As the packaging industry grapples with finding the sweet spot between innovation and a raft of market challenges, harnessing the many benefits of versatility has never been as important.
Jack of all trades, master of none, often implies a negative connotation, suggesting that being well-versed in many skills can prevent someone from truly mastering any of them. But rarely does anyone read the complete version of the idiom: Jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.
Innovation and continuous improvement are essential to human progress. The working world has changed dramatically in the last twenty years, and it will continue to transform at an even faster pace. The challenge for packaging manufacturers is staying relevant in a sea of constant change and technological revolution.
The problem is that not everyone can quickly respond to customer and market demands to take advantage of these small windows of opportunity or adapt and flex to challenges. But at a minimum, engaging in discussions around the challenges, solutions, and future opportunities is an absolute must.
Innovation has never been as important. For manufacturers motivated by the need to produce new products and services that fuel growth expectations and satisfy ever-shifting customer needs, today’s companies must identify, cultivate, and take advantage of various external sources for innovation. As a result, manufacturers are looking for flexible, cost-effective, efficient, and sustainable packaging solutions.
Whether it’s responses to economic and social changes or attitudes towards sustainable packaging has always been fleet of foot. It’s an industry that has never stood still. If a manufacturer so much as blinks then they’re left behind. When long-term competitiveness is at stake, standing still is the same as going backwards.
Ideas are easy – implementation is hard
To better serve your customers, you have to understand them. That’s why we get to know customers in forensic detail. You must have one foot inside your business and the other outside. Only when you holistically understand people’s wants and needs on a deeper level can you truly help.
When we talk about innovation, it isn’t just confined to the materials or design; it’s a comprehensive approach encompassing advanced technology and functionalities. The magic happens when you go beyond design and make it more about problem-solving through packaging. It’s about having empathy for the users’ values and, most crucially, their problems and helping to widen the horizon for better solutions.
How often have you come across solutions or products that intuitively meet your needs? Those are the products that you can’t seem to get enough of. You use them not because you have to but because you want to. Generally, they fit seamlessly into your everyday life to meet your and others’ needs.
Everyone talks about overthinking, but underthinking can be just as dangerous. While there are many things you should do to make your business more customer-focused, few are more important than maximising the convenience you can offer to consumers.
Ease of opening has long been a packaging concern for consumers, and it is a challenge that spans multiple industries. Whether getting into that exciting online purchase, accessing that critical pain-relieving drug or grabbing a piece of gum when you’re on the go, any discerning pack specifier or brand will know that packaging should never be a frustrating barrier to a product. That initial positive feeling towards the brand can quickly turn to exasperation with a seemingly impenetrable pack.
Research commissioned by Filtrona Tapes found that over 70% of consumers had recently experienced packaging that they found frustrating. 57% felt that packaging being too difficult to open was the most frustrating factor – the number two cause of frustration, narrowly behind too much packaging (58%).
Consumer frustrations with difficult-to-open packaging can severely impact a purchasing decision. Our sought-after solution, Supastrip®, enhances brand loyalty by providing a positive, easy-opening experience, with additional brand owner value delivered by printing tapes and increased efficiencies during manufacturing. It’s designed to tear through various flexible packaging formats, providing quick access to the product when the tape is pulled and coated with a water-based, pressure-sensitive adhesive, bonding instantly to flexible substrates without the need for solvents, hot wax or heating units.
Supastrip® PCR, which enables manufacturers to balance the users’ needs with sustainability principles, is made from PET and contains 70% post-consumer recycled resin (PCR) in a single-ply 23-micron film, while Supastrip® Prism is a holographic tape range that can provide enhanced opening experiences and a solution to deploying multiple layers of security at once.
Beyond the increasing simplicity of integrating reclosable packaging into production lines, another reason brands and manufacturers may be interested in making the shift to resealability lies in the growing consumer demand for companies to show environmental responsibility. And a key way for any brand to reduce its carbon footprint is by decreasing food waste.
Adding functionality such as resealability through RE:CLOSE™ helps in making packs act as a functional store and, when done well, not only keep foods fresh once opened, also helps answer the needs of the 28% of consumers who are frustrated by packs being difficult to close or reseal. Beyond that RE:CLOSE tape also acts as a high-impact promotional carrier that enables brands to change the tape and not the pack.
By listening to what packaging converters, brands, and consumers want and prioritising innovations that deliver on their shared needs, we can deliver on our commitment to ensuring that packaging manufacturers can extract the maximum value from their products.
Performance packaging
Manufacturers with a narrow innovation focus miss many opportunities, see more innovations fail, often see that competitors do the same thing and struggle to turn their innovations into growing revenues and margins.
Leading and successful manufacturers cover a much wider scope of innovations and actively search for opportunities to improve the value they promise their customers. It’s no coincidence we can call many of these businesses our customers.
As a business, we recognise growth opportunities in solving more or other customer problems. These same growth opportunities are in building and improving the capabilities to deliver value effectively, efficiently and consistently. For progressive packaging businesses, tear tape solutions can be a cost-effective way to move the needle.
Over time, we have built an intimate understanding of packaging manufacturers, with over 50 years of experience in designing applicators that complement our tape portfolio – but, more importantly, that also complement production lines.
Integrating the right tape applicator into a converting process means you can add value to your entire packaging portfolio without compromising throughput. It’s an upgrade that unlocks the ability to offer customers enhanced packaging solutions with consumer-friendly features like easy-open tear tape, reclosure solutions, holographic anti-counterfeit measures, and more.
Regardless of a product’s current excellence, leading innovators remain steadfast in their commitment to refining the performance and design of packaging, ensuring ongoing relevance and competitive advantage. As such, packaging performance innovation remains a cornerstone of growth across all industries and is something we will continue to prioritise and contribute towards well into the future.