Page 13 - ITLN September - October 2023 for Magzter

he pharmaceutical and cold the goal will not be reached sooner,” said
chain markets are among the Arnold George, General Manager, TPC
most promising sectors in Packaging Solutions.
Tthe Indian logistics industry.
However, for the longest period, the Infrastructure is a Challenge
pharmaceutical supply chain remained It is essential to have a secure and
unorganised but with the arrival of suitable infrastructure to preserve the
huge businesses and retail giants, this product's shelf life while delivering
is changing. life-saving medications, vaccines, and
In 2022, the Indian cold chain market other supplies, especially in remote
was worth ₹1,814.9 billion. Looking locations. According to a JLL research,
ahead, IMARC Group forecasts the the national cold chain industry is
market to reach ₹3,798.7 billion by 2028, predicted to increase at a CAGR of
with a 12.3percent CAGR from 2023 to more than 20percent by 2025. Despite
2028. Rising demand for medications the optimistic results, there are still a
that require optimal temperature Tech integration number of operational challenges in
storage is driving market expansion. coupled with the pharmaceutical sector's cold supply
Pharmaceutical industry has the favourable government chain infrastructure that are impacting
second highest usage of packaging policies could help the growth.
material after the FMCG products in transform the future “Challenges include unorganised
India. They are one of the contributors of cold chains, making service providers, ill-equipped cold
towards environmental waste after the storage facilities, lack of trained labour,
end use. Reuse, Recycle and Reduce is them some of the most slow pace of digital adoption, inadequate
the path we all need to lead with. robust and effective last-mile cold chain infrastructure,
logistic networks and lack of integrated supply chains,
Pharmaceutical Packaging across the globe. among other things. Going forward,
Packaging in the pharmaceutical tech integration coupled with favourable
industry is of vital importance to not Swarup Bose government policies could help
only ensuring product integrity but Celcius Logistics transform the future of cold chains,
also in minimising environmental making them some of the most robust
impact. It's encouraging to see that the can protect the integrity of the products and effective logistic networks across
industry is starting to recognize this along with meeting sustainability goals. the globe,” said Bose.
imperative, but there's still much work We are also conscious about keeping India is a tropical country with
to be done. How can we encourage cost efficiency in mind while scouting for unabated heat for most of the year. Cold
sustainable packaging? these solutions,” said Padamdeep Singh chain logistics players guarantee that
“Starting with packaging material, Handa, Senior Vice President Sales deliveries are completed on time and,
one can opt for environmentally Marketing, Snowman Logistics. on occasion, in refrigerated conditions.
viable materials like recyclable The next important step is to right-size. But how can one meet results with lack
plastics, biodegradable options, or Smaller, more efficient packaging also of infrastructure maintenance?
even innovative materials like edible leads to reduced storage and shipping “Until we don’t remove it from our
packaging. Replacing the commonly costs, making it a win-win situation for minds that the cold chain facilities
used dry ice for packaging with phase both sustainability and economics. and the cold room monitoring
change materials (PCM) instead could “Research and development (R&D) documentation need only to be ready
be a good start. Encouraging the are areas that we need to invest in as during an audit we will never be
development of packaging that is both new technologies are brought to India able to change the system. We need
protective and minimalistic, design by foreign companies in the field of to educate the cold chain handling
innovations can ensure product safety packaging. Recently T- Works, India's staff at warehouses, distributors and
while reducing the amount of packaging largest prototyping centre was opened transporters about the importance
required,” said Swarup Bose, CEO and in Hyderabad, it has already created a of delivering medicine under the
Founder, Celcius Logistics. platform for the state and the country for right temperature. More than 60
With increasing awareness about R&D. Pharmaceutical companies need percent of the Indian pharmaceutical
sustainability, it is high time that the to ensure they move at least a certain domestic market is unregulated, so
pharmaceutical industry prioritised percentage of their packaging towards the government is now creating an
environmentally friendly packaging vendors who can provide them with a ecosystem under the leadership of
solutions. reusable or biodegradable packaging. The Mansukh Laxmanbhai Mandaviya,
“We already get requests from clients industry is thinking about sustainability, our union health minister, to ensure
for sustainable packaging options, and but unless there is much larger healthcare is provided under the
to meet this request, we are actively collaboration between the pharmaceutical government's supervision to all with the
testing various packaging solutions that manufacturer and the packaging industry best delivery standards,” said George.
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