Packaging Strategies asked SOMIC America, Inc. to provide its single- and multi-component machine capabilities. First, a look at what’s trending:
While the single-component packaging systems are currently the lions' share of machines that we [SOMIC] provide to our North American customers, the trend is toward multiple-component packaging machines. The retail-ready tray with cover systems are the predominant packaging formats in the European market, and like most packaging trends they eventually find their way to the U.S. These multi-component packages offer several distinct advantages over single-component cartons and cases. From a retailer perspective, it eliminates the need to tear a case apart for display purposes and provides a more consistent, clean look on shelf. Since the package consists of two separate components, each part can be designed for its intended use. The tray can be manufactured from a higher-end material with better print qualities, therefore enabling the product to stand apart from the competitor’s display on shelf while the cover — which serves primarily to contain and protect the product during distribution — can be plain, unprinted kraft corrugated. This separation of the material can offer options unobtainable with a single component, which must all be the same material.