Customised information on packaging : driving forces and logistical aspects

This thesis work is divided into two parts that relate to each other. The first part investigates driving forces and limiting factors in the customisation of information on packaging and the second part focuses on how the customisation task should be performed in order to obtain high productivity and efficient logistics. Opportunities with hybrid printing solutions where conventional technology is combined with digital printing are discussed.The first of the included papers talks about the driving forces and limiting factors in the customisation of information on packaging and focuses on marketing aspects and consumer value. The second paper investigates the logistical aspects of using digital printing to add information on pre-printed packaging, with the primary focus on the opportunities to reduce changeover time and printing form costs. The third paper investigates how digital printing can be integrated into a packaging line and identifies critical productivity related parameters. These three papers are analysed together in this report, giving input to conclusions about the driving forces and limiting factors in the customisation of information on packaging and how the customisation task should be performed to obtain high productivity and efficient logistics. Hence, this thesis work does not originate solely in one discipline. Digital printing technology, logistics and marketing aspects are all considered to draw conclusions. It is shown that it is possible to obtain marketing advantages, fulfill market demands better, get increased consumer value and reduced costs by using a hybrid printing solution. There exists at the same time a number of limiting factors, such as print quality demands, additional costs and reliability issues that are crucial to consider before concluding whether or not customisation of information on packaging would be successful in any given business scenario. Different scenarios for where the customisation task can be inserted into a value chain are defined and discussed. Explicit studies of one of the scenarios are made. This scenario is defined as having a customisation task inline in a packaging line. The other scenarios, customisation at the packaging producer and customisation at the wholesaler/retailer, are not explicitly investigated, but it has been possible to discuss these scenarios as well through the research results obtained. The results show that there are factors that point towards the scenario where digital printing is performed at the producer as being the most beneficial. A number of critical productivity related factors for this scenario are identified in paper III, which gives guidelines on how to obtain high productivity when a digital printing task is integrated into a packaging line. It is finally shown that it is possible to obtain high delivery service and efficient logistics by using a hybrid printing solution. It is, however, of crucial importance that possible drawbacks be considered in order to accurately conclude whether a hybrid printing solution will be successful or not