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 sector 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 at a central location. The benefits for the customer with this concept are huge. This solution saves transport routes and therefore time and costs for lorry journeys and the storage and retrieval of raw materials. Thanks to the close proximity, it is possible to react very flexibly to changes in orders at short notice. This approach is ideal for complex projects such as the assembly of a high-quality Advent calendar.
Demanding quality standards
For the subsequent loading of goods, a Constant quality control This is particularly necessary for high-quality or fragile products. The packaging processes are carried out in accordance with the requirements of GMP standards. And crucial for cosmetic products: Batch safety and Seamless tracking in accordance with the requirements of the EU Cosmetics Regulation are guaranteed. The company is therefore investing in state-of-the-art automation technology and IT. „It is extremely important for our customers to be able to remove defective goods from the market quickly in an emergency. That's why we rely on seamless traceability through our modern ERP systems,“ emphasises Melanie Zwecker. „Since the introduction of a production web client this year, Packservice customers have also been able to view the current production status of their orders. The orders are colour-coded according to their degree of completion. In this way, our company provides customers with important information and guarantees transparency throughout the entire production process.“
A trend with a future
Individual and high-quality Advent calendars will remain a trend in the coming season. They provide Recognition and Identification with the brand and give manufacturers the opportunity to display a wide range of products in one article. They are therefore also the perfect gift for your own customers. „We expect even more brand manufacturers to discover this gift idea for themselves in 2018, because when it comes to Advent calendars, even adults become children again. Customers from a wide range of industries can use the Advent calendar as an attractive advertising medium. From small electronic accessories, spices and muesli to spirits, textiles or jewellery - there are no limits to the imagination,“ predicts Melanie Zwecker.
