From downtime to digital packaging opportunity

WHILE REQUALIFICATION is often viewed as unavoidable downtime, it also represents a strategic opportunity to modernise pharmaceutical packaging through digital printing technologies that reduce waste, enhance regulatory agility and support long-term operational resilience.

Eliminate packaging waste

One of the most immediate areas manufacturers can address during requalification is packaging waste. The use of pre-printed materials, risk-averse stock levels, and inefficient changeovers remains widespread. Meanwhile, when regulators change requirements or artwork evolves, entire batches of packaging often become obsolete overnight.

Volatility within supply chains also adds to the challenge: pharma manufacturing increasingly demands agile models that support small batch sizes and late-stage customisation. Embracing inline digital printing systems lets manufacturers print on demand, eliminating stockpiles and mitigating wastage. For example, using blank foils with inline digital print not only removes the need for pre-printed stock but also reduces inventory complexity. Many manufacturers overorder by between 15 and 20% of pre-printed foils for each product line, resulting in significant waste, an inefficiency largely removed through blank-foil workflows. 

Improve regulatory agility

Inline digital printing systems also support pharmaceutical manufacturers to achieve the agility demanded by constantly evolving regulations and local adaptations to support a global market. To avoid expensive and frustrating bottlenecks, pharmaceutical packaging processes must adapt swiftly, avoiding lengthy changeovers or new tooling.

Leveraging adaptable digital technology allows updates to languages, graphics, or regulatory text to be made in real time, enabling smaller batch runs, localisation, and rapid adaptation. Modern connected solutions offer cloud-enabled capabilities that can minimise downtime and accelerate time-to-market, crucial for both patient needs and regulatory demands.

Catalyst for innovation 

Requalification inevitably causes disruption. The smart approach is to treat it not as downtime, but as a strategic opportunity for continuous improvement.

Requalification is an ideal time for manufacturers to modernise with inline digital printing systems in order to align packaging with ESG goals, operational resilience, and regulatory demands. And collaboration is critical: partnering with experts who bring validated pharmaceutical technology, and a cooperative approach helps ensure scalability, accelerate ROI and reduce risk.

Another powerful benefit is that digitalisation significantly reduces lead times for artwork changes. Historically, approvals and printing could take weeks or months. Digital workflows, however, can compress this timeline, getting lines back up and running much faster.

Future-proof packaging

Requalification doesn’t have to mean falling behind. In fact, if treated strategically, it can accelerate the transformation of pharmaceutical packaging operations into a more efficient, sustainable, and future-proof state. 

The industry is moving; regulations, markets, technologies are evolving. More brands are moving away from analogue prints to plate-less workflows to enable mass customisation, reduce waste, and simplify changeovers. 

By taking the opportunity to upgrade technologies and workflows during the requalification window, pharmaceutical manufacturers can reduce waste, improve responsiveness, and build long-term operational resilience.

Ian Chapman is strategic manager - digital coding at Domino Printing Sciences

For more information: 

www.domino-printing.com

Tel: +44 (0)1954 782 056