Tighten up to stay ahead

17 March 2011



Each year, manufacturing companies lose tens of thousands of pounds, simply by failing to manage the package development process efficiently. Yet these losses are almost entirely avoidable, says Neil Gleghorn, CEO at Kallik.


Outdated, manual processes are perhaps one of the most important problems facing manufacturing companies today who are trying to achieve significant increases in revenue. Symptoms include slower time to market, wasted resource and unnecessary rework and duplication.

Changing the way of working and facilitating clearer management and greater control over the packaging processes so critical to growth would go a long way towards mopping up any future losses. Although the UK is currently enjoying a relatively competitive exchange rate, global problems, particularly in the eurozone, still pose serious challenges to the manufacturing sector and in these demanding times, complacency is no longer an option. There is an urgent need for manufacturers to become more effective and efficient in delivery.

For a surprising number of companies, the process of package development is plagued with difficulties and issues. An ongoing reliance on outdated manual processes makes it difficult to control the complexity of labelling artwork and, as a direct result, changes to packaging labelling are rarely handled efficiently or systematically.

More often than not, valuable time and money are wasted on complex and lengthy review cycles relying on inefficient methods of communication that can last up to four months in some companies and lead to a massive amount of unnecessary rework.

Businesses have to contend with documents stored in different systems and databases, since artwork changes engage many different functions, and have to cope with integrating information from multiple sources both internally and externally.

These arcane processes tend to be error prone, with inaccurate, flawed data all too easily resulting in defects and errors in pack copy, the primary reasons for product recalls. Recalls can cost millions of pounds in terms of lost revenue and market share. As well as facing a bill of millions to recall a product, manufacturers may be hit with the cost of product write-off, customer reimbursement and litigation payments, loss of sales and market share, loss of consumer confidence, and, at least in the short term, increased regulator action.

According to a study released by the American Society for Quality (August 2003), each product recall costs an organisation, on average, more than US$8million. The issue of risk has become even more urgent with the pressure of globalisation, mergers, restructures, and increasingly complex product and regulatory mandates that make risk much harder to assess and manage.

The logistical hurdles companies face by outsourcing, both on and offshore are further exacerbating the problem, as companies may not be adequately managing the risk posed by business partners' manufacturing and legal practices.

It is clear, therefore, that if organisations are to achieve their goals of increased productivity and cost reduction, they need better and more efficient ways to manage their packaging and artwork development processes. Outdated and inefficient business processes must be redesigned with a view to removing inefficiencies and bottlenecks. By addressing the significant challenges in managing artwork, companies can achieve higher quality, faster market response times and greater return on investment, as well as a massive reduction in the risks and costly repercussions of product recalls.

In this current climate, now, more than ever, industry leaders need to be equipped with technologies to support growth in a cost effective manner, gain a competitive edge and optimise efficiencies. Many companies are now discovering that there are process and technology solutions to these problems, and that dramatic process improvements can be made in order to eliminate waste and streamline operations.

The time is right to implement the correct technology and processes necessary to address the fundamental inadequacies in our packaging processes, gaining more efficiencies and cost savings in an increasingly challenging global marketplace.

Views expressed on this page are those of the author and may not be shared by this publication.

Kallik is a specialist in Artwork Management Solutions (AMS) that says it can help companies gain a real advantage in an increasingly challenging global marketplace. Kallik’s solutions are said to reduce package development costs through streamlined and automated artwork processes and remove the delays inherent with inefficient, time-consuming and error-prone processes.


Neil Gleghorn, CEO of Kallik. Neil Gleghorn

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