The UK's fastest growing medical packaging manufacturer

Pharmaceutical and healthcare packaging production is centred on the company's factory in Crewe, Cheshire. Medica Packaging Limited is a leading manufacturer of quality folding cartons and patient information leaflets. Formed in the 1920's, the company became part of the Benson Group in 2005, and is a dedicated 100% pharmaceutical and healthcare production site.

A major investment programme of some £4 million in 1998 delivered a new state-of-the-art in-line production facility, and has increased floor area from 45,000 sq ft to 73,000 sq ft. This was designed to mirror the high standards set by the pharmaceutical industry, separating manufacturing of product from support services.

Medica places a great deal of emphasis on fast turnaround and reducing lead times for packaging product, keeping pace with market demands. The company believes that it has developed a production system for providing the shortest lead times in the industry, and is equipped to handle product runs from hundreds to millions of cartons.

The company believes that quality and security of product is crucial, and has placed great emphasis on the training of its staff to provide a detailed understanding of these issues. Equipment also incorporates pharmaceutical code reading systems to help ensure that only the correct product passes through a production line.

Carton packaging and patient information leaflets are now the main vehicles for conveying information on drugs to patients. The printing of patient information leaflets (PIL's) has become a significant area of production for Medica in recent years, and the trend is set to continue, with legislation raising the profile of the once humble PIL. Systems at the company have been enhanced with these requirements in mind, with high volume web fed printing facilities and specialist miniature folding equipment now employed to ensure fast and accurate delivery of PIL's in production quantities well in the millions.

The Benson Group is the UK's leading privately owned printed carton suppliers, producing packaging product for both the food and pharmaceutical industries. The company employs some 790 personnel across four sites. Headquartered in the Midlands, the company also owns production sites in the North West and North East of the country, and the group has an annual turnover in the region of £85 million, due to a mix of organic and acquisitive growth.

The Group's philosophy with regard to packaging is based on the "Three P's" - protection, preservation, and promotion. Packaging exists to serve all three elements.

Packaging should be designed to protect the product from the point of production through to the point of use, helping to maintain the product in its original condition. It should aid the distribution and storage of the product.

Packaging should assist in the preservation of the product, keeping both liquids and solids fresh and suitable for use. According to World Health Organisation statistics, food wastage in the third world can be as high as 50%, whilst in developed economies as low as 3%. Much of this difference is due to good quality packaging.

Packaging should aid the promotion of the product by helping to establish brand recognition and playing a role in establishing brand loyalty. It is also required to convey instructions for the product, warnings, package contents, and other statutory requirements.

The business remains in private ownership, with today's Chairman, Andrew Benson, a grandson of William Watson Benson, the company's founder, providing the vision and overall strategy for the business. Day-to-day management of the Benson Group is handled by Managing Director, Mark Kerridge.