How to Condense Time and Accelerate Package Development

Blog | by Norman Kay | 04.12.2021

The necessity to streamline packaging design, development and delivery is an urgent topic for the consumer sector, particularly beverage, beauty, and fragrance.

I believe it’s a holistic process requiring education, discipline and accountability for all influencers and stakeholders involved within the package program.

It’s analogous to IBC’s Component / Composite QA discipline.

Every player involved with a packaging initiative is a component of the team. The group, all the project stakeholders, defines the composite-the complete team.

One clear goal: A successfully completed outcome executed within the shortest duration.

There’s no shortage of innovative development software protocol available. I think that the VIVALDI portal is a breakthrough. The essential key to success is the presence of the entire team, all the players, at the table, fully involved at the onset when the goals, benchmarks, timelines and budgets are initiated. The supply side participants as well must alter the antiquated notion of ‘client as procurer of merchandise.’ New thinking requires a collaborative ‘quality with speed to market’ co-partnering ethic.

It’s essential for marketing and brand management to completely understand, accept, and assume their responsibility for the flow and timing of a program’s execution.

The time required for:

  • Ideation, design, development and definition of the program
  • Refinement of both primary and secondary packaging components
  • Collateral brandware / gift development in sync with the package timelines
  • Approval chain decisions during the entire development process
  • Completion of material procurement, tooling and pre-production
  • Final approval chain comments and short-run marketing samples
  • The complete production cycle
  • Logistics, fulfillment and distribution lead times

Superlative execution relies on adequate, intelligent scheduling and accountability to achieve all the above, with a minimum burden on corporate assets.

The result of inappropriately condensing one or more of these phases is quite often a disappointing outcome; usually attributable to a lack of understanding and commitment to the above – or a poorly defined horizon at the front end.

Norman Kay is the CEO and Chief Creative Officer and inspiration behind IBC Shell’s creative intuition and market influence.