Pharma and CPG companies tirelessly work around the clock to ensure accuracy in every aspect of their artwork. Yet, many errors slip through the gaps, resulting in time-consuming approvals and rework, costly recalls, and complex legal procedures. Non-compliance also negatively impacts customer safety and brand reputation, so embracing artificial intelligence is key. 

Turning to artificial intelligence for artwork compliance management is an excellent way for pharma and CGP companies to improve the accuracy and precision of artwork. Read on to delve into the most common artwork compliance challenges and learn how AI streamlines compliance management.

The Artwork Compliance Challenges for Pharma and CPG

Packaging artwork compliance comes with many challenges for pharma and CPG companies: 

• Stringent regulations: The regulatory landscape is constantly evolving, making compliance a struggle. Picture this: 48% of cosmetics companies selling products at America's top 25 retailers are non-compliant with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) new cosmetics regulations. Requirements such as declaration of ingredients, fragrance allergens, directions for safe use, etc., should clearly and accurately be mentioned to avoid hefty non-compliance fines and proceedings. 

• Multiple markets: Pharma and CPG companies operating in multiple markets find keeping up with local regulations burdensome. From language requirements to serialization, safety and warning statements, manufacturing and expiration date formats, allergen labeling, etc. - for large companies, this is often tedious. 

• Frequent compliance updates: In January 2025, the Food and Drug Administration mandated front-of-package nutrition labels on most foods to bear a Nutrition Facts label. Regulations like these are just one of the many that get introduced frequently. Ensuring compliance with these updates isn’t always easy.  

• Complex supply chains: The supply chains in the pharma and CPG sectors are multi-tiered. They involve multiple raw material suppliers, manufacturers, packaging vendors, distributors, and retailers across various geographies. Each stakeholder must comply with diverse regulatory, quality, and safety requirements in each market. 

How AI Streamlines Artwork Compliance Management

Artificial intelligence helps streamline artwork proofreading and approvals, enabling pharmaceutical and CPG companies to maintain compliance. AI tools can minimize errors, ensure brand consistency, and automate iterations, expediting product launches. 

• AI-driven audit trails: AI streamlines the auditing process, allowing CPG and pharma companies to be updated about all the changes made to packaging content. This ensures transparency and accountability while helping compliance and legal teams with auditability. 

• Monitoring regulatory updates: Investing in AI for compliance management is a great way to automate regulatory landscape monitoring. AI tools can constantly scan the regulatory environment, update policies within the artwork management tool, and compare every artwork copy with these new rules. 

• Automated proofing and comparison: Intelligent algorithms can automate proofing, shortening the approval time. AI tools can compare artwork copies, find discrepancies or gaps, and ensure all necessary rules and guidelines are followed. 

• Intelligent version control: Pharma and CPG companies can ensure accurate version control with an AI-enabled artwork tool. Since the system constantly updates changes in the artwork copy, stakeholders can ensure they’re working on the latest version, addressing comments, and sharing tips and best practices. 

• Predictive analytics: AI tools can detect labeling and printing errors and warn stakeholders about potential issues. For example, the AI system can detect a recurring pattern of faded ink or blotchy printing in a specific batch, alerting production managers about a potential printer malfunction. 

Real World Examples 

As a full-service packaging solutions provider, Saxco International faced several inefficiencies in artwork management, which led to frequent errors and delays. It lost considerable time and money in iterations, impacting its position in the market while diluting client relationships. 

By embracing ManageArtworks, Saxco would optimize workflows, enhance collaboration, and more easily adhere to industry standards and compliance. This led to over 35% drop in artwork rejection. Saxco could also reduce the turnaround time for completing an artwork by over 40% and increase the FTR rate to 86%.

One of India’s fastest-growing FMCG companies, Cholayil, faced issues in handling 1,200+ artwork files for different brands. The lack of centralized version control and audit trails led to challenges in artwork proofing and approvals, leading to low first-time-right rates.

Implementing an AI-enabled tool like ManageArtworks resulted in quick approvals, better project visibility, and rapid product launches. By ensuring all stakeholders adhere to workflow schedules, the tool helped reduce the time to approve, finalize, and print the label artwork while ensuring necessary compliance.   With all the artworks now available in a single platform, the client experienced a remarkable improvement in the quality of artwork development, accelerating product launches. ‍

AI for Compliance Management – The Only Way Forward

Regulatory bodies often take strict action when pharma and CPG companies do not meet the necessary guidelines and requirements. Non-compliance has many consequences, from taking the product out of the market to imposing hefty fines. 

To avoid such aftermaths, embracing AI for artwork compliance management becomes critical. AI tools can automate proofreading, check for errors and missing information, and verify compliance with regional and global laws. They help companies keep up with evolving regulatory mandates, ensuring compliance around the clock.