The warehouse is often simply viewed as a place to store finished goods, raw materials, and supplies. However, leading consumer brands understand that it is much more than that. Warehouse real estate is typically limited, highly valuable, and not to mention costly. Space utilization can make or ...

What is the “Crossover Point?”

There are two main categories of print methods used to produce corrugated packaging and displays: conventional analog print methods and digital print methods. Analog print methods include flexography and litho lamination and have dominated the packaging industry ...

What is the Packaging Replenishment Cycle?

When it comes to supply chain management (SCM) for consumer goods brands, purchasing agents or buyers must order the right amount of packaging to meet demand while keeping costs low — a delicate and challenging balance. Order too much and you will have ...

Similar to the lifecycle of a living being, consumer goods products go through key stages of development. All products will inevitably pass through introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. However, over the past several years, there has been a distinct shift in the retail and eCommerce ...

It’s been more than a decade since the Great Recession ended — the tumultuous economic downturn in the United States that occurred between 2007-2009. Although experts can't precisely predict oncoming recessions, they are a natural part of the economic cycle.

Last week, we had the opportunity to attend the second annual E-Pack Summit, hosted in Bellevue, Washington by Smithers Pira. Brand owners, retailers, packaging converters, equipment vendors, and software suppliers from around the country gathered at the two-day conference to discuss trends, ...

The packaging industry is changing every day. Cutting-edge technologies like augmented reality and smart tags are revolutionizing the way that brands engage with consumers and consumers interact with products. One of these technologies could be 3D printing — an innovative manufacturing process ...

Product labels are everywhere. Take a look around, and you may notice them on beverages, candles, lip balms, and much more. We task labels with the job of conveying product information while helping us select one brand over another. Because of this, labels have a way of seamlessly blending into ...

Packaging was once seen merely as a vessel to carry a product — only to be inevitably thrown away, repurposed, or recycled. However, cutting-edge technologies like digital print and variable data are redefining the role of packaging into an engaging and personalized consumer experience. These ...

What is Variable Data?

Imagine you’re launching a new brand of hot sauce before the holidays. You plan to send out your product to ten retail locations throughout the region. For tracking purposes, you would like to add a batch number on each label to correspond with the ten locations. Thus you ...