Bormioli Speeds Up Innovation with H-Farm

Fast prototyping and an approach to innovation focused on customer needs are at the heart of the innovation path undertaken by Bormioli Pharma alongside H-FARM. The goal is to simplify the business model and the whole process of creating new products, while also taking advantage of the many opportunities offered by the digital age to improve productivity and effectiveness as well.
 
This is the first product design project realized by H-FARM and specifically made for Bormioli Pharma, a company specialized in primary glass and plastic packaging production for the pharmaceutical industry: a qualitative field research, which for the first time also involved industry professionals from the medical field and families, and a technical research to identify the most innovative and relevant trends and case studies in the sector, have made it possible to really understand the needs of the end users and how they interact with pharmaceutical packaging.
 
A multidisciplinary team of Bormioli Pharma was then involved in a 2-day workshop, which led to the definition of three project briefs, on the basis of which the H-FARM professionals developed a rapid design and prototyping strategy called Fast Factory, using 3D printing technology among others.
 
The first prototype is Thread, a pediatric syrup dispenser with an innovative design, which allows the user to measure liquids directly from the bottle by using only one hand. The second one is Andy, an add-on for bottles, which allows the patient to dose and drink medicines directly from the bottle, in a few simple steps. Lastly, there is Plug, a device for the reconstitution of parenteral drugs that integrates in a structured way the bottle as well and allows users to complete the process in a completely safe fashion. Due to this innovation approach, divided into several phases, Bormioli was able to test a new business model, in which the product design and development phases are totally distorted: the starting point is no longer the need of a single customer, but that of the end user, which is satisfied quickly and at a low cost thanks to the technologically advanced solutions, which allow to gain a significant competitive advantage against competitors.
 
“The need to accelerate our innovation process stems from our desire to respond to the patient and market needs quickly and efficiently” said Federico Piutti, innovation manager, Bormioli Pharma. “Thanks to our collaboration with H-Farm not only have we managed to develop product prototypes that answer these needs, but we have discovered an absolutely applicable strategic and operational approach, which became an integral part of our innovation process.”