More packaging suppliers are offering design and other creative services to help brand owners maximize efficiencies and to deliver innovation.

Packaging Digest (September 2011)

It's no secret that packaging has become a critical tool for brands to communicate effectively with consumers. But with additional investment in packaging comes the desire to streamline processes and maximize financial returns, all the while maintaining a competitive edge on shelf.

"Companies typically face challenges on three key fronts," explains John Perrin, xpedx vp of packaging. "First, they want maximum visibility and control of their total packaging costs. Second, they want to reduce supply chain complexity. Third, they want to leverage best practices in package design because of its large and growing impact on sales, profitability and cost reduction."

Recognizing the opportunity 'to partner more closely with their customers, many packaging suppliers are beginning to swim "upstream" in the package development process, offering services like ideation, brand strategy, and graphic and industrial design that typically have been offered by standalone advertising and marketing agencies.

Creativity and feasibility
One significant benefit of consolidating creative and manufacturing teams under one roof is the input of experts who understand the equipment on which the package will ultimately run.

"Over the years I've seen thousands of designs that were provided by firms whose expertise was not packaging. They were frequently beautiful designs chat couldn't be manufactured or filled. Although it sometimes provides a starting point, it wastes time and costs money," explains Craig Sawicki, evp, design and engineering, TricorBraun.

"He who hesitates is lost, and the first to market enjoys the lion's share of that market."

And when each stakeholder in the development process has a seat at the table from the start, the dreaded "hand off" from one discipline to the next is eliminated. There are no surprises because each department has been involved and heard from the beginning.

"The steps in the classic product development model sequence are defined the same way organizations define and divide their human capital resources. There is an opportunity definition phase led by sales and marketing, a creative phase led by designers, a production phase led by engineering and operations, and so forth ," explains Scott Jost, VP, innovation and design, Berlin Packaging.

"Smooth transitions between these project phases require that those involved in the handoff understand each others' perspectives. But as we all know from the proverbial disconnects between right-and left-brain thinkers, that's easier said than done."

Add to this the fact that, under the "traditional" process, development teams typically consist of not just different functions but different firms, and it becomes a challenge to achieve true alignment. But when creative and manufacturing are on the same team from the start , the process-and the results-can be very different.

Combining design and engineering
"Bringing designers and engineers together allows them to focus on complementing each other rather than their often differing perspectives on how to approach problem solving," says Jost, adding that the team can evaluate packaging solutions not only in terms of their aesthetic appeal, but also in terms of their functionality, manufacture-ability, and impact on a brand owner's supply chain. "When we show you a 'next-big-thing' package structure, we follow through by generating volumetrically correct models, photo-realistic renderings, and even prototypes." 

"We need it yesterday"
With lead times shrinking and competitors that turn on a dime, speed to market is increasingly critical to brand survival. That means manufacturers need virtually instantaneous development and execution of new packaging projects to stay relevant.

"The days of 'analysis to paralysis' are long gone," says Sawicki. "He who hesitates is lost, and the first to market enjoys the lion's share of that market."

That means that every day, every hour, that can be sliced from the development timeline can be quantified and assigned value. There is no room for waste, no time to translate the concept as it passes through each stakeholder in the process.

"Anyone who's worked under the old development model knows that Significant time must be set aside to convert agency 'concepts' to production-readiness, sometimes at the expense of the character and personality of the underlying design solution, other times meaning delayed or missed launches," says Jost.

But when design, engineering, and manufacturing are on the same page from the start, transitions are much smoother or in some cases absent, so translation errors and delays are, for the most part, eliminated, shortening development timelines.

And tools like rapid prototyping allow not only for the exploration of varying approaches during the design phase, but also enable consumer testing, refinement and validation of the chosen concept. Berry Plastics's Design Center, for example, can reportedly take an idea from sketch to 3D model to rapid prototype in 24 hours.

"The benefit to the brand owner is the ability to get world class design services that provide provocative concepts while still having the pragmatism to design products that can be manufactured, filled and marketed," says Sawicki.        

With product lifecycles growing shorter and brand owners determined to delight consumers with innovative packaging, it's critical that brand owners and their partners take a holistic view
of package development and are willing to share risks and rewards.

"Collaboration is by far the best way to avoid problems that are sometimes inherent in custom design. From the very beginning, a process that includes conceptual, product development, engineering and production from the packaging supplier, the marketer, the plastic processor and even me retailer will encompass all those differing perspectives to avoid catastrophes," says Sawicki.