LEADERSHIP TRANSITION AT VETTER
Vetter announced the retirement
of its Managing Director Thomas
Otto, who stepped down at the
end of 2025 after more than 35
years at the company.

Through his clear leadership
and commitment, Thomas Otto
was instrumental in shaping
the sustainable development
and continued growth of the
company. As a partner to global
biopharmaceutical companies for
the production of life-enhancing
medicines, Vetter’s success is
partially due to his strong and
reliable leadership alongside his
management colleagues.

“Thomas Otto has decisively
advanced our family business with
his vision, innovative strength
and great sense of responsibility.

His contribution to Vetter’s
development and internationalisation
is outstanding and deserves the
highest recognition,” says Senator
h.c. Udo J. Vetter, Chairman of the
Advisory Board and member of the
owner family.

“For more than three decades, he
was a reliable designer, initiator
and bridge builder - both within
the company and externally. On
behalf of the Vetter family and the
advisory board, I would like to
manufacturers over order between
15% and 20% of pre-printed foils
for each product line, resulting in
significant waste – an inefficiency
eradicated by blank-foil workflows.

Requalification inevitably causes
disruption. The smart approach
is to treat it not as downtime,
but as a strategic opportunity for
continuous improvement.

Inline digital printing systems
also support pharmaceutical
manufacturers to achieve the agility
demanded by constantly evolving
regulations and local adaptations
to support a global market. To
avoid expensive and frustrating
bottlenecks, pharmaceutical
packaging processes must
adapt swiftly, avoiding lengthy
changeovers or new tooling.

Requalification is an ideal time
for manufacturers to modernise
with inline digital printing systems
in order to align packaging with
ESG goals, operational resilience,
and regulatory demands. And
collaboration is critical: partnering
with experts who bring validated
pharmaceutical technology, and
a cooperative approach helps
ensure scalability, accelerated
return on investment, and
reduce risk.

Leveraging adaptable digital
technology allows updates to
languages, graphics, or regulatory
text to be made in real time,
enabling smaller batch runs,
localisation, and rapid adaptation.

Modern connected solutions offer
cloud-enabled capabilities that can
minimise downtime and accelerate
time-to-market, crucial for patient
needs and regulatory demands.

thank him for his extraordinary
commitment and lasting impact on
our success story.”
The planning for the new structure
of the Vetter management team
had already started Long-term
experienced Vetter executives
Henryk Badack, Titus Ottinger and
Carsten Press were appointed to
the Management Board as Managing
Directors at the beginning of 2025.

With their in-depth understanding
of the company, its customers and
the industry, they are making a
significant contribution to Vetter’s
sustainable future and the trust
towards the owner family.

Requalification doesn’t have
to mean falling behind. In fact,
if treated strategically, it can
accelerate the transformation
of pharmaceutical packaging
operations into a more efficient,
sustainable, and future-proof state.

The industry is moving regulations,
markets, technologies are evolving.

Research from Mordor Intelligence
states that the digital packaging
printing market is forecast to grow
from $34bn in 2025 to $56bn
by 2030, a CAGR of over 10%.

More brands are moving away
from analogue prints to plate-
less workflows to enable mass
customisation, reduce waste, and
simplify changeovers.

Another powerful benefit is that
digitalisation dramatically reduces
lead times for artwork changes.

Historically, approvals and printing
could take weeks or months.

Digital workflows, however, can
compress this timeline – getting
lines back up and running and
revenue flowing again, much faster.

By taking the opportunity to
upgrade technologies and
workflows during the
requalification window,
pharmaceutical manufacturers
can reduce waste, improve
responsiveness, and build
long-term operational resilience.

CHP PACKER INTERNATIONAL update 17