Designers Challenge Production Capabilities with Complex Tube, Bottle and Cap Geometries
Design freedom usually comes at a price. Quite often our creativity exceeds our practical ability to bring things to life. Fortunately for packaging designers, production capabilities are keeping pace with their out-of-the-box thinking. So, what’s driving creative liquid packaging design? Consumers.
Beyond just liquid packaging, packaging design, in general, is expected to tell a story. A very recent and notable example is the international packaging design competition, Better with Less – Design Challenge. Speaking about the winners, jury Chairperson, Cyril Drouet, Design & Innovation Director of Metsä Board said, “These all represent functional and fresh package designs with sustainability and consumer experience at their core. Consumers are looking for brands and packaging that engage them, entertain them, and most of all, connect them with good storytelling.”
Closer to our liquid packaging world, are the many “packaging makeovers” that have taken place. One such example is Allure’s announcement titled “Paula’s Choice Skin-Care Boosters Just Got a Packaging Makeover.” by Marci Robin on April 5, 2018. The article describes an intentional change in package aesthetic that went from a “clinical-meets-elegant-aesthetic” to simply, “fun.” Perhaps the most important takeaway for us is Paula Begoun’s, founder of Paula’s Choice, statement “We pay close attention to what our customers tell us about every aspect of our products and, of course, packaging is a big one.”
Creative Liquid Packaging Solutions for Bottling, Filling and Labeling
At Maverick Packaging, we have learned how to not only deal with the challenges of creative and complex liquid packaging but leverage them for exceptional results. A great example of this is the asymmetrical cap shown below. The key to success ironically, but not surprisingly, comes back to creativity. Creative liquid packaging design calls for creative tooling, conveying, filling and capping lines. In order to execute, production engineers must have expertise in motion control, servo motors and vision systems.
Unique Challenges of Sourcing Amenities, Personal Care, and Essential Oils Packaging Services
Creative liquid packaging designs come with many challenges. First, there is the alignment of the bottle, cap, and label. Second, is the handling of complex, and often asymmetrical shapes. And, third, is the size of the bottle or tube where they are typically around an ounce or so.
For brands or contract manufacturers with high-speed, high-volume lines, this trifecta of challenges can result in a real problem. It can be very disruptive and burdensome to manufacturing engineers, scheduling associates, and production managers. To further complicate matters, highly creative packaging designs usually come in short runs. Add all of this together, and it’s pretty clear why trying to accommodate demands in a high-speed, high-volume production facility is very difficult.
Is outsourcing an option? These challenges typically come with high piece prices, long lead times (especially for start-up lines) and excessive tooling costs. This is where Maverick Packaging comes in. Our team of experts has solved these challenges many times over. We look forward to the opportunity to do it again for you.
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