E-Com – Packaging Design Evolution

Initiator: James Apap Bologna

Participants: Colin McNabb, Michael Reichert, Ruben Mathew, James Canter, Sindia Rivera- Jimenez, Bruce Welt, Ellen Gee, Kevin Ciezczak, Tyler Moore, Tom Brooker, David Martinez, Alyssa Brooker, Mac McGehee

Discussions Highlights:

• E- comm 15% growth in the U.S. at the expense of Big Box Retailers.We need to understand the changes in supply chain complexity. How you understand this is the make it or break it this industry.
• Also, don’t forget the evolutions of the primary package? Does this package have the same design requirements being shipped e- com is what’s needed to attract attention sitting on a shelf?
• The sales approach now means some manufacturers are having to look at different sizes of packaging because instead of 1 look for 50 items, now 1 box and 1 item. So, manufacturers are needing e-commerce needy packaging options.
• All discussions were geared towards end user satisfaction. The leads to 3PL organization {third party logistics}
• Are impulse items the #1 driver in retail? Can’t keep 170,000 sq. ft. buildings profitable anymore.
• Amazon is starting to dictate carton sizes. This is to save size dimensions weight count.
• They are also experimenting with certain size automatically cut boxes. Will work in some locations.
• We talked about new e-commerce business and to stay open to funding these new opportunities.

Next Steps or Ideas for Action:

• Is the “opening” experience as important in ecommerce as the image on the shelf?
• Some companies are going to a more “generic” soft look primary package
• Auagon is beginning to experiment with packages for products that a consumer can still buy at a big box but they’ll have an amazing UPC code. But, the original manufacturers will not have warranty requests because it’s not in original UPC box/PKG.

Active and Intelligent Packaging

Initiator: Leroy Presley

Participants: Andrew Draybuck

Discussions Highlights:

Pharmaceutical and medical device companies do not have enough of an incentive to incorporate tamper evident measures. The companies are willing to pay off a plaintiff or endure the loss profit from counterfeiters rather than pay extra for active and intelligent packaging.

Pharmaceutical companies are paying several million dollars to certify a drug for market use. If the drug fails at phase two and they reformulate it, they must pay to start the process over again. If the FDA reduces the cost, pharma companies can push any item to the market without it being safe. At the current stage, the pharma companies are losing money when they are bringing a product to market, which is why a price increase is justifiable. The FDA cannot dictate the price of a product and pharma companies think first about their bottom line.

UDI is a example to get companies to comply-companies are forced to adhere to the Global UDI standards as well as the standards of each country. Since the compliance is still unclear, the company will not comply until the process is clear.

Next Steps or Ideas for Action:

Unless there is a catastrophic event causing significant losses to pharma company losses, there is no changes in sight.

How can UPA serve the packaging community better?

Initiator: Janice Loppe & Ismael Santiago

Participants: Janice Loppe, Ismael Santiago, Brian McCann, Joe Davila, Bob Wapinsky

Discussions Highlights:

• All we need is a superbowl ad!
• How do we get National exposure at a low cost?
• Interview with UBM Canon
• Trade show participation

• Need to go ahead and create a booth design

• Pre-work is a big component of an effective booth – need to invite people in advance

• UBM Canon shows are a better fit to get chapter leads than Larger shows like PMMI

• How do we increase mailing list?

Next Steps or Ideas for Action:

• Brian McCann will send out a test email to his florida mailing list to see if we can get additional people to sign up 

• Need to create an link for a “single click opt in” for our mailing list that we can mail out and make the mailing list sign up easy

• Provide information on upcoming event to UBM Canon –
• SouthPack Orlando Nov 15 – 16 – have a booth and a reception
• Need to get people “at the top” of the organization to recognize the value of UPA and of continuing education in the Packaging industry.
• UPA needs to get more familiar with our analytics

• Who is opening mail

• Hits to our website

• Need to do an event in Jacksonville and Miami to establish “chapter seeds” in those areas 

• Mac Papers can help us with inviting their employees/vendors/customers to those events

• Doublecheck IPG Discovery news and see who is receiving it – maybe note IPG sponsorship of EoP event