BARCODING, LABELLING & PACKAGING FINANCING DIGITAL PACKAGING
D
igitalisation allows packaging manufacturers to achieve mass-customisation, but financing new technology is a key challenge say Carolyn Newsham business development manager – UK North, and Kirsty Talmage-Rostron, business development manager – UK South, Industrial Equipment at Siemens Financial Services. The economic impact of Covid-19 is touching every industry, and packaging is no exception. Packaging companies are under pressure to embrace digitalisation and automation, particularly as technology continues to develop apace. Our research shows that in the manufacturing industry as a whole the ‘tipping point’ of Industry 4.0 adoption – defined as when 50 per cent of the global manufacturing community will have substantially converted to Industry 4.0 production platforms - will be reached within the next five to seven years for larger manufacturers and nine to 11 years for SME manufacturers. More importantly, early movers – the first 50 per cent of players to invest in new technologies or business models – are those that will be able to make the most of this competitive advantage, at the expense of competitors that have not adopted. There is extra pressure on packaging producers as the importance of packaging to consumers continues to increase. Consumers are bombarded with more and more product variations and
packaging plays an important part in attracting attention and building a brand. Technology now allows packaging to be customised so that it precisely targets audiences and markets. This inevitably means more variation, more SKUs, which requires greater flexibility, shorter runs and shorter turnaround times, which digitalised processes can achieve.
THE VALUE OF CUSTOMISED PACKAGING
Several soft drinks brands have demonstrated the value that customised packaging can bring. One allowed customers to personalise their own labels by entering their desired label text online. Another brand used digital printing technology and an artist’s designs to create millions of labels carrying unique graphic patterns for its bottled water. In another marketing initiative, customers were able to design their own labels via a crowdsourcing platform and then order
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Data analysis can help to reduce downtimes of machinery and increase production capacity at the same time
26 NOVEMBER 2020 | FACTORY&HANDLINGSOLUTIONS ”
the product, with their own label configuration, in small quantities. These examples of ‘mass customisation’ show how digitalised Industry 4.0 print and dispatch technology are helping brands to build their image and customer relationships. This idea of bespoke packaging is being taken even further by a beer company which has used augmented reality to create a label that “talks” to the consumer. When the smart label is scanned using an app, facial recognition technology actively incorporates the consumer in dynamic scenarios according to the emotions displayed. The technology recognises whether the customer is happy or sad and the label-based dialogue with the consumer is adjusted accordingly.
IMPROVING EFFICIENCY As well as providing opportunities for clever marketing, digitalisation in the packaging industry also helps improve efficiency during conception and production. Data analysis can help to reduce downtimes of machinery and increase production capacity at the same time. Packaging and displays can be developed online, with their size and material precisely calculated before they are transferred to physical substrates such as glass, sheet metal, paper or plastics using 3-D tools. Designers, managers and manufacturers can collaborate virtually on databases while the data
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