehta, director, GMP Technical Solutions Pvt Ltd, in an email interaction with Archana Aroor, talks about the latest developments and the challenges of the cleanroom equipment industry. A civil engineer, having vast experience in design, implementation and execution of pharmaceutical projects, he co-founded GMP Technical Solutions in 2006. He had  provided vision, leadership and technology direction to the company since its inception.

What are the latest developments in the cleanroom equipment industry?
The recent major development in cleanroom industry is the demand of customisation of design/ size/ accessories and emphasis on quality of equipment. Moreover now the focus is also on higher efficiency, energy savings, sustainability and functionality. Cleanroom equipment that provide solutions to contamination potentials and maximize usable space are in great demand. Coved surfaces, flushed/ smooth component transitions and smooth final finish of the equipment is also one of the major changes in product’s design.

Another major change in cleanroom equipment industry is in the containment solutions (Isolator technology). An isolator is a device that provides a physical barrier between a laboratory technician and a work process. This barrier is necessary to avoid any contamination happening to the product or human, which may result by human coming in contact with the product.

Day by day Isolators are becoming a major part of equipment in pharmaceutical industries manufacturing critical  pharmaceutical products i.e. hormones, oncology etc. These products have critical effects on  human beings  and vice versa. Hence a strong barrier is required to avoid any type of contamination. Another advantage of this technology is that it is used for maintaining the required cleanliness class and conditions in a small area instead of maintaining the same cleanliness class and conditions in the whole manufacturing area, so it in turn reduces the HVAC and other running costs drastically.

GMP has grabbed this opportunity and has already started manufacturing isolators in its new state of the art manufacturing facility near Mumbai. This manufacturing facility houses the latest laser cutting machine (Trumph make True Fibre Laser 1030) and all other machines are also CNC controlled and are latest in terms of technology.

What are your views on the Indian cleanroom equipment industry  in general?
India has a good standing in global cleanroom equipment market as far as tailor-made products are concerned and enjoys a good reputation in terms of quality and functionality.

However in standard product sizes and bulk production China is leading because of low product prices, mainly due to inferior raw materials and cheaper production costs. Increasing demand for  tailor-made products and emphasis on quality will be key factors which will drive India to new level as a cleanroom equipment supplier.

How competitive are our products compared to the foreign ones and  what are the challenges faced by the companies today?
Our products are competitive in terms of price and quality in global markets compared to similar European products. However China is giving a tough competition to Indian products especially in standard products.

The biggest challenge is the slow-down of worldwide economies and also saturation in Indian pharmaceutical industry.

However the global slowdown has helped Indian cleanroom equipment manufacturers to find ways to reduce wastage which in turn reduces the cost to compete with Chinese manufacturers. Further, in case of domestic market; replacement and modification market has opened new opportunities for cleanroom equipment manufacturing industry and the demand is expected to grow in  the coming years of this decade.

What are the prospects for the cleanroom  products?
Future seems to be very bright for the cleanroom equipment industry. There is a huge market for replacements/ revamping and modifications apart from the new pharmaceutical project requirements, which can be tapped by Indian cleanroom equipment manufacturers. However the rising competition and pressure on prices will remain the major challenge. Isolators demand and their usage will increase.

The growth in demand of isolator products will be high as compared to the other cleanroom equipment. The third world countries will be a good market for Indian cleanroom equipment manufacturers.

Technically strong and advanced manufacturers will have an edge over others. Companies with higher cost-cutting capabilities and stronger purchase departments will be more competitive in the markets. Tailor-made products will be in higher demand and hence companies which can take up this challenge and have capabilities to develop and manufacture tailor-made and innovative products will rule the market.

In a nutshell from the the GMP’s view point , the industry’s future prospects are very bright and with this in view we have started a new unit near Mumbai for manufacturing  isolators  in the last financial year and has a plan to increase its Baddi unit’s capacity to double by F/y 2015-16.

What are your company's expansion plans ?
In line with the growing demand, we are planning to increase the production capacity to double by the year 2016.

What are your challenges in  coping up with the changes taking place in the industry?
The biggest challenges today is the increasing competition, which is both domestic and international.

Another challenge is the acceptance of inferior quality of products by the client on the basis of price. This is mainly due to the lack of knowledge of the materials and also lack of testing facilities.

GMP is  continuously educating its clients with the required inputs and this is helping the clients to take appropriate decisions accordingly. But, it is a continuous process and will take time.

What according to you should be the govt initiatives to improve the sector?
In GMP’s view,the government should focus on developing material testing labs and facilities in the industrial clusters. This will be helpful for the small manufacturers, who do not have testing facilities to get their products tested and for further product development and improvement. For the customers, they can get the material tested before or on delivery to avoid inferior products which are available at a much lower price.