Before reviewing the pharmaceutical machinery industry in India, let us take a look at some of these basic statistics - India has the highest number of annual bulk drugs filing (77) with the USFDA, it is home to the largest number of pharmaceutical plants (61) approved by USFDA outside the US, it has the second-largest pool of scientists and engineers in the world, growing at 6 per cent, in 25 years Indian GDP (on a PPP basis) will be the same level the US is at today, and of the Fortune 500 companies, 220 outsource their software related work to India.
The above statistics supports the fact that the pharmaceutical industry, which requires knowledge based people, is growing at a tremendous rate in India. The allied industries have played a pivotal role in supporting the pharma industry ensuring right technologies and productivity solutions to it at the right time, maintaining its growth rate. This has transformed itself into a powerful and supporting system to the pharmaceutical industry in India.
Not alone the Indian industry, Indian pharmaceutical machinery industry also serves companies abroad with high quality equipment & systems at affordable pricing with excellent after sales support.
With a deep understanding of the technological requirements and challenges in the design & manufacture of machinery for the highly regulated pharmaceutical industry, the Indian machinery industry today is on the same level vis-à-vis its international counterparts. With emphasis on advanced features & sound engineering technology the Indian machinery is deployed in hundreds of companies in India and abroad, reliably producing and packaging high quality products.
The advancement in machinery technology in the country is growing at a global pace. Indian machinery today is considered as one that can offer value added engineering with integration of new technologies. The continuous joint ventures between Indian machinery manufactures and their foreign counterparts is a testimony to the fact that the Indian machinery industry understands the pharmaceutical industry's stringent needs, simultaneously producing international quality products at affordable prices. Internationally, the acceptance of the Indian machinery in the pharmaceutical industry is catching up.
As market for generic medicines is opening up, many pharmaceutical companies in North America, Europe, South East Asia and other countries are trying to compete with the highly competitive Indian pharmaceutical industry. The reliability of machinery for consistently producing medicines for regulated industries with very low cost of maintenance is one of the reasons attributed to less expensiveness of Indian pharma products. Value addition in terms of technology is an additional benefit. Indian machinery manufacturer is well informed about documentation and validation processes, essential for overseas marketing of the products. All these factors have led many companies from abroad start shopping for their machinery needs from India.
It would be a suicidal error for corporates today, who continue ignoring the importance of utilizing the best in manufacturing technology at affordable pricing. Worldwide it is commonly observed that companies have accrued numerous advantages by treating manufacturing technology as an important part of the competitive strategy. This is where the Indian machinery can help add a lot of value.
Indian machinery is promoted at various international exhibitions and there is healthy competition from local manufacturers, which is essential for any industry to grow. Being capital goods, the machinery many a times needs to be customized to suit the requirements of a country or the customer. Indian machinery manufacturers are well adapted to meet any stringent safety or regulatory requirements of advanced countries. The Indian machinery manufacturers are also well versed in the usage of Internet and related technologies to promote their products & services. This has also increased the awareness of Indian machinery industry globally. Annually, India is a host to various trade shows, some only dedicated to machinery, which further helps to showcase the offerings of this industry.
The stage is set for the Indian machinery to lead the manufacturing revolution in various countries. It is not uncommon to find managers of pharmaceutical companies waging an all-out war in the market to gain a competitive leverage, with little or no time to efficiently plan & design their manufacturing processes, which would possibly slash their production costs & increase their bottom line. This is a scenario, where the Indian machinery will come handy. The Indian machinery manufacturer is lean and efficient when it comes to engineering and delivering goods at short notice, as they are flexible and technologically sound.
Like the Made in India label is now preferred in the software Industry, the same will hold true for the Indian machinery industry in various parts of the world. With better experiences of many more companies from the western world, Indian machinery industry is all set to make in-roads in these markets as well.
— The author is managing director, Kevin Process Technologies