Prompted Post #10: Recognizing Truth

In the movie Ace Vantura, the film starts with Jim Carrey as a delivery man, delivering a package. The package is made of corrugated fiberboard (cardboard) and contains what seems to be several glass items. Jim Carrey repeatedly throws, bangs, and kicks the package until getting to the delivery point. Considering the enthusiasm Jim has when abusing the package, his actions imply that the package will not protect the product from being damaged. This misrepresents the packaging field for the reason that packaging's number one task is to protect and contain the product. When it comes to glass, packages are created especially to protect the item from any possible damage.

 Ace Vantura Video

protective plastic

The most basic forms of glass protection are in forms of cushion and stuffing:

•  molded pulp/molded foam
•  engineered paper solutions, partitions and dividers
•  protective papers/plastics 

Advancements in packaging have lead to the creation of several complex packages for protecting breakable products:

• a custom solution combining laminated paperboard and honeycomb to prevent glass breakage



3 different corrugated boxes

• an incorporation of three different sizes of corrugated boxes with multiple foam and board inserts.  

Sources Cited

Mikerox117. "Ace Ventura Smashes Package." YouTube. YouTube, 31 Jan. 2011. Web

Mohan, Anne Marie. "Custom Edge Protection Eliminates Glass Breakage." Packaging Magazine. 2 Apr. 2013. Web

Open Post #9: Careers in Packaging

Some of my earlier blog posts only scratched the surface of packaging professions, so I decided to dig a bit deeper into that area. Learning about the possible careers for this major can not only help the audience understand the degree and field better, but give me, and other students of this degree, a taste of what our futures might look like. An earlier lecture from PKG101 class explained the professional world well, so I decided to look back over the material. I found that packaging professions can be put into two groups: packaging careers and packaging companies.

Packaging Careers: Integrated disciplines. These are the jobs that work on creating/altering/designing the package. The professionals might work for the company creating the product or a company that the product's company is reaching out to for packaging.

• Package and product design development
• Industrial design
• Graphic design 
• Sales and marketing
• Materials development
• Chemistry/Polymer science
• Engineering
• Management
• Business
• Production and manufacturing
• distribution and supply chain
• testing and regulation 

Someone working as a packaging chemist would do work on projects related to the package's different barriers, (discovering what chemicals the material reacts to, if the package lets in sunlight, gas, etc., etc.) just as someone working as a packaging graphic designer would work on the appearance of the package (creating labels, printing images, sketching models)

Packaging Companies: These are the suppliers/converters & end users. Basically these are what creates the parts of the package, and the later receivers of the package. 

• manufacturers (of various types of materials)
• label printers
• beverage companies
• food companies
• cosmetic companies
• pharmaceutical companies 

Someone working at a label printer company will create and print labels that are later exported to packaging or product companies. Someone working with packaging through a cosmetic company might work on things such as making substantial decisions about new package options for a perfume. 

It is safe to say getting a Bachelor's Degree in Packaging will guarantee a career. What's even better is how many options there are - packaging has ties with engineering, technology, business, graphic design, and many more. It is very reassuring to know that even if I change my mind about what kind of field I want to go down, packaging will be present somewhere.

Sources Cited
Koning, Paul. "History of Packaging." PKG101 - Lecture 2. 108 Bessey Hall, East Lansing, MI. 14 Jan. 2016. Lecture. 

Prompted Post #9: Recognizing Significance

An article from Food Business News explored Mr. David Luttenberg's claims on the packaging field in relation to brands and consumer loyalty. The article implies that packaging plays a key role in helping brands overcome a growing lack of consumer loyalty. Luttenberger, a packaging director at Mintel, states that there is "a parallel between brands striving to engage consumers on a more personal level and consumers' expectations for packaging to deliver that experience." Businesses have various reasons they request specific characteristics on the package for their product, but the majority of decisions are made with consideration of the reflection it will make on their brand. Several of my blog posts, especially prompted post #2 and open post #2, relay the idea of brand importance. Whether the customer has an amazing, terrible, or subpar experience, the consumer's response will reflect the product's entire brand. Therefore, ensuring the customer has a pleasant experience is extremely important to the business. Just as my blog posts teach methods for building brand equity and trust, this news article sets a couple of trends that will generate brand loyalty and ideally transform the global packaging industry in 2016.

1. Digital printing: As the the digital printing process advances, the ability to connect with consumers on a local, personal or emotional level does too. Coke, for example, used digital printing to create various "Share a Coke with a friend" labels. Consumers enjoy seeing their own names on the labels of Coke bottles; this leads to the creation of a personal connection with the brand.

2. On-pack transparency: Less is more when it comes to product claims on packaging. Consumers tend to prefer clear and concise information about the benefits, ingredients, and safety regarding the product. A package with unorganized, unclear information leads to a lousy first impression, which affects the consumer's overall experience. Again, the consumer's experience directly affects the brand.

3. Sustainability: "According to Mintel, reusable and repurposable packaging is a key purchasing driver for 63% of U.S. consumers, sustainability may be the deciding factor between products if price and perceived quality are equal" (Watrous). Consumers enjoy knowing that the product they're buying has eco-friendly packaging. This creates consumer respect for not only the product, but the company too.

This article proves that packaging affects all ends of the marketing spectrum. Whether it be grabbing consumers' attentions, driving emotion, protecting and preserving the product, or establishing brand equity, packaging helps!!

Sources Cited
Watrous, Monica. "The Future of Food Packaging." Food and Beverage News, Trends, Ingredient Technologies and Commodity Markets Analysis. N.p., 22 Dec. 2015. Web.

Open Post #8: Convenient Packaging

As my journey to earning a Packaging Bachelor's Degree continues on, I've noticed a growth in my excitement and also interest in the field. Seeing products at retail stores, around campus, or at home, with helpful packaging features makes me very content. Noticing a package, thinking "how cool is this?", and having the ability to say, "now that right there is my major", gives me assurance that what I'm working towards is something that really affects our society for the better. These kinds of experiences are what inspired this week's open post - convenience packaging.

A feature on the package that makes the consumer's experience better or easier in any possible way is a form of convenient packaging. The most common packaging features are there to create better portability, re-usage, opening and closure systems, shelf-life, storage ability, and consumer use.

Consumer use is a convenience method that is significantly different from others. This is a feature on the package that was installed solely to make the actual experience for the consumer better. Meanwhile, with other conveniency methods such as opening and closure systems, the features are created to improve the consumer's pre-use and post-use experience. The consumer use conveniency method stands out to me because it is effecting strictly when the consumer is using the product. Not only is this affecting society for the better, but also looking out for the customer. 

example of convenient packaging

I spotted this plastic bottle in my pantry over the weekend and couldn't help but wonder the reason for an indentation near the right side of the bottle. I shortly realized that the space was created as a spot for the consumer to place their thumb when drinking from the bottle. The thumb feature gives the consumer a better, more comfortable grip on the package. Aside from the implication that the user may not have immaculate gripping skills while consuming this product, the conveniency feature is created mainly to increase the user's value of life. 

Convenient packaging is an example of how this field's proffesionals look out for their customers, just as they do society. 

Prompted Post #8: Practicing Your Knowledge

After recently learning and blogging about package testing, an idea sparked in my mind for what kind of hands-on work I could do to test my knowledge of the packaging field. I decided to construct a series of packaging tests similar to the ones done in laboratories on a store bought product. Because the product/package is in my possession, it obviously has passed the necessary tests to reach the market. However, performing tests similar to actual packaging tests would give me a better understanding of what it would be like to be a packaging engineer, and how/why certain packages/products respond to tests in the way(s) that they do.

Product being tested

The product I chose to test was a 13.7 oz. Starbucks Frappuccino drink, packaged in a glass bottle.

With my lack of accessibility to actual package testing machines, I was unable to do almost all of the tests that packaging engineers acutally perform on glass bottles. However, being a college student with an active imagination meant I could make do with what I had.

Test	Hypothesis	Effect	Conclusion
Bending Test (using hands)	It will not be bendable	Bottle did not bend. Even with extreme pressure, the material in no way came close to bending.	The material is durable enough to be shipped/handled and receive uneasy contact.
Flame Test (using lighter for 1 minute)	There will be no effect	The glass changed the least bit. It darkened slightly, but is not flammable and did not alter enough to become bendable.	Glass is not flammable, extreme amounts of heat would be necessary for alterations in shape and chemical properties.
Heating/Cooling Test (100 degrees/ 20 degrees)	Heating – drink will turn room temperature, glass will become very hot. Cooling – both package and drink will drop in temperature.	Heating- placed in oven, exploded after 36 minutes, product poured out. Cooling – glass became very cool, as did the product.	Glass is applicable for this type of drink. A coffee Frappuccino is something refrigerated, but not often left in 100 degree temperatures.
Drop Test (2 ft, 5 ft, 8 ft, on concrete)	Glass will break at all heights	4 ft- No breakage or cracking, product remained same. 10 ft- glass shattered 15 ft- unable to test because of previous results ^ (glass would definitely shatter)	Glass, as previously known, is breakable. Secondary and Tertiary packaging must be very protective for shipping and handling. Primary package features should make the avoidance of dropping easy for consumers (handles, grips, etc.)

This experience was very fun and hands-on! It was exciting to see the reaction to high temperatures, and somewhat satisfying shattering a glass bottle from 10 feet up. The results of each test showed me why glass is such a good material for beverage packaging: keeps cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot (to a certain extent), can handle reasonable contact, and although I was unable to test this one, it has outstanding barrier properties.