Groninger invests in CAD technology
new computer-aided design software package that it says will enable
it to meet the demands of its customers more closely.
One of the most striking features of the market for packaging machinery in the pharmaceutical sector is the high proportion of systems that are custom-made to the requirements of the purchaser. Groninger believes the new package - developed by MSC Software of the US - will give it an edge in the marketplace.
And this edge could be critical. While pharmaceuticals has traditionally been one of the growth sectors in the packaging machinery sector, recent data from the US-based Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute suggest that after five consecutive quarters of generally modest, but nonetheless steady growth, the packagingmachinery industry's rate of bookings suffered an abrupt reversal in the third quarter of 2004.
According to the data, third quarter machine sales declined by seven percent, thereby ending a string of consecutive increases that had begun way back in the second quarter of 2003.
In such an environment - with negative pressures such as rising steel prices and increasing pressure on profitability in the pharmaceutical sector - the ability to respond rapidly to a customer's requirements could be a significant competitive advantage.
MSC's Dynamic Designer Motion Professional is designed to be used alongside the leading Autodesk Inventor package, and Groninger will use it to develop and simulate the performance of new and customised pharmaceutical and cosmetic filling machines.
,I>"Within our market it is extremely important to be flexible, innovative and fast," said Volker Groninger, Groninger's CEO.
This is particularly the case in the pharmaceutical sector, which has seen significant changes in the regulations covering bar coding, stability, aseptic processing and child-resistant/senior-friendly packaging in recent years - all of which can alter the requirements of a packaging line.
Pharmaceutical customers expect complex, custom-made products, with which they can do filling, packaging and labelling of different types of packages, including syringes, vials and bottles, both for the cosmetic and pharmaceutical market, he said.
"Most of our filling machines are custom made or adjusted to the customers needs," said Groninger. This process is much quicker with the new software than it was using older mathematical and physical methods, and the company's designers can evaluate more models, be more precise and make key decisions during the pre-development phase, rather than later in the design cycle, he added.
