Packaging segment: Market analysis

Résumé du document

There are two different points of view for the packaging aspect of the pharmaceutics market. On the one hand, we can consider that the aspect of the bottle or the container is not very important for the customer because it is not for pleasure that he buys it. Also the producer of the medicines will not consider the aesthetics and buy probably a High Density Polyethylene or HDPE bottle to satisfy a customer. Moreover, the HDPE aspect looks artificial and expresses a chemical image to the customer. So the image of the bottle corresponds to the image of medicines, whether it is artificial or chemical. On the other hand, the Polyethylene terephthalate or the PET has quite the same aspect as glass and medicines are usually stored in glass packaging. So the traditional substitute to the glass would be the PET which enables to see the product inside the packaging which is not the case with the HDPE. Pharmaceutical products don't need to attract the customers because it is not a product for pleasure but a necessity for the customer. So the packaging doesn't really have to be attractive for the customers. Moreover, the bottle is usually sold into a carton packaging so it is not viewable for the customer in the pharmacy. The problem is that the customer cannot clearly see the product with HDPE packaging and it matters for some customers who want to see before taking what the medicines will look like. It is reassuring for some of the customers as they do not want to have the impression that the manufacturer wanted to hide the product from him.

Extraits

[...] That's why the segments of the packaging market are linked with the evolution of the other markets. The packaging market contains lots of divisions corresponding to the different materials of packaging we can choose: glass, carton, plastics, wood or metals the choice is not missing. We will focus on the rigid plastics market which is the market we are on. On this market you have segments too: agro chemical, lubricants, food and maintenance products, pharmaceutics usage and cosmetics industries. These are the biggest pools of customers for rigid plastics. [...]

[...] http://sec.edgar-online.com/2005/07/25/0001047469-05-019965/Section16.asp très nombreuses informations sur Graham http://www.inist.fr/ecrin/dossiers/63mars06/EmballageAlimentaire/noticesemba llage.php : recherche sur les emballages alimentaires http://www.sfip-plastic.org/ : Société Française des Ingénieurs des Plastiques http://www.cvp-packaging.com/ : site d'un producteur d'emballages PET, HDPE, PP dans le nord. Connaissances sur le conditionnement pharmaceutique a priori. [...]

[...] This factory produces HDPE packaging bottles for manufacturers. RPC Gent is specialized in extrusion while other plants of the RPC Group use moulding or injection methods. The specialisation and the complementarity of the plants is necessary for the group to fill the customers expects and offer them a wide range of possibilities. The structure of the group is quite horizontal even if there is a common administrative and strategic centre which defines the global strategy of the group. The organization of the group enables the direction of the plants to have a local decision power which does not have to deviate from the group's orientation. [...]

[...] Actually the raw materials needed for plastic packaging (polymers and colours polymers) require petroleum to be produced. This is a considerable disadvantage for the whole industry to be dependant of a unique raw material, and it is quite problematic when we consider the evolution of the petroleum price since 3 years. Buyer behaviour HDPE is generally used for lubricants, agrochemical products, milk and edible oils. Theses products do not need to have a real good aspect because customers buy them generally not for pleasure but by necessity and so they better take care of the price than of the design and the packaging. [...]

[...] So the site of production of the bottles has to be as near as possible from the customer or on the other point of view, the firm has to search customers not to far from the production site. About 300 km far from the plant is the limit that a packaging company can reach. Of course it depends on the size of the bottles we have to transport but on average 300 km is a realistic limit. Big groups such as Alpla, Graham Packaging, Crown Cork or RPC Packaging are buying many plants to find new markets. But the transportation problem explains why many little regional companies manage to compete against major multinational firms. [...]