ILMA Compoundings - April 2020 - 12

INDUSTRY RUNDOWN

From Design to Delivery,
Packaging Matters

We put much of our efforts into our product, but how
much time do we spend thinking about the container?
Packaging experts Smithers Pira said the packaging industry is an enormous economic generator. They expect the
demand for the world packaging industry will reach $1.05
trillion by 2024.
Within that world, the demand for flexible packaging,
which includes pouches and bag-in-box options lubricant
manufacturers have recently favored, is rising. Flexible packaging is expected to reach $269 billion in 2024 and currently
accounts for 19% of the total U.S. packaging market.
Sustainability is another hot topic when it comes to
packaging, and not just in the consumer goods market.
Millennials, credited with driving the push for sustainable
packaging, will want to see green packaging extend to their

APRIL 2020

| COMPOUNDINGS | ILMA.ORG

places of employment. Another impetus for sustainability is
rumors of Europe taxing plastic packaging products that do
not contain at least 30% recycled material.
How a package is made is not the only thing that matters.
People still do judge a book, or in this case a lubricant, by
its cover. Designers say the branding trend today is simplicity. Consumers want to identify the contents of a package
quickly, and high-contrast designs and easy-to-digest
information will be in demand.
Still, beauty is not enough for packaging. Famed physicist
Erwin Schrödinger said, "The task is not so much to see
what no one has yet seen, but to think what nobody has yet
thought about that which everybody sees."
A great example of thinking what nobody has yet thought
is demonstrated by Garcon Wines, experts in wine packaging. The company has come up with the eco-flat wine bottle.
The bottles are not only recyclable and made from recycled
products, but they are 87% lighter than the typical wine
bottle. Garcon Wines says this saves more than 500 grams
of carbon dioxide across the supply chain. The bottles' flat
shape is 40% spatially smaller, and they pack just like books,
which means not only can more bottles fit in your bar, but
you can also box and ship them more efficiently.
Lastly, there is connected packaging. Manufacturers have
long used RFID and QR codes in packaging to provide
information both to the receiver and throughout the supply
chain. What people are talking about now is augmented
reality (AR).
By incorporating AR into your packaging, you are no longer limited to the information you can fit on a label. That's
a good thing considering the simplicity trend mentioned
earlier. Manufacturers could make it easier for consumers
to choose the right lubricant for the year, make and model
of their automobile. They could even include a step-by-step
video of how to change the oil that would play when the
customer holds a smartphone up to the container.
Between sustainability, design and technology, there is
a lot to think about when choosing how you present your
product to the world. Check out the feature beginning on
page 20 to read more about lubricant packaging.

http://www.ILMA.ORG

ILMA Compoundings - April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ILMA Compoundings - April 2020