I don’t know about you, but with a big family and friends gathering over the holidays, the question “What do you do, again?” comes up. I answer, and the inquiry ends, as people don’t quite understand the role of packaging.

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other. This quote by Walter Elliot, a Scottish politician, got me thinking.

How long has it been since you were on a road trip — a FUN road trip? Not for work or with the family but a solo adventure with no real timeline and no worries? It’s been a long time for me too.

Industry experts foresee continue growth in the flexible packaging industry, fueled by two developments: increasing consumer demands for convenient packages, and an industry push for sustainable, shelf-ready product designs, according to the Flexible Packaging Market Assessment produced by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies.

In the news recently, an article explained that a director of operations at one of these packaging companies had been audited for suspicion of embezzlement. The person expensed more than $170,000 in just three years — and siphoned just over $132,000 of those expenses into a personal account.

For over a century corrugated packaging has carried products around the world, delivering everything from machine parts to computers and food from point of origin to point of use.

Packaging trends are already coming out for 2020. It makes sense, since they stem from the previous year’s designs, shifts in consumer demand and what the market is working on in the corporate realm.

Sanitary design and cleanability offer opportunities for improving the bottom line. Complying with Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) for equipment and utensils lowers the risk of expensive product recalls and the consequent damage to brand reputation.