Ecobliss: a smart source for pharmaceutical innovations

AVPS Chakravarthi, managing director of Ecobliss India, said, "Blister packs have been associated with the pharmaceutical segment due to their convenience, affordability and ease-of-use." Having said that, one has however, seen little innovation. Ecobliss has disrupted this mould with its ‘Easy opening’ blister packs with special focus on elderly customers."

Chakravarthi added, "The pharmaceutical field is highly demanding when compared with other sectors. One needs to be literally on his toes to constantly serve satisfaction to the customer. We need to update the technologies on real-time basis. In addition, we need to supply packaging for a highly complex US and regulatory market sales at affordable prices, not compromising on quality."

Products for the elderly
During a product demo to Rushikesh Aravakar and Ramu Ramanathan of PrintWeek India, Chakravarthi explained, "Blister packs are either face heat seal carded packs or clamshell packs. In case of face seal packs, when the customer tries to remove the blister, either part of the plastic remains with the board or some paper remains with the plastic. In case of clamshell blisters it is difficult to tear open; especially for the elderly and infirm. One has to use scissors to cut the pack. Imagine the plight of an elderly person unable to access a special toothbrush from a nice blister pack and who may discard the product without using it."

He added, "Many customers look at blister packaging in a negative way because of the difficult and unpleasant method of opening. There is a strong need for a blister pack which is sturdy enough to protect the product, as well as be easy to open.” He felt Ecobliss packaging has resolved these issues.
 

Customer-friendly blister packages
Chakravarthi laid great stress on customer-friendly blister packages. Once again, he demonstrated a new design for a toothbrush with an easy-to-open blister package.

The design is simple, a blister presenting the product, encased by a printed cardboard card. After folding back the cardboard card, the customer can simply slide out the blister and access the product. Finally, no more cuts and puncture wounds due to jagged edges, it’s really as simple as 1 2 3.

Chakravarthi explained, "Let us take an example of the complete packaging you need to meet certain requirements. Say that it must protect the contents from tampering, and that the packaging must be tear-resistant and have a metallic finish. Say it needs to be produced in high volumes, preferably in-house, where you will be able to tightly control production scheduling. At Ecobliss, we understand all the component options, all the process possibilities and all the ways to optimise production cost factors to deliver what you need.

A solution for the wallet

Herein, Ecobliss provides blister wallets in many different types and sizes, with one, two, three or more panels designed to match the customer's requirements. These extra panels can be used to accommodate extra strips with tablets or to print additional information about the content of the wallet. It is even possible to apply a booklet with multiple pages of information onto one of the panels of a blister wallet so that crucial information never gets lost and stays with the medication.

Chakravarthi showed the PrintWeek India duo, a couple of samples and pointed out, "Blister wallets offer many possibilities to accommodate your requirements and the possibilities are endless. Electronics for instance, can be integrated into a wallet for measuring patient compliance, or a wallet can be made child-resistant by design or by applying a child resistant label."

He explained, "Today, secondary packaging is being treated as an avoidable burden at all levels, right from the manufacturer to the retailer. Yet the carded blisters and dose pack wallets, apart from the regulated dispenser packs, play a major role in the patients’ convenience and sometimes save the user from potential dangers like consumption of excessive or less dosage, using an expired medicine and so on. Ecobliss continues to drive the necessity of having proper secondary packaging for all the dosage drugs in domestic markets as well."

 

About Ecobliss

Ecobliss, a global leader in blister and high-visibility packaging, is a privately held company with some 300 staff, and a growing international network of business partners. Ecobliss in India is based in Hyderabad with a sheetfed operation that is backed by finishing solutions. Slowly, but surely, Ecobliss India has become synonymous with know-how and innovation in the specialised field of blister and high-visibility packaging. It all began in 1995, when Ron Linssen, the founder of Ecobliss, (along with Professor G. Wouters), developed the cold sealing technology for blister packaging, which is the USP of the company's success. Since the introduction of this eco-friendly sealing technology, customers from many industries have changed their packaging to this method of packaging. Through the success of cold seal packaging, Ecobliss has become a known name in the market. With many years of experience in development, design, production and logistics, Ecobliss is recognised to be the ‘smart source’ for blister and high-visibility packaging. Chakravarthi said, "Whether we use blister packaging, plastic boxes or combination of these, regardless of the equipment needed, the intention is always the same: a complete packaging product that meets the highest standards of performance for the lowest cost. At Ecobliss, we design from scratch so that all components are in harmony with each other and any potential logistical challenges are pre-solved."