Packaging for consumer products is poised to change rapidly, yet communication between those responsible for making that happen is lagging.

We see small discussions forming around packaging in terms of sustainability, greening of packaging, greenwashing, consumer engagement, recycling, manufacturing efficiency and packaging reduction, both at the intermediate level and at the consumer level.

What we don’t see a communal forum to discuss this issues in a way that engages everyone from  the materials supplier and the packaging machinery provider to the manufacturer to the retailer and the consumer.

There is not a lot of education around how packaging materials are evolving.  TCO (total cost of ownership) and TCA (total cost assessment), LCA (life cycle analysis) remain terms to most packaging people without relevance to their jobs.

Some of our machines  are still running 70 years later. We want our buyers to be able to use the ones we build today for many years but, unless the conversation starts soon, we may be building machines that are not relevant to the materials that will be available in 5 years. This is being repeated all over the packaging industry in various ways.

To build the proper machines we need  be talking with our customers and their materials suppliers now about their needs for 2-5 years from now.

Even if the conversations are theoretical, we should be talking about the goals that manufacturers have for their packaging and their options to achieve it. They should be sharing their goals, so we know what to be thinking about for our machines down the road.

How should this conversation start? What should the forum be?  What should you do it get it going? What should we do?