French Label Firm Joins Pharma Packaging Alliance

Edited by the Printingtalk editorial team Oct 17, 2005

French pharmaceutical label specialist Rotanotice has joined the pharmaceutical packaging alliance Copapharm Europe.

French pharmaceutical label specialist Rotanotice has joined the pharmaceutical packaging alliance Copapharm Europe.

Rotanotice was founded in 1957 and is part of the Ileos Group.

It joins French sister company Packart, a healthcare packaging producer, which is also part of Ileos, and a member of Copapharm Europe since 1999.

According to Copapharm, the new membership strengthens the alliance's capability in pan-European pharmaceutical label production.

Rotanotice was acquired by Ileos in 1989 and today it has a turnover of 24 million Euros, employs 200 people and produces 650 million self-adhesive labels per year from its two production sites totalling 14,000 square metres and two billion reel, flat, folded and multi-page leaflets.

Approximately 90 per cent of Rotanotice's production is destined for the pharmaceutical market and the company claims a 50 per cent share of the French pharmaceutical leaflet market.

It processes 1,700 orders every month and achieved ISO 9001 certification in 2004.

Production equipment at Rotanotice includes 18 rotary offset printing presses, 11 slitting and reeling machines, two trimming units, 18 folding machines, three adhesive label lines and one letterpress label line.

Rotanotice European sales director Christopher Barnes described why Rotanotice joined the Copapharm alliance: "The continued globalisation of the pharmaceutical industry and of the purchasing of packaging materials means suppliers need to be able to respond both globally and locally.

An increasing number of our tenders are pan-European and it made sense to have a coherent approach, along with Packart, as well as to extend our reel-fed expertise within Europe." According to Copapharm one of the benefits it offers is local implantation of alliance members to optimise logistics and customer service.

The blend of leaflet, label and carton supply means alliance members are able to offer the most comprehensive service, as well as combining expertise to increase market coverage and knowledge.

There are now 10 member companies in the Copapharm alliance, with a total of 18 sites across Europe.

In Germany the Copapharm member is Faller, in Italy Palladio and Zannini, in France Packart and Rotanotice, in Spain Cartonplex, Icesa and Pans, in Belgium Goldprint, in the UK Storey Evans, in Ireland Zannini and in Serbia Montenegro Zannini.