Being first to market with a new innovation is critical for success in today's high volume, fast-moving marketplace. But when it comes to new products, they must also be rigorously tested to make sure they adhere to the highest standards. In the beverage segment, lengthy testing processes can delay product development, as they occupy valuable line time and slow production. To help customers overcome these challenges, can manufacturers offer access to fully-equipped pilot facilities.
Pilot facilities are essentially satellite locations or off-line environments that are intended to design and simulate customers’ products prior to commercial development of their packaging. The overarching purpose of these facilities, along with the use of computer aided design (CAD) and modeling, is to enable brands to greatly reduce packaging development time while increasing the success rate of new products in the market. In order to achieve this, extensive testing is conducted on new packaging in an environment that is designed to replicate the conditions in which packages are filled, processed, used and ultimately handled by customers.