Interviews: Medical

Certified quality for being vanguard

Interview with Ideo Righi, plastic industrial process director and Maurizio Bianchi, pharmaceutical sales director of Bormioli Rocco

Bormioli Rocco, glass workers in Parma since 1825. The company has evolved at the same technological rate for the production of plastic containers; always in vanguard, grasping the great possibilities of development of these productions. The first investments regard the pharmaceutical sector that evidences the characteristics for which Bormioli has always distinguished itself: high quality products. Today the Plastic Division serves the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, personal care and food sectors, with branches in France and throughout Europe, and a wellknown trademark that is appreciated and distributed worldwide.

What does the pharmaceutical sector of the Plastic Division within Bormioli Rocco mean?
Bianchi: We are the sole division that produces both glass and plastic and we have the possibility to serve the customer whatever the choice it makes. Today the margins for plastic are higher, a continuously growing sector. I’ve been working in this specific sector for 30 years and I think that the pharmaceutical is the market segment in which we still have major possibilities of development and success today. It is a market that requires a high quality level, and quality has always been our company rule. We are in possession of all the certificates and requirements for these productions and moreover of a suitable commercial network and structured services, since pharmaceutical industries became like big multinational companies, to follow our customers throughout the world. It is a winning choice, the choice of quality.

What does quality mean in the pharmaceutical sector? What requirements are essential to remain competitive in the market?
Bianchi: The first essential requirement is cleanliness with very high standards, up to “white room” standard. There are technical solutions available to produce in this way, or you can find solutions by improving or updating the machines. What is important is the philosophy of approach you adapt to work, focusing your attention towards a specific problem, that is to say adapting a certain culture, a working method, beyond the necessary certificates. This is necessary for the “white room” method.

What do you mean by “white room system”?
Bianchi: The production concept of clean or “white room” cannot be limited to the blowing area, under the laminar flow hood, or inside the machine itself. Integrated machine systems planned to maintain (and guarantee) those hygiene standards are necessary during the entire production process, manipulation, movements and packaging of the products.
For the production of pieces blown in white room it is still necessary to work on the machines, but above all on the control and automatic order systems of the outgoing pieces,automated system of the piece movements, bundling arrangement, packaging with Thermopack, without any physical contact with the person operating the machine. All the above things must be constant, controllable and verifiable even by the customer, that is to say certified. Today’s market demands quality and above all reliability.

What do you suggest the Italians do immediately?
Righi: A good dialogue and positive collaboration among companies, all the companies of the production (customers and suppliers, partners, as we say today), is an excellent start. This is what we are trying to do. Uniloy is very open to dialogue in this direction. I think this is one of the winning strategies of our Italian culture, always seeking dialogue, flexibility, exchanges to modify, to improve and grow. This is not possible with more rigid cultures like the Japanese, for example. Besides obvious linguistic problems with the productive realities of that country you can also perceive the cultural rigidity which inevitably creates a gap. Besides the willingness to dialogue, it is also necessary to invest, do research for new materials, new applications and new tendencies. It must be possible to suggest collaborations to our customers and suppliers on great innovative research projects.