Key Trends that Are Defining the Future of the Packaging Industry

The Packaging Industry always has and will continue to be in great pressure arising out of the increasing expectations kept from customers and the growing need for conserving energy during the production of the packaging material. With continual developments being witnessed in technology, the need for enhancing the existing packaging designs and materials is quintessential in order to keep up with the changing trends. Over the past few years, there has also been a significant increase in preference towards sustainable packaging. With developments being made progressively and innovative ideas flooding the market, the future holds good prospects for a new approach to packaging. The following trends are defining the future of the packaging industry.

Packaging is being carried out in close proximity to the manufacturing plants so that fewer empty Storage Boxes are carried in transport vehicles. From a cost benefit perspective, this has managed to save up not only on fuel charges but has also eliminated excessive timelines that are usually incurred in during transportation of materials / products.

Smart Packaging has been incorporated into packaging designs with technologies such as RFID and other electronic components reducing the need for manual management and monitoring of stocks. Moreover, it has also made it fairly convenient for the products to be tracked and procured and this has reduced the storage / retrieval time considerably.

There is a significant amount of emphasis on reducing the amount of composite material used in a packaging design. The focus is now being made on the use of simple, light-weight, thinner and stronger materials that are able to provide similar or higher packaging quality without the need for extra resources. From a green perspective, this also helps to encourage optimal utilization of available resources.

Packaging professionals are also looking at maximizing space utilization which would prove to be a major advantage during storage and transportation. This requires the design to be modified so that the maximum number of units are stored in it with minimal space. Basic shapes such as squares are being considered to provide a more uniform packaging compilation facility. However, this depends on the nature and type of primary package that is used for the products.

Biodegradable is the new material of choice for packaging designs. Since we have grown so accustomed to using plastic as packaging material, the best to way to contribute to environmental safety is to use biodegradable materials such as plastic derived from starch. This way, even if the material is disposed post usage, it would simple degrade without causing any harm to the environment.

Tips on Successful Packaging Design

Imagine yourself walking down the lane in a shopping store and you suddenly get a glimpse of a product lying amongst others in the section. Even though it was but a glimpse, you walk towards it and check out the Packaging. It seems to interest you. Slowly your mind is making a decision on buying it even if you never intended on getting it when you walked in through the doors. This is the impact that a good package design is able to make on customers. You can lure even the most uninterested person into trying out your product. If you are still stuck with low performing products that just adorn the display racks, then these tips will help you make your products into sensational offerings.

Know Thy Audience!

Products are meant for customers. This means that every aspect of the product, from its usage to its package design should be able to fulfil their needs. Just like product analysis is important to understand the consumer segment being targeted, you should make sure that packaging designs are conform to popular requirements relevant with the demographics of the targeted user group.

Cut the Crap

People do not give much attention to loads of information, especially those which have applied or relevant benefits. It is best to stick to the actual direct benefits that are provided by the product. Moreover, this is an age old marketing strategy that has been tried by every brand in the market. Its time you started thinking beyond conventional boundaries and just state the bare facts.

Keep Multiple Design Options

Restricting yourself to a single package design would only limit your opportunities. Instead, get your hands on a couple of creative and useful designs as a contingent measure. Testing so many designs in real life implementations would be a tad bit risky. So get opinions from your friends and family and analyse their perspectives. After all, they are consumers too.

Keep the Design Relevant to Your Product’s Price

Package design is an important aspect of the product, but under no condition does it ever require that you over-emphasize your product’s worth with over the top flashy presentations. There is a reason why people chose to believe that the package denotes a product’s value. If you put an expensive product in a simple package, consumers would be put off by the lack of concern shown towards the product’s value. Subsequently, if you place a simple product in a premium package, then it would mean that the brand has made an attempt to exaggerate the value of its product and has not delivered as per expectations. It is best if the package design be kept in relevance to the product’s worth.

Check Out Your Competition

It pays to stay a step ahead of your competitors. Evaluate the strategies and package designs being used by other products in your segment. If you simply go along with the trend, then you would only be creating excessive competition with no distinguishing factor remaining for your product. Be creative and come up with out-of-the-box solutions. This will help you to target your consumers in a better manner and would help them to relate to your product. A good example of this is KFC’s takeaway boxes. Not only are they functional but the logo of Col. Sanders creates an emotional bonding with the users.

Choose Your Packaging Material Wisely

The Package Material should be wisely chosen as preservation of the contents is the main priority of the package’s design. You could go with conventional packaging material or you could use innovative materials and designs to increase functionality while maximizing the value of investments made on packaging. If you use green packaging, then it would also help your products to contribute towards sustainable business practices and would also help to inculcate the practice of recycling material.

The Versatile Corrugated Paper & Its Uses

Corrugated paper is also known as ‘Craft’ or ‘Kraft’. This brown colored paper is a key material, used in the packing industry. Packing cartons are made up of craft paper. Apart from this, corrugated paper is widely used in making envelops and covering the books and notebooks of the school kids. Its durability and strength makes it a very popular kind of paper for general purpose usage. Corrugated paper and its products are easily recycled, when no longer needed and in fact, most corrugated paper is made, at least partially, of recycled paper. Its products are generally used as a re-use material.

Corrugated paper is available in the market in two forms - lined and unlined. The lined paper is a rigid layered paper surrounding a fluted layer laid between one or more smooth liner layers. The fluted layer is meant to confer additional support and strength. The lined corrugated paper is - what is commonly known as cardboard. The unlined paper only comprises of the fluted layer and is therefore, quite flexible.

All the products made up of corrugated paper are lightweight, durable and versatile. Cardboard or the lined corrugated paper is the most remarkably used for making the corrugated shipping boxes, which are used for moving, storing and shipping the items. Lined corrugated paper can also be printed with bright graphics and colours so as to serve as sturdy, temporary product display for stores. So, it is widely used for this purpose, especially for the products like children’s toys. The neat look of this paper gels well with the contemporary industrial aesthetic.

The unlined corrugated paper is primarily used to protect fragile items during shipping or sometimes, even for decorative purposes. The unlined corrugated paper, meant for decoration is available in many bright colours and is the most commonly used to border bulletin boards of institutions and hospitals. The boxes made up of the unlined corrugated paper come in variety of strengths and are used based on the amount of weight they can bear. These boxes display their Edge Crush Test Rating at the bottom, which is basically the amount of weight it can endure before its edges will get crushed or will bend. Majority of the corrugated boxes are single walled and have only one layer of paper. Any of the additional layers confer more strength to the boxes or the other products of corrugated paper.

The corrugated paper rolls find use in packaging products of diverse range of industries including food processing, textiles, stationery and plastic companies. Processed foods like confectionery and bakery items are usually supplied by the manufacturers in different types of corrugated paper rolls. These are available in different lengths and colours in order to meet the extensive market demand well.