The Packaging Problem: Skills

This is where it gets down to the heart of the packaging activity, the people involved with Packaging.

In every other business, department or activity within an organisation, the skillset and talent within, dictates the levels of outcome, improvement or adjustability to new circumstances and challenges, and the impact that activity will have on the business.

For every other business, department of activity, also, the skillset and talent required to perform the task, is often clearly defined and similar across almost all business sectors or organisations. The people working within those areas can easily be identified as having comparable competencies, education, background, responsibilities and other similar characteristics.

This does not apply for Packaging that much! There is a real problem in identifying the right skillset when it comes to creating the profile of the right candidate or career path in the industry.

This happens because of two important factors that need to be taken into consideration.

First: There is no specific or predefined skillset associated with packaging that is universal

And

Second: There is no clear path to enter the packaging profession.

Although a well-established industry, packaging is not a very well-known occupation or a common career consideration. In reality even the people doing packaging, cannot easily pinpoint, what this career looks like or how it forms, as it is mostly shaped via circumstances and experience.

And as it happens, these people, were often simply absorbed in packaging because they were dealing with it and developed their resume by practice, or kindly… were “Volunteered” to deal with it at the beginning or some other point in their career. Most are coming from a number of different and very diverse backgrounds. Marketing, Engineering, Purchasing, Science, IT, Supply Chain, Logistics, Business, Consultancy and the list goes on.

This is one of the noteworthy reasons businesses have such a difficult time dealing with and appreciate packaging. It is even more the reason why often when trying to fill a role, businesses are not well sure of what exactly they are looking for.

So, if you are looking at what type of a packaging professional best suits your business requirements and needs, here are what I suggest to be the main five categories of packaging experts you may want to consider, according to your business needs. This will help you tailor both the role you are looking to fill as well as the expectations of your business and the potential candidates.

First we have the packaging technologists as they are often referred to. They are usually scientists, having a wide range of portfolio and experience in dealing with materials. They will often be found in a packaging manufacturing environment R&D as they will be helping to develop and investigate new product and innovation ideas. But they can also be a valuable addition to a packaging department, as they will be able to help understand the science behind the design and help find the most practical solutions for each product in terms of material attributes.

Second, we have the packaging designers. They are often getting the most attention as the packaging design is the final appearance of the long packaging development process. They are the ones who are among the first to receive the product brief, and they provide the designs and blueprints, create the prototypes and the complete packaging proposals.?These are the people who are heavily involved at the first phases of creating the packaging solution and make sure the presentation of the product on the shelf, on the production line or during transport, is as intended.

Then you have the packaging operatives. Those can be separated in two types:

·????????The machine operators make sure the packaging production lines, continue operating and producing the packaging orders to fulfil customer demands. They often gain specific material knowledge, and are responsible also for the packaging quality outcome and monitor.

·????????The packers on the other hand, are responsible to pack the product in their container, and ensure the quality of the product is right when closing the box. They will be found most often either at the end of the product (packaging customer) line, or at repackaging operations. They are vital, and their contribution and feedback paramount, as they will always be the last ones to see the product before the end customer.

The packaging acquaintances are those who know how to deal with packaging, but are not directly involved with it. They will be working in any of the other business activities like logistics, supply chain and purchasing, production, transport, marketing. They help create the brief, and voice their department’s requirements, which then packaging design must meet. For these people, you should expect they have a good level of understanding of packaging, so they can positively contribute in its creation. They need to be properly educated about what packaging and its development process and impact are. Otherwise they may get carried away with making extreme requests, create unneeded obstructions and bottlenecks, and put unnecessary stress on the whole procedure.

Finally, packaging departments are formed of people who deal with everything else related to packaging. They are often referred to as packaging engineers or similar job names. They will be the ones actually managing the packaging development process. Gathering data, sharing information, evaluating the brief and the requirements, communicating with the relevant parties and dealing with suppliers and customers to better understand their capabilities and needs. They can be and develop from any background, but will be more business focussed, with broader understanding of how packaging comes to be, its lifecycle, its impact on operations and the business, sales, costs, product quality and so on. Those will often be “baptised in fire” as they feel the pressure to deliver from the word go and it is their responsibility to ensure the optimal final outcome is achieved.

Although all Packaging Expert classes share common skills, businesses need to be more focussed on their pursue for talent, and develop a better understanding of their needs. This will help them better identify they type of packaging expert that best matches their requirements and is most suitable to help them overcome their packaging challenges.

As packaging starts developing beyond the traditional “entry by accident”, there is a highly skilled pool to choose from. Even those with no prior packaging experience, but experience in other fields are potential candidates. The same goes in reverse as well. Some of the packaging experts, because of their skills and developed competencies, can be well matched in other areas of business.

What do you think? How difficult is it to find the right packaging expert? Have you created your packaging skills development matrix yet? Are you focussed only on your packaging department, or have you enrolled the rest of the organisation in the appropriate and relevant packaging education?

If you have any relevant questions, or need help in identifying the right skillset for your organisation, Contact me via InMail.

I am available at your convenience to help you create the right profile for your current and future candidates or a well-rounded packaging training session suited to your business needs and objectives.?

Let me know your thoughts.

Thank you for your time.

Theodoros