We all need to understand the definition that packaging is the art, science and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use.

We further need to take cognisance that:

• Packaging also refers to the process of design, evaluation, and production of packages.
• Packaging can be described as a coordinated system of preparing goods for transport, warehousing, logistics, sale, and end use.
• Packaging contains, protects, preserves, transports, informs, and sells. In many countries it is fully integrated into government, business, institutional, industrial, and personal use.

Packaging is often an agglomeration of conflicting and competitive groups, all business related and comprising of large numbers of individual enterprises, all motivated by the need to provide goods and services for customers and at the same time generating profit. To make all this work well lies often in the hands of the packaging engineer or technologist. He or she steers all those involved in a particular packaging project towards a common goal, usually the launch or relaunch of a product.

The packaging technologist at an early stage in the project, and timing is often critical, needs to involve the converting equipment producers who provide the machinery to transform the basic elements of the earth into raw materials; to transform those into packaging materials; and to help marry packaging materials to the product.

Then to the packaging equipment suppliers that provide the machinery required for the packaging operation step. The success is often how well the packaging technologist combines the aforementioned with the concepts and understanding of the raw materials, packaging material supply, convertors, equipment suppliers and suppliers of ancillary materials and services. He or she needs to comprehend the totality of packaging. The concept that the user of packaging material, i.e. the packager is important to understand. The user is not the consumer. The user of packaging materials is the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, hardware, furniture or appliance manufacturer who intends to protect their product.

So the packaging technologist needs to have a sound understanding of packaging related raw materials, what can be used for what type of products, always considering the commercial, economical and environmental aspects of each material and at the same time seriously considering the marketing desires and needs to ultimately make the sale.

Very broadly the potential materials that can be considered would be:

• Steel
• Aluminium
• Paper
• Paperboard and folding cartons
• Corrugated fibreboard
• Plastics
• Glass
• Composite cans
• Tubes
• Cups, tubs and trays
• Labels
• Flexible packaging

In each of the above list of packaging materials, one needs to consider the possible compatibility issues, shelf life requirements, equipment requirements, machine packaging/filling speeds, cost, availability of the material supply ongoing, and suitability.

Then the need to consider ancillary materials, e.g. decoration, coatings, pigments, solvents, lacquers, primers, binders, adhesives, plasticisers, inks, dyes, resins, starch, tapes, closures, sealing devices, dispensers, barcoding,  and the list goes on. Bearing in mind that each of the above is a science of its own.

The aspects of distribution, supply chain and distribution is an integral part of the design aspects of the end shape and size of the packaging as it directly relates to how well it fits on a pallet or a container in this country of any other country as many countries have different size pallets.

A good knowledge is required by the packaging technologist in relation to who supplies or distributes what machinery, what equipment is suitable for which type of packaging. Also, one must have an understanding of converting equipment, packaging machinery in relation to what area of packaging that packaging technologist is concerned with, for example, canning, bottling, pouching, filling or wrapping or for that matter a combination of any of the aforementioned disciplines of packaging. The packaging requirements will also be affected by whether it is food, confectionery, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, agriculture, or simply non-food.

The packaging technologist must have a sound knowledge of the various requirements as stipulated by the country’s governing packaging related laws and rules, trade association requirements, or simply the consumers’ specific requirements relating to packaging. In Australia the two leading grocery companies have very detailed and specific packaging requirements that need to be strictly adhered to should you want to be one of their suppliers.

Attention to detail

It is clear, therefore, that packaging shares a common forum with many other professions that a good understanding of the science and technology of packaging, the attention to detail required, and the need for a packaging department focusing on these areas, will improve an organisations packaging tenfold.
 
Pierre Pienaar MSc FAIP
National President
Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP)