Flexible Packaging Practitioners Must See That These Six Fields Are Highly Affecting The Field Of Flexible Packaging Production!

Flexible packaging practitioners must see that these six fields are highly affecting the field of flexible packaging production!

This article will share six areas that experts believe will have the greatest impact on flexible packaging. Although it is divided into six categories as a whole, in fact, these six categories are intertwined and affect each other, so it is difficult to completely distinguish these six fields. The six areas mentioned below, namely e-commerce, supply chain, employment/staffing, mergers and acquisitions, food packaging and sustainability are the focus.

01

e-commerce

E-commerce seems to have the biggest impact on other categories. Consulting firm L.E.K. noted that 56 percent of brand owners “increased their spending on e-commerce packaging relative to their traditional offline presence.” "Players in the packaging industry that are able to use sustainable materials without sacrificing performance, or design packaging that reduce weight but still provide strong product protection for e-commerce, will often have a unique competitive advantage," L.E.K. Director General Manager Thilo Henkes said.

Sean Riley, PMMI's senior director of media and industry communications, said the key to capitalizing on the boom in e-commerce is to understand that packaging has to meet different needs, as the e-commerce shopping experience is different from the in-store experience. "Unlike traditional retail, the consumer holds the product during the buying decision process," Riley said. "Online consumers can only experience the physical product once it arrives at their home. The product must meet the expectations consumers form by viewing the product online. expect."

Implementing these changes often means using new machines. "Given the volume of constant changes, machine flexibility is key, and fast changeover times and future-proof machines to handle new materials are an absolute necessity."

02

supply chain

Everything that originates from e-commerce has a direct impact on the supply chain. As mentioned, companies are rethinking their machines to maximize flexibility to meet demand. The focus on operations has led them to think more about integrations and other automation tools, said Steve Shebsky, vice president of digital strategy at Blue Horseshoe. This also means that new solutions that challenge traditional warehouse automation are on the horizon.

“Automation is the path to stability and predictability, especially when it comes to addressing the throughput needs of warehouse and distribution center operators,” said Steve Shebsky, “However, the problem is that many industry leaders Operators are not ready to make seven-figure investments to automate existing operations. Over the next few years, traditional automation designs that rely on technologies such as transportation will be subject to increasingly flexible solutions and offerings Challenges for providers of subscription-based services such as RaaS (robots as a service). Such services will allow less up-front capital and greater flexibility to respond to new omnichannel designs and changing customer needs.”

John Hedlick, President and CEO of Sakata International Inks, said: “With regard to inks, supply chain issues related to ocean shipping started in 2019 and will likely remain an issue this year and beyond. Since the beginning of 2021, raw material supply Chain has always been an issue, and we also see problems going into 2022. Despite some improvements, it appears that every product line has some key raw materials and supply remains volatile. Supply chain issues directly impact our continuous delivery to customers product capabilities, we paid a huge price to mitigate these issues as much as possible.”

03

Employment/Staffing

When it comes to e-commerce and supply chain, questions about sustainability, the packaging itself, and company operations are very important. This will be addressed later, as the concept of automation is more directly related to employment and staffing. Improved technology and warehouse accessibility will help retain the workforce, Shebsky said.

“Warehouse work, especially one that involves walking miles a day, is demanding and potentially exhausting for the average employee,” says Shebsky. “Industry leaders must help their employees engage with physical demands. Less expensive ways, including automation and robotics. Doing so could allow organizations to better retain their workforce and make it more attractive to those who have never done physically demanding tasks before. By 2022 , new and advanced technologies must be developed around and for employees to expand the available workforce, allow employees to contribute more effectively to the bottom line and motivate them to stay.”

Craig Souther, president and CEO of robotics solutions provider JLS, said his customers had challenges staffing their production lines, including their automated ones, which drove the growth in machinery orders. “Automation is growing in all aspects/elements of the packaging line, but the biggest growth is in primary handling, which historically have been more technically challenging and higher investment, but in terms of labor costs and availability They can also save a lot of labor when there is a problem.”

“Maintaining full employment in our facilities (mainly manufacturing) has been a growing problem for five years, and the impact of the pandemic has greatly increased concerns,” Hedlick said. “We compete with every manufacturing To fill vacancies, it is becoming increasingly difficult to retain manufacturing workers. Our benefits package has been good, but our manufacturing starting salaries have increased significantly over the past few years just to stay competitive. Our HR teams and facility managers have become very creative in recruiting workers.”

Not all companies are seeing very unusual labor issues, though. While the combination of illness and close-contact events has kept people away, "it's often difficult for highly skilled or experienced people to fill roles, but this is not a new phenomenon," said Kevin Mogg, president of SideDrive Conveyor Enterprise.

When it comes to automation, however, "We've seen a lot of focus on shorter order runs and multi-pack type projects," says Kevin Mogg, "It seems like our client's customers want custom orders, not large batches. Food Producers are being asked to make custom orders instead of simply shipping in bulk. It's always been there, but it seems to be more and more common."

Lauren Dunford, co-founder and CEO of factory optimization provider Guidewheel, said: “Labor constraints are not going away anytime soon. Technology can focus time on improving efficiency by freeing workers from tasks that add less value. and profitability to make factories successful. Cloud-based factory operations, or FactoryOps, will increasingly help businesses adapt to the new normal, allowing the best workers and the best machines to perform at their best.”

04

Merger/Acquisition

APR's acquisition of JVI Solutions, Berlin Packaging's acquisition of Premi, AWT Labels & Packaging's acquisition of MacArthur Corporation, MULTIVAC's acquisition of TVI Holdings, Sun Chemical's acquisition of SAPICI, Ranpak's acquisition of Recycld Cool Solutions BV - these are basically news from December 2021 to 2022 In January of this year, there were far fewer M&A cases compared to the past year. We might argue that business difficulties due to the pandemic are behind all packaging industry mergers and acquisitions (M&As), but while this may have happened in some cases, it is not generally the case.

Blaige & Company, an investment banking firm specializing in plastics, packaging and chemicals, said mergers and acquisitions in the packaging space have been very rapid for more than 20 years. Blaige & Company last year completed a detailed analysis of plastics, packaging and chemicals activity for 2001-2021. The company found that total activity has more than doubled over the past 20 years, while the packaging segment has tripled over that period. The driving force behind all the activity? strategy. The company reported that 76% of all plastics M&A deals in 2020 were strategically motivated.

A video of the panel discussion on post-pandemic growth strategies released by the Contract Packaging Institute provides further insight into what has already happened and some of the possibilities moving forward. Of course, this is just a report with far more data than shareable packaging. However, it can be said that mergers and acquisitions have been and will continue to be an important part of the packaging industry moving forward.

05

food packaging

Food packaging is shaping flexible packaging, and it's no surprise that this is an area well suited for flexible packaging. But the White House's action plan for "fairer, more competitive, and more resilient meat and poultry supply chains" announced earlier this year could give a boost.

The idea behind the plan is to create a more competitive, fair and resilient meat and poultry industry, with better incomes for producers and more choice and affordable prices for consumers. Four main areas of the plan are expected to spend $1 billion on expanding independent processing; strengthening rules to protect producers; and increasing transparency for fairer prices.

And the plan itself isn't necessarily aimed directly at packers, but the idea is that expanding the capacity of independent producers will shift production away from the big four beef, poultry and pork producers. This, in turn, will mean more producers looking to package their products, which will provide more opportunities for packagers.

06

Sustainability

Everything seems to be coming back to sustainability, starting with e-commerce. "The pandemic has accelerated the shift in e-commerce to more sustainable packaging options," PMMI's Riley said. Sustainability is important for consumers, especially younger generations, who are willing to pay more for sustainable products. Flexible packaging is inherently better at offsetting the energy consumption of its creation, especially in e-commerce and related transportation energy use.

A recent report by the Sustainability Coalition (TSC), "THESIS Industry Insights: Performance by Company Size," shows that company size is not a decisive factor in improving the sustainability and transparency of consumer goods supply chains.

Jessica Jiang, TSC Senior Director at THESIS Impact, said: "Through our THESIS data, we are delighted to see that SMEs are making the same or better improvements as larger companies. We now know that committing to at least one person By integrating sustainability practices into the business, significant improvements in supply chain sustainability are possible regardless of scale.”

The TSC report found that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) differ in the way they implement sustainability compared to their larger counterparts, each with pros and cons. However, it is crucial to have a dedicated and sustainable workforce. According to the report, about 25% of companies without sustainability employees report that they have made changes to sustainable products or packaging designs, while more than 40% of companies with sustainability employees report that they have done the same .

To help brands deliver more sustainable packaging, The Pack Green Coalition was established. Pack Green's main initiative is to replace unnecessary single-use plastics from the supply chain and focus on renewable and more sustainable alternatives, including paper and other bio-based solutions, with a focus on protective packaging and other short-term uses, Such as food service items.

"Consumers are more sensitive than ever to the environmental impact of their purchasing choices, and the launch of Pack Green is a critical step in meeting consumers' desire for more sustainable plastic options," said James Pack Green President and CEO Ashley said.

The organization aims to raise awareness among consumers, retailers, brands and policymakers, and then provide solutions to the single-use plastic crisis. “In the last year alone, consumers have received more than 20 billion packages,” says Asari, “many of which contain unnecessary single-use plastic products — air pillows, bubble wrap or Styrofoam — that can It’s easy to replace with recycled paper packaging. Whether it’s packaging, food service, or countless other single-use applications, solutions exist today to reduce single-use plastic waste.”