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 ...

What is Variable Data?

Imagine going to the hair care aisle to pick up your favorite shampoo. Instead of finding a row of identically designed labels, bottle after bottle, what if every bottle featured a unique graphic? As a shopper, your eye would be attracted to the difference, and you would ...

The success of any consumer goods brand can be directly associated with the effectiveness of its supply chain management (SCM). However, this is one of the least understood areas of business. SCM is a delicate yet complex system that follows the entire lifecycle of products from raw materials to ...

What Determines the Cost of Packaging?

Many components influence and impact the cost of packaging. From the obvious expenses (such as raw material and labor) to the hidden (think warehousing and obsolete inventory). It's important to consider all of the factors when calculating the cost of ...

There’s a wide variety of corrugated box styles available for shipping and retail packaging. Two common styles you’ll likely come across are Roll End Front Tuck (REFT) and Roll End Tuck Top (RETT) boxes. At first glance, these two styles may appear to look and function similarly. However, brands ...

Above all else, the primary purpose of packaging is product protection. From manufacturing to shipping to distribution, consumer goods are increasingly vulnerable to damage as they move through every step of the supply chain. According to Packaging Digest, as much as 11 percent of unit loads ...