How Digital Transformation is Changing the Packaging Industry

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How Digital Transformation is Changing the Packaging Industry

The Leap of Technology in the Last Decade:

Digital Transformation or digitization of businesses is disrupting various industries across the globe. With the advent of IoT, everyday technologies, and the rise of Industrial Revolution 4.0, technology has grown exponentially since 2010. It has changed the way consumers and businesses connect with customers and how they conduct business.

Irrespective of whether the business is B2B or B2C, the digital transformation drive is being adopted by most industries of the world, and they are digitizing the business processes for better customer connectivity and service.

Further talking about Industrial Revolution 4.0, the growing IoT technologies, Smartphone capabilities, and increasing digital data points across various SOPs have given an exponential rise to business process automation and digital data exchange.

With this above-mentioned IT infrastructure, businesses are adapting to the current Industrial Revolution 4.0 drive and adapting business automation and data exchange technology solutions.

Talking about data exchange, the technologies are developed for enterprises to help them get the business edge with real-time data access, secure information exchange, and providing their personnel the ability to make informed decisions.

Regarding business process automation or RPA, the enterprises are now aiming for cyber-physical systems and cognitive computing and are also aiming to create an entire smart factory.

Impact of Digital Transformation and Industrial Revolution 4.0 on the Packaging Industry

A lot of different factors currently disrupt the packaging industry. To help you gain a bigger picture of how technology has changed the Packaging Industry, below are the trends that are currently being observed:

  • Changing and evolving consumer behavior with the rising e-commerce buying trends
  • Increased demand for customized and personalized packaging materials from enterprises for branding purposes
  • Increasing need for agile production with the rising trends of the Print-on-demand business model
  • Increasing demand for integrated technology solutions such as order management systems, online platforms, packaging design software, and others for business process digitalization
  • Need for cognitive technologies to break silos and establish effective and real-time data exchange
  • Increasing need for manufacturing and sourcing processes for sustainable packaging products

To help you better understand how the impact of digital transformation and Industrial Revolution 4.0 on the Packaging Industry, below are the technological changes observed in the Packaging Industry and their effects on the businesses and the market.

Impact of Digital Transformation and technological advancements in the Packaging Industry:

Enterprise Applications for process automation and efficiency:

  1. Automated order management system:

Although the packaging industry is a B2B business, having orders managed online and automation of order management can help the packaging industry increase its efficiency and transparency amongst its customers and personnel. The customers can effectively track their orders; the personnel can also be well aware of their roles and the timeline.

  1. Agile and collaborative industry value chain:

One of the biggest problems of the packaging industry currently is the lack of integrated systems. There are technology solutions for each department, but these technology solutions act as silos without cognitive and cyber-physical solutions. With the help of IoT and AI, one can easily break these silos and create an integrated digital ecosystem for effective data exchange and information flow.

Watch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S_8ezuggXo

Process digitalization for better customer services:

  1. Packaging design software for customization and faster go to market:

With the increasing branding significance because of the intensely competitive market, branding managers also include packaging as one of the branding collaterals. In addition, customers and social media trends have made packaging an important aspect of the brand. As a result, there is an ongoing trend of unboxing and thus the need for attractive packaging. Apart from that, marketers are also using packaging materials to communicate their brand message with the customers and integrate QR codes and other such things to connect with the customers.

Because of such varied trends, the need for customized packaging has increased exponentially, and because of that, the packaging industry is observing high demand for packaging design software. The package design tool not only digitizes the product designing process but also empowers the end customers of the packaging industry to design their packaging and send a bulk printing order with a ready-to-print file.

Such box design software provides an opportunity to optimize the design process. It solves the problem of inventory creation as designers can create their packaging designs and virtually upload them to their online platforms. With the help of the print-on-demand model, the packaging business can reduce the entire designing cycle and ensure a faster go-to-market with the least possible resources.

  1. AI for personalized product offering:

Personalization is not only a trend in packaging products but also in business processes. It was surveyed that people are willing to share their data with the businesses for personalized suggestions. Companies are incorporating AI and other cognitive technologies for effective customer services to deliver customized user experiences. With the help of AI, companies can offer better products and optimize sales and marketing with automated marketing emails and cross-selling and up-selling marketing techniques.

Sustainability and waste management in production:

  1. Sustainable production and sourcing approach:

Sustainability is overtaking the world by storm. It has become essential to fight climate change, but with Gen Z’s increasing purchasing power, they want the brands they use to adopt a sustainable approach. From luxury brands to the fashion industry to e-commerce giants and the food industry, every retail industry is trying to incorporate sustainable packaging. Thus, the demand for sustainable packaging materials is high. In addition, the packaging industry needs sustainable packaging production machinery. Still, they also need cognitive and IoT technologies to cut the waste in their production and pitch a minimal waste product to their customers.

  1. Remote monitoring and data analytics solutions for effective waste management:

Another big problem that traditional packaging businesses face is the lack of data-driven decision-making capabilities. With the help of automated plant and job workflows, efficient quality control systems with remote monitoring, and optimized equipment performance, one can increase productivity and reduce unexpected downtime. Also, with the help of integrated systems, the data exchange between the stakeholders can become efficient, and it can help in effective strategizing and policy framing with data-driven decisions.

Hop on the bandwagon of futuristic technology solutions:

Technology and digitalization are the future of the packaging industry and many others across the globe. If we are talking about digital transformation and automation in the packaging industry, now is the time to invest in increasing productivity and efficiency and gain a competitive edge in the market with delightful and personalized user experiences.

How Digital Transformation is Changing the Packaging Industry

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