The realization of a dire necessity to adapt and evolve dawned upon us when most of the world went into lockdown, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. This necessity took various forms for various industries. Some markets took a greater hit, as compared to others. Some have recovered and evolved, while some are enduring, presumably, a prolonged strife.
The packaging industry, however, has emerged immune to the pandemic continuing to leverage its potential and sustain its place among high yielding industries. Pertaining to this, we at Insights Success, have curated this edition with the intent of showcasing the 10 Most Recommended Packaging Companies to Watch in 2020.
These companies are setting a significant benchmark for other emerging companies to follow. With their novel technological implementations and/or innovations, these companies are taking a longer step towards making the world a better place.
One prominent name among this list of companies is OMAG Srl. Founded in 1973, OMAG is a young and dynamic, but at the same time highly experienced, Italian company. The company has been evidently exhibiting its expertise in designing and manufacturing packaging machines for dusty, granular, liquid, and pasty products in 3 and 4 side sealed sachets, stick-packs, and doy-packs for over 45 years.
The Inception
Four friends formed OMAG in 1973 with a passion for mechanics and a determination to excel. They developed the foundation for this success story from a garage, where it all started. In the early 2000s, a key decision for the following growth, was to enter the pharmaceutical sector. With more and more players in the food market, OMAG decided to expand its horizons in the pharmaceutical market and it has proven to be a winning choice that allowed the firm to step beyond in the technical field, with high quality and technology standards.
And today, OMAG directly hires over 120 employees and the export market accounts for 70% of its revenue. The company also has two distribution plants. A modern head office, which is more than 6000 square meters where mechanical and electronic design, equipment assembly and tests are carried out, and the original plant which is completely devoted to the manufacture of components.
With the assistance of agents and distributors, it has built an international distribution network and a worldwide footprint-supported by founding members OMAG often comes under the radar of the question; Why OMAG have never opened a production plant outside Italy? To which the company responds, “We strongly believe in Made in Italy and are supporters of it. Made in Italy for us is passion, craftsmanship, design and attention to detail to ensure compliance with our quality standards. All these elements are transferred in our machines and for this reason they could only be produced here.”
Customer-oriented Approach
In respect to the core philosophy, the company underlines the importance as, “We do what we do best: we design and build high quality, high-tech machines with an essential design to ensure easy operation.”
It is critical for the business to not only offer a good service during the sales process but especially after the installation of the packaging system and that is why our customer service team pays great attention to the needs of our customers.
A properly organized post-sales office offers the client with immediate service, including in-house and external communication, training and preparation. It also offers customer support and builds a shared confidence arrangement that respects both. In addition, it also assists the pharmaceutical sector and its customers by planning GAMP5 documentation which are extremely technical and ease the testing of the devices.
A Deeper Dive into Services
Over the years we have developed various solutions for the pharmaceutical market, from 4-sided sealed sachets to stickpacks. All Omag sachet and stick packaging machines can be manufactured on a variable number of rows, equipped with different dosing systems, combined with robotic counting units and cartoning machines and can be completed with different options such as batch number and expiry date printing, check weighers, amongst others.
In relation to 4-sided seal sachets, the CP model packaging machine is particularly appreciated by our customers in the pharmaceutical sector. Self-aligning plate sealing technology guarantees a perfect seal without wrinkles and creases that would compromise the integrity of the product. Another model particularly appreciated by large pharmaceutical companies for packaging stickpacks, is the CS model, an intermittent motion machine which can be fitted with different dosing systems to suit customers’ needs.
The CS Junior model instead, is preferred by laboratories to carry out product stability tests or to launch a new product in new markets. The CS Junior is designed to handle sensitive products that can be packaged in small batches.
OMAG’s main features are certainly consistency, robustness, design and reliability, and they can also be seen in all its packaging machines. However, the key feature which distinguishes OMAG is flexibility, not just with regard to the material used to pack the goods of the customers but also a real way of working. Furthermore, the state-of-the-art technological machines fulfil the customers’ demands, including robotic systems.
“In our business there are no machines built in series: each machine is designed ad hoc, tailor-made according to customer’s objectives and requests. Each machine is different from the other. This is flexibility as we understand it, which, combined with passion and the desire to push ourselves higher and higher, has allowed us to get where we are today,” states the company.
In Line with the Industry
In recent years OMAG has focused on concerns related to the opportunities offered by industry 4.0 and energy saving. In fact, all our models are now offered in a fully electronic version, guaranteeing flexibility and energy saving. As far as industry 4.0 technologies are concerned, OMAG uses a series of software implemented on their packaging machines to comply with regulations in terms of traceability, safety, quality and interconnection with company information systems.
Furthermore, the customers can request, through remote control, additional services that enable the company to track and interact with globally installed packaging equipment with real-time access to a range of functional data in order to diagnose and provide targeted help in case of anomalies. With the aim of ensuring increasingly timely service, the firm is developing artificial intelligence algorithms for predictive maintenance, i.e. the prevention of potential faults before they occur in order to avoid unexpected production downtime.
Going a step further, OMAG has also incorporated augmented reality technologies, allowing the consumer to automatically access a set of info, usage and repair guides and evaluate the unit state in full autonomy by framing the packing unit using an intelligent interface.
A Way Around the Industry
Not citing a magic formula but as an ‘understanding’ move, OMAG describes its strategy for other collaborative markets as knowledge about the culture, values and the way of business happens in those markets. The firm cites example of India, which is a very important growth market with respect to the growing middle class population. It also says that entering in such a market takes some time, efforts, and perseverance.
The firm understands that in order to succeed in other markets it is of utmost importance to understand the culture and the way people conduct business. In case of India, OMAG understood the need for a partner on grounds and hence, established a trusted local team in the nation through Vaxom Packaging as an Indian entity.
Blending in the Italian technology, its own experience and product expertise and the Indian knowledge and approach, OMAG has managed to work on very successful business projects with well-known pharmaceutical companies.
The Road Ahead
For forthcoming years, on a structural level, the company will expand its production capacity to offer even more prompt deliveries. The firm is very much content and confident of its abilities to bring out a product that meets the customers’ demands and become a renowned name in the industry, which has already happened in its success journey in the pharmaceutical sector.
On the technology level, OMAG’s R&D department is always working to come up with highly innovative machines that will support their customers doing business even more efficiently.
