This article explores how technology and sustainability shape modern packaging, guiding manufacturers to create eco-friendly, efficient, and consumer-attractive solutions.
Packaging is more noticed today by consumers than at any other time in the history of civilization. That's because it has come to mean much more than a container that houses a product on retail shelves. At one time all that mattered was how well a package protected its contents when transported from one place to another. Here's a look at how the equation for attracting customers through emotional packaging has become more sophisticated.
The Role of Technology in Packaging
Since ancient times, human inventions have played a major role in packaging. The invention of paper many centuries ago, for example, was a milestone in the evolution of packaging. Glass also goes far back to Ancient Egypt, but it was more reserved for royalty. Eventually, though, Egyptians discovered glass blowing, which led to excellent storage conditions for food and water.
As the industrial revolution unfolded over 200 years ago, demand began to grow for more creative forms of packaging to suit a wide variety of products. Commercial paper bags began to appear in the 1840s. Subsequent machine-generated packaging solutions over the next several decades included milk cartons, egg cartons, cereal boxes, medicine jars, cellophane, foil and plastics.
Industrial machinery became an important catalyst for modern packaging. Prior to the growth of widespread consumer culture, most people were able to get by without packaging, as many people grew their own food or didn't have to travel far to get it. The idea that a manufacturing company could serve an entire nation with mass produced merchandise required packaging to become more efficient and noticeable to consumers. It also needed to take on the role as a promotional vehicle for the product.
Transporting Goods Safely
Packaging has evolved in countless ways to meet the demands and expectations of supply chain managers. The distribution of mass produced goods must be controlled in such a way that inventory isn't damaged during transport. Manufacturers can face heavy financial losses without strong oversight of inventory. But the advent of digital technology has made supply chains much more efficient just in the past few decades.
In the old days before the digital revolution, if an inventory item got damaged, lost or stolen, there wasn't much recourse. Underpaid employees who stole from their companies understood how to exploit this system vulnerability. But now in the digital era, every product package issued by a manufacturer can be encoded for wireless tracking. Now supply chain managers can find out quickly through IoT monitoring how to locate any encoded item.
Even with machine learning and other AI capabilities, it's still crucial for manufacturers to package items with material that cannot be easily compromised. Whether the material is made of paper, cardboard, plastic or metal, the package must be well sealed to protect the product. Metal has actually outlasted many modern industrial packaging solutions due to its strength and flexibility. It will continue to be a sustainable choice, especially for food products such as canned goods and soft drinks.
Evolving Toward Sustainability
Even though plastic is one of the most diverse materials used for packaging, it has presented many environmental problems leading to stricter regulations in recent years. During the sixties, polyethylene became a very practical, popular and reliable packaging material. But since then scientists have learned that plastics are difficult to recycle and can even be harmful to humans if it gets into waterways and is eaten by wildlife.
Overflowing landfills and health concerns have helped elevate consumers to a higher awareness about packaging and recycling. These conditions have led to many nations and communities around the world adopting sustainability as a widespread social goal. This emerging mindset has caused manufacturers to rethink how their products are packaged, as they search for eco-friendly solutions that do not threaten human health.
Some of the greener solutions that manufacturers have adopted for packaging include biodegradable and edible materials. One strategy food manufacturers should continue to explore is the use of metal such as tinplate for packaging. Not only is it strong material that can be reused or recycled, it can be shaped in endless ways to meet the visual tastes and values of consumers.
Packaging designers should be curious about how social trends inevitably influence packaging. Sustainability is just one broad issue that probably isn't going away anytime soon. But there will be other shifts in social thinking that will require designers to make packaging adjustments in order to stay competitive and profitable.
