After the Christmas season is before the Christmas season. While customers are still buying sun cream for their summer holidays, marketing departments are already working on promotions for the Christmas season. Packservice from Karlsruhe knows that unusual and innovative packaging is in vogue.
Packservice has been working for international brands in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for over 35 years, including numerous industry giants from the food and cosmetics sector, as well as well-known manufacturers from the pharmaceutical, industrial and textile sectors. The co-packer is already preparing for the Christmas business in spring.
Advent calendars as brand ambassadors
Christmas has the PoS firmly in its grip. Offers, special and gift packs, product add-ons, bonuses, bundle packs and limited product editions are everywhere. There are also special placements and promotions of all kinds. The choice is huge and competition in the fast-moving consumer goods market is fierce. For some years now High-quality Advent calendars particularly popular. After the chocolate and toy industries, the cosmetics industry has now also recognised the calendars as a Gift idea and Image carrier discovered for itself. A small gift is hidden behind each door - and with it a message that allows the brand to shine in a positive light over a longer period of time.
In particular Brand and cosmetics manufacturers are currently planning and ordering the surprise packages for 2017, as these are not only a sales success as a gift idea for young and old, but also an appealing image carrier. What retail customers don't realise: Getting the calendars to the shops on time and in the best quality requires not only a great deal of packaging and logistics work, but also special expertise in the area of Packaging development required. Packservice combines both. Every year, 3.8 million coffrets, 5 million displays, 7.5 million sleeves, 6.4 million shrinks and 7.5 million OnPacks alone leave the production halls at over 20 Packservice locations.
Challenge for the service provider
As different as the products to be packaged are, the demands placed on packaging are just as high. With its competence centre for packaging development and co-packing, Packservice offers a Complete solution on. Together with various packaging manufacturers, the company is looking for the Ideal presentation solution for the products and works closely with the respective customer. Melanie Zwecker, Unit Manager at the Packservice site in Malsch, has already successfully completed several projects in the area of packaging development: „Especially at Christmas time, major brand manufacturers rely on unusual promotional campaigns. We always have to adapt to the wishes of our customers and therefore see ourselves not only as a service provider, but also as a reliable partner and problem solver who brings the products to retail in perfect condition and realises the ideas of the marketing department.“ Packservice always has an eye for new materials and packaging technologies.
„Observing packaging trends is an important factor in achieving long-term success on the market. However, the more than 35 years of industry experience that we incorporate into every project seems even more important to us,“ emphasises Melanie Zwecker, Unit Manager at the Packservice site in Malsch.
Expertise in the field of packaging development
Packservice takes over the packing service Complete serviceFrom the development of the packaging to the assembly of the goods and the final preparation for retail. Just as with elaborate display campaigns, many things have to be taken into account when developing Advent calendars: „In line with other secondary packaging projects, such as the packaging of elaborate gift sets, we also develop a strategy for the necessary materials and suitable tools for Advent calendars,“ explains Melanie Zwecker. „The packaging has to fulfil numerous tasks. The Design is of course crucial for success at the PoS. In addition to the Optics but may Transport safety and Stability should not be neglected. As a fulfilment service provider and co-packer, we naturally pack the 24 products into the calendars ourselves. It is particularly important to ensure easy handling both for the end customer and in further processing. After all, the customer should be able to open each door and remove the products easily,“ says the expert.
Individuality counts
The development of a high-quality Advent calendar is a very lengthy and complex process, which is why the preparations at Packservice start at the beginning of the year. Firstly, the project team receives Sample goods and the White pattern the advent calendar. The white samples are a kind of prototype that is extensively tested by Packservice. During packaging development, it is important to bear in mind that each product has a different shape and size. The packaging used Cardboard boxes and the Type of processing also play an important role. Many questions need to be answered in advance, e.g: How well can the individual parts be folded and inserted into each other? Is additional gluing required? How easy is it to fill the calendars? Can the individual doors be opened easily? How is the calendar packaged for dispatch?
Logistical excellence
Once the white samples have been sufficiently checked, Packservice takes over the further Process control. Packaging materials have to be ordered in large quantities and resources optimised. Each individual work step is planned precisely. Warehousing and transport must also be organised efficiently, which is made possible by the campus concept. Packaging activities are carried out directly in the carrier's warehouse or at the branded goods manufacturer. Packing service controls Packaging material purchasing, Storage and Co-packing an zentraler Stelle. Der Gewinn für den Kunden bei diesem Konzept ist groß. Diese Lösung spart Transportwege und damit Zeit und Kosten für Lkw-Fahrten sowie die Ein- und Auslagerung der Rohware. Durch die räumliche Nähe kann dabei sehr flexibel auf kurzfristige Auftragsänderungen reagiert werden. Für aufwendige Projekte wie die Konfektionierung eines hochwertigen Adventskalenders ist dieses Vorgehen optimal.
Anspruchsvolle Qualitätsstandards
Bei der späteren Bestückung mit Waren ist eine ständige Qualitätskontrolle erforderlich, insbesondere bei hochwertigen oder zerbrechlichen Produkten. Die Verpackungsprozesse erfolgen gemäß den Auflagen der GMP-Standards. Und für Kosmetikprodukte entscheidend: Chargensicherheit and lückenlose Nachverfolgung gemäß den Vorgaben der EU-Kosmetikverordnung sind gewährleistet. Daher investiert das Unternehmen in modernste Automatisierungstechnik und IT. „Für unsere Kunden ist es enorm wichtig, schadhafte Waren im Ernstfall schnell aus dem Handel nehmen zu können. Daher setzen wir auf eine lückenlose Rückverfolgbarkeit durch unsere modernen ERP-Systeme“, betont Melanie Zwecker. „Durch die Einführung eines Produktions-Webclient können Packservice-Kunden seit diesem Jahr zudem den aktuellen Produktionsstatus ihrer Aufträge einsehen. Je nach Fertigstellungsgrad ist eine farbliche Kennzeichnung der Aufträge enthalten. Damit liefert unser Unternehmen den Kunden wichtige Informationen und garantiert Transparenz im gesamten Produktionsablauf.“
Ein Trend mit Zukunft
Individuelle und hochwertige Adventskalender werden in der nächsten Saison Trend bleiben. Sie sorgen für Wiedererkennung and Identification with the brand und geben den Herstellern die Möglichkeit, eine breite Produktpalette in einem Artikel abzubilden. Damit sind sie auch das perfekte Präsent für die eigenen Kunden. „Wir rechnen damit, dass 2018 noch mehr Markenhersteller diese Geschenkidee für sich entdecken, denn beim Thema Adventskalender werden auch Erwachsene noch mal zum Kind. Kunden aus unterschiedlichsten Branchen können den Adventskalender als attraktiven Werbeträger nutzen. Vom kleinteiligen elektronischen Zubehör über Gewürze und Müsli bis hin zu Spirituosen, Textilien oder Schmuck – der Fantasie sind keine Grenzen gesetzt“, prognostiziert Melanie Zwecker.
