The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on our industry and gave us the opportunity to experience new processes to operate within, challenges to overcome, and develop different ways of doing business. Additionally, standard business operations have been modified to comply with regulations and the needs of consumers during the pandemic—and some may be permanent. The trends we see going forward into 2021 and beyond are based on what we’ve learned during this past year and how to prepare for the new year going forward.
Sanitization Is More Important Than Ever
One thing we’ve learned is that sanitation is essential, and that applies to practically everything. Many businesses have allowed for remote or staggered shifts to prevent contamination. Most have set up sanitation stations and practice preventative measures to reduce transmission. Additionally, your average person is taking more steps to ensure they’re safe and healthy—consumers are taking self-care more seriously. What that means is sanitation products are selling at an exponential rate. We’ve seen an increase in inquiries and purchases of pouch packaging equipment (
Flexpack machines), of which our customers produce products such as antibacterial wipes or “wet naps” in pouches.
Vitamins & Supplements Are Increasing In Popularity
Consumer self-care has also increased sales in vitamins and supplements. For us, that means an increase in equipment like our Sejong
capsule fillers and
Countec tablet/capsule counters to fulfill the needs of our customers that are manufacturing these products. This goes beyond COVID-19, too—innovative, holistic, and nutraceutical products are also becoming more popular. As science and technology continues to develop, we see these products growing with them.
Streamline Your Process
Another important trend of the industry is the need to streamline processes to save time, money, and labor. Our equipment requires little intervention—by using Key Processing Equipment or one of our manufacturing partner’s equipment, you can reduce the amount of operators on your floor. This allows for cost savings in labor and also promotes health and safety. The guidelines that the
CDC and
OSHA have enforced to protect employers and their employees (not only now, but general guidelines) are more easily manageable with fewer workers on the floor.
Recently, one of our customers was running their TGM tube filler at 90% capacity and needed faster equipment with larger production outputs. They bought a new TGM
tube filler from us and replacement parts to upgrade their current equipment in their operation. After implementing the new TGM tube filler, they’ve seen an increase in production output, reduced training time & overall production costs by implementing a similar tube filler. This allows our customer to produce more product, more efficiently and get it into consumers’ hands faster.
With 2021 just getting started, we're anticipating these trends to continue in this new year and help shape the industry moving forward. As we learn more about the direction of COVID-19 and the general future of our world in health and safety, we expect consumers to continue to take self-care more seriously and desire products with hygienic features. The equipment we sell will become more relevant for more companies as they require more efficient production methods.
While we couldn’t have anticipated COVID-19 and the events of this past year, our team worked with our manufacturing partners and customers to reduce disruptions while providing our customers with equipment to meet the needs of their consumers. We continue to innovate and contribute to the greater good of human health and safety. If you’re looking for information on how to get our equipment in your manufacturing facility,
give us a call. We have equipment, parts, and CORA valves in stock and ready to ship.