Puma Thinks Outside of the Box

by Rob Busse, CPP - Chainalytics

Outside of the shoebox, that is. After 21 months of development and apparently 2,000 ideas, Puma has a design that will replace the common shoe box that has been around for dozens of years. The design consists of a “sustainable” cotton and recycled polyester bag and corrugated insert. Puma estimates that bag will slash water, energy, and fuel consumption during manufacturing alone by 60%–in one year, that comes to a savings of 8,500 tons of paper, 20 million mega joules of electricity, 264,000 gallons of fuel, and 264 gallons of water. Ditching the plastic bags will save 275 tons of plastic, and the lighter shipping weight will save another 132,000 gallons of diesel.

Unfortunately for Puma, they don’t expect that the design will save any money initially since the higher price of the materials will offset other savings. They are certainly hoping that the package will drive up sales dollars with all of the hype that has been created and with undoubtedly more to come. Is this going to make you buy a pair of Puma's?

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What to Look for in a Packaging Consultant

by Bob Fiedler, CPP - Chainalytics

A little over 20 years ago, IoPP, the Institute of Packaging Professionals, established a Consultants Council with a mission of defining standards for professional packaging consultants. The consultants established and published Standards of Ethical Conduct and worked together to establish and promote packaging consulting as a full time profession. Educational materials were developed both for enhancing the practices of members and to promote within the industry the effective use of packaging consultants.

Promotional educational materials were developed by the Council including when and when not to hire a packaging consultant, how and where to find one, how to hire one and what to look for in a packaging consultant.

A list and explanation of what to look for in a packaging consultant included:

1. Experience

2. Strong ethics

3. Complete objectivity

4. Cost

5. Good listener

6. Self-confidence

7. Strong analytical skills

8. Creativity

9. Personality Size

10. Full time attention

11. Ability to transmit knowledge

12. Strong references

After consulting for over 40 years, I believe that what clients are now looking for may be changing or needs to be viewed differently. Many clients are now seeking consultants providing the following qualities:

1. Specialized expertise and experience

2. Program direction and leadership

3. An objective outside viewpoint

4. Being a catalyst for action and change

5. Increase sustainability expertise

6. Scalability to address both specific and systemic issues

Miller Lite Vortex Bottle: Gimmick or Packaging Innovation?

by Rob Kaszubowski, CPP - Chainalytics

Mega-brewer MillerCoors is preparing to launch their latest and greatest packaging innovation, the Miller Lite Vortex Bottle, in the hopes of boosting its sales which have slumped recently. The newly developed bottle design has specially designed grooves in the neck to “help create a vortex as you’re pouring beer”.

The thought is that the Vortex bottle neck will create an influx of oxygen and create a fresher, better tasting beer. Now I’ve had a beer or two in my day, but I’m not sure how realistic that will be. My belief though is that the new vortex design will allow consumers to pour (or chug) beer faster – although the new design is not marketed in this way.

Some are calling it another gimmick, similar to the Coors Lite cold activated bottle labels that are printed with a thermochromatic ink which allows the mountains to turn blue in color when the package is cold enough to drink.

Whether you call the new Miller Lite Vortex bottle a gimmick or packaging innovation, it’s bound to cause a stir in consumers….and beer!

I’m sure the packaging geek in me will be curious to see this new technology and I’ll have to try one….or two!

What did Walmart really save?

by Rob Busse, CPP - Chainalytics

As noted in the previous article, Walmart elminated 3,000,000 pounds of corrugated when they gap flapped their Great Value cereal cases. So what does that much corrugated savings relate to in the “real world” anyways?

• 6,280,000 Lbs of CO2 – the equivalent annual CO2 emissions of 570 cars
• 2,425 Tons of Wood – the equivalent of 16,800 trees
• 34,591,000 BTU’s of energy – the equivalent annual BTU’s necessary for 380 homes
• 9,682,000 Gallons of Wastewater – the equivalent amount of water in 15 Olympic swimming pools
• 1,231,000 Lbs of Solid Waste – the equivalent amount of 44 full garbage trucks

So does that help you get you mind around it? Those are starting to seem like REAL savings! I guess Walmart not only preaches sustainability but they practice it to!

Note:

Calculations made using papercalculator.org

Corrugated example run with 50% recycled content.