Pharmaceutical Processing created a questionnaire to learn more about Videojet Technologies Inc., their technologies, and some of the upcoming trends they are seeing in the industry. Videojet is an exhibitor at INTERPHEX 2016. Torben Vogt, Global Pharma Director for Videojet, answers our questions.
Below are the edited responses to this exclusive Q&A.
Q: Tell us a little bit about your company—what do you do and what are some of the areas that you specifically excel in?
Vogt: Videojet, a world leader in coding and marking solutions, offers a full range of equipment and supplies to a broad range of industries like food, beverages, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. Videojet is represented in 135 countries around the world and is well-positioned to support customers both globally and locally anywhere in the world. For pharmaceuticals and medical devices, we offer a full suite of coding solutions adapted to the strict requirements of these industry segments.
Q: What don’t most people realize about your company?
Vogt: Videojet has more coding units installed worldwide than any other provider. In total, we have 325,000 units installed today and Videojet units print on more than 10 billion products every day. The leading brand of thermal inkjet (TIJ) printers, Wolke, is part of Videojet. Wolke TIJ printers offer superior print quality with clean, no-mess operation and solid-state electronics requiring no controller maintenance. They allow for complex coding options and the ability to print linear bar codes, alternate fonts, logos, and two-dimensional codes such as GS1 DataMatrix and QR codes
Q: Are there other areas of specialties in the pharmaceutical industry your company is hoping to delve into? If so, please explain.
Vogt: Videojet continues to expand its suite of products and services that help pharmaceutical and medical device companies comply with the latest and upcoming requirements for serialization and track-and-trace. This is one of the major challenges facing the industry over the next 3-4 years as new legislation is being introduced around the world.
Q: What are some of the biggest challenges in your industry?
Vogt: We are seeing a high demand for new track-and-trace solutions from the pharmaceutical industry and other industries faced with severe counterfeiting issues. The deadlines for compliance with new anti-counterfeiting laws and directives may seem easy to achieve, but, in reality, three to four years is not a long time in a highly-regulated and complicated industry like pharma. We foresee that the capacity in the market for coding solutions and packaging equipment is significantly less than the demand and this will add to the already long lead-times in the market.
Q: What is one of the biggest areas of growth your industry has seen in recent years?
Vogt: Many industries are using better and more unique coding as an effective means of helping to protect their brands and their customers from harmful counterfeit products. This has been and will remain a significant driver of growth in our industry.
Q: Where do you see the industry going in the next 10 years? Your area of expertise?
Vogt: I expect the industry to be developing smarter and more flexible solutions for coding and to provide more fully integrated end-to-end solutions for customers. This is a major challenge today—that, in order to implement a full solution for traceability, you need a number of suppliers to deliver each a smaller part of the overall solution. This creates complexity and risk of major issues for the end-user either in the form of lower efficiency and/or delays in implementation. Vendors who can deliver fully-integrated solutions, either by themselves or through strong partnerships, will have a strong position in the market.
Q: Will you be exhibiting any new products at the show? If so, tell us about them!
Vogt: At INTERPHEX, we’ll be showing our latest solutions in our pharma line of products, including the Videojet 9550 Print & Apply Labeler. For case coding applications, the 9550 provides a unique on-demand labeling method that allows accurate placement of the label onto the package without the need for an applicator—even at high speeds. We’ll also be showcasing the Wolke m600 oem Thermal Inkjet Printer. It is designed to meet present and upcoming serialization requirements in pharmaceutical packaging applications.
Q: What are you most looking forward to at INTERPHEX this year?
Vogt: I’m excited to meet customers and partners to show them how we can help them meet regulation and directive requirements for serialization and traceability.
Click here to learn more about what Videojet will be exhibiting at INTERPHEX 2016! To view the live INTERPHEX show floor plan, click here.
Pharmaceutical Processing is a platinum sponsor of INTERPHEX.
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