World-Class Track and Trace from Propix

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Meticulous track-and-trace throughout the supply chain has become a task that’s impossible to achieve without the right equipment. Tobacco Asia talked to the leading system developer in India.

By Thomas Schmid

India has, over the past decade or so, matured into an important global supplier of production and processing machinery to a wide range of industry sectors, including tobacco. The country’s universities and colleges shell out a huge number of graduates every year, swelling an already abundant talent pool of mechanical and electronics engineers, software designers, and programmers. In the tobacco arena, the country caters to practically every step in the supply chain. From agricultural mechanization,  primary and secondary processing, to packing, labeling, and wrapping, Indian manufacturers are sure to have the right machinery at the ready. As complex tobacco tracking and tracing requirements have become mandatory almost everywhere. At the top of this very specialized league of suppliers stands Propix Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

ISO-certified and fit for FCTC

Founded in 2008 in Pune in the central-western state of Maharashtra, Propix has from the beginning targeted an array of different industries, supplying them with vision Inspection, industrial automation, robotics and track-and-trace systems, as well as software solutions. Then, in 2010, T&T compliance became mandatory for all pharmaceutical exports from India, prompting Propix to develop its dedicated PACKi track-and-trace system.

“T&T for the pharma sector, to this day, accounts for a major share in Propix’ business,” divulged the company’s director, Nitin Patwardhan. But the wholly-owned, ISO9001-certified firm eventually also tweaked PACKi for the tobacco manufacturing industry. “Its backbone is its software that is fully compliant with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control [FCTC] protocol,” Patwardhan explained. Additionally, the software can also handle T&T provisions stipulated by the European Union’s TPD2, as well as individual national frameworks such as those in Russia or the United Arab Emirates.

“Off the shelf” solutions are problematic

PACKi software controls a host of hardware needed to implement relevant T&T requirements. Serialization printers, optical sensors and cameras, pneumatic ejectors, and bundling aggregators are all managed by the suite, ensuring consistent T&T procedures throughout the production process. While a large proportion of the hardware has been developed in-house by Propix and is exclusively manufactured at the Pune factory, some of the components - such as cameras, sensors, and certain semiconductors – are supplied by partner companies (see table). “Then everything is assembled here in Pune, where all ordered system suites also undergo rigorous quality control,” Patwardhan said. The circumstance that a T&T system usually has to be integrated with already existing production lines makes providing an “off the shelf” solution problematic. “Each and every set-up has to be process-oriented and production line-specific” Nitin explained. To achieve that, Propix follows a five-step customization regimen (see table), taking into account each and every client’s particular manufacturing environment.

Easy to integrate after thorough assessment

Yet many tobacco companies have had some degree of track-and-trace infrastructure in place even before tougher regulations such as TPD2 came into effect. So, how easy is if for such companies to upgrade their already existing T&T infrastructure to become compliant?

“Major components for printing, inspection, and ejection generally are already present in any cigarette packer machine,” confirmed Ashwin Kapadnis, another one of Propix’ directors. “And if these components are capable of inspecting and coding in line with the new compliance rules, then they can be integrated with our T&T software easily, reducing the investment and saving the operator a good amount of money.” In such a case Propix would furnish the customer with a proposal detailing which of the existing hardware can be re-used and which components need to be exchanged or installed anew. To gain a clear picture of the situation, Kapadnis said it was standard practice for a Propix technical team to visit the customer’s facility and study the on-site production line and its various components.

Teething issues resolved

The unusually complex TPD2 requirements turned out to be a bit tedious for Propix’ programmers at first. “We initially faced quite the challenge of making our software TPD2-ready,” Kapadnis admitted, “but over time that has been solved through minor changes concerning the selection of the UID issuer and the data repository.”

TPD2 compliance was not the only hurdle, of course. There also are many countries that implement their own specific T&T protocol and reporting standards. Russia and the UAE are good examples.

“We therefore needed to provide a simple and user-friendly yet cost-effective solution that could handle those diverse standards as well, and without disrupting existing processes and productivity,” Kapadnis said. The Russian market, he asserted, was “particularly challenging compared to other regions because the UID comes along with crypto codes while reporting also is completely different from the systems enforced by other T&T regulations.”

Some “tardies” still exist

Now and then Propix even encounters scattered cases where a tobacco company may never get around to implementing a T&T system to begin with. Kapadnis explained there were four main reasons why certain firms may have neglected their T&T procedures:

1. T&T compliance was not mandatory in the region where they are active;

2. The company thought available T&T solutions were too expensive;

3. They had very little business in those markets where T&T was mandatory;

4. They regarded T&T systems merely “a tool for brand protection and internal data collection”, finding the cost-to-usefulness ratio to unattractive to justify a major investment.

These reasons notwithstanding, Kapadnis’ colleague Patwardhan cautioned that an inadequate – or non-existing – T&T system can have serious ramifications for a company’s efforts in brand building and market share development. “If a firm’s T&T procedures are not compatible with FCTC protocol or any other relevant directive, it won’t be able to legally market and sell its products in most markets. It’s a simple as that,” he pointed out. “And even if that company should reconsider and implement the required system all of a sudden, it is very likely going to be difficult to re-enter the market and recapture [previous] market shares.” Patwardhan’s message is clear: It’s best not to miss the train. Period.

Searching for a capable EU partner

Propix’ most important tobacco industry customers are primarily located in India and the UAE – and both countries are renowned for distributing their products to practically all corners of the world. To better serve its UAE clientele, Propix in December 2018 opened a new office there, coincidently at the same time when local authorities introduced a tobacco T&T regulation. But the market for Propix is also growing elsewhere in Asia. “It’s a market region with a good mix of big and mid-sized companies that still need to implement compliant T&T systems.” Moreover, thanks to its “Russian software tweaks” the company also has been successful in building a presence in the Russian Federation and – by extension – other eastern European nations that once were part of the former Soviet Union. Yet Propix’ penetration of the European Union area so far has hit sort of a brick wall. This has less to do with geographical distance to the company’s Indian home base than with collaborating with a capable distributor and service partner in the EU. “It’s a big challenge finding the right distribution and after-sales service partner in [western] Europe; a company that maintains a sound technical sales and service team, brings superior knowledge of this type of product to the table, is thoroughly familiar with TPD2 requirements, and also is capable of handling and managing large projects,” Patwardhan confided. “But I’m confident we’ll be getting there rather sooner than later.” It also may help that Propix has recently acquired an equal stake in German tech company, SysTec.

Refuting a Persistent Bias

Among a small circle of international customers there unfortunately still persists a stubborn bias that products originating from India were just not as good, reliable, durable, or dependable as comparable equipment from, say, Europe or North America. But it is a notion that Propix strongly rejects. ”We are an ISO9001 certified company with a global footprint spanning India, Canada, Germany, Egypt, the UAE, Bangladesh, China, and Indonesia,” director Nitin Patwardhan pointed out. “All our products are manufactured under stringent international industrial standards and quality controls, and Propix has set a benchmark with its products in the global market and enjoys a 200+ satisfied client base.” Rapidly modernizing and developing India was recognized as a world-class supplier not only of industrial machinery, but the country also harbored some of the finest software companies anywhere. The bias, therefore, was unjustified, Nitin insisted.

“’Made in India’ today stands for quality as far as industrial equipment, software, electronics and countless other product groups are concerned,” he said. “And we are getting better every day.”