At the CPHI & PMEC exhibition, 12 to 14 December, at Greater Noida, Uflex displayed innovative solutions from its different business verticals. Avinash Mandale, senior vice president of sales and marketing, pharma business, Uflex, said, “At the exhibition, we are displaying our range of films and foils. There are a lot of new developments happening at our end. For example, we have developed a very unique PET-based alu-alu. In a typical alu-alu laminate, there are three layers – nylon/aluminum/PVC. So what we have done is that we have replaced the PVC and nylon layers with our special in-house manufactured PET. This has helped us bring down the cost, in addition to making the alu-alu more sustainable. For this unique development, Uflex has also been granted a United States Patent recently.”
Another innovation displayed by Uflex’s pharma business at the show was the 20-micron fast-tear strip foil. “Conventionally, all packaging companies have been providing 30- and 40-micron strip foils for strip packaging. Now we have developed a 20-micron strip foil which gives an advantage of 36% yield. So, this is a straight saving for pharma companies. It is an innovative technology with the objective of optimizing cost. In addition to cost optimization, the 20-micron foil also provides better tear-ability and compliance by the patient. The printing on the strip also becomes more visible as it comes in matte finish instead of aluminum,” said Mandale.
Uflex’s engineering division displayed three machines – multi-lane vertical FFS machine (1200 mm roll width) for packing powder, paste, liquid etc; Vacuum Nitrogen Flushing and Sealing (VNS) machine for packing any item (up to 250 kg) under vacuum condition; and Unit Dose Vertical Form Seal machine (100 mg to 10 gram powder packing machine).
Speaking about industry trends, Mukesh Mohan Agarwal, general manager, engineering division, Uflex, said, “Today most of the companies are going for unit dose packaging where you consume the complete item in single dose. The demand for stick pack is also growing in India.” Agarwal shared that the engineering division will launch a 30-lane stick pack machine in 2019.
“The pharma industry is growing at a very brisk pace but the pharma packaging equipment manufacturers in India are yet to live up to the expectation of the companies in terms of quality and speed. So most of the pharma companies prefer to import their packaging equipment,” added Agarwal.
Uflex’s tube division was also present at the exhibition. The tube division displayed its range of tubes for the oral care, cosmetic and pharma industries. “These tubes can give you aesthetics, excellent barrier properties, and most importantly anti-counterfeit features. All our tubes are manufactured using reverse printing technology on gravure presses which provide the best of half tone images. Plus, these tubes are 360 degree printed which again gives a lot of aesthetic value to the product,” said Ish Dhawan, general manager, tube division, Uflex.
— Mahan Hazarika