Customised Packaging Solutions for International Brands - Design Through Sourcing
Billerud helps global brands, who rely on Southeast Asia (SEA) product factories to source production, optimize transport and retail packaging.
Our Design to Delivery Packaging Solutions (D2D) helps brands reduce freight costs, improve sustainability performance, reduce product damage, and institute packaging program simplicity. In some instances, we support brands from package ideation through execution — including providing project management and packaging quality assurance oversight at their SEA product factories.
Some brands, however, only need help with the design of their product and transport packaging. Design as a Service (DaaS) is available to provide solutions to brands who need help either designing or revamping their product and transport packaging. Our design solutions provide visually engaging packaging that complies with brand standards and has the strength needed to protect products through an extensive supply chain journey. With DaaS, once the design is finalized, brands receive our design files and manage their packaging supply chain either independently or in conjunction with SEA product factories.
In this post we will discuss many of the benefits associated with DaaS and also delineate the differences between DaaS and CPS.
Design as a Service (DaaS) Can Provide Packaging Design Solutions Anywhere Across the Globe
For global brands headquartered in North America or Europe that rely on SEA product factories for production, sometimes managing packaging from afar can be challenging. Language barriers, a lack of quality control programs, and sourcing from packaging providers of disparate quality can all lead to complications in the brand’s supply chain. In a worst-case scenario, packaging of poor quality can harm brand perception and allow products to become damaged leading to returns and loss of trust from loyal customers.
Billerud has a deep bench of experienced packaging professionals with extensive packaging networks in Vietnam and China. We can help brands close the gap between articulating packaging needs and designing packaging prototypes that will meet those needs.
DaaS can Help Brands Meet Sustainability Goals
Every day more brands recognize the benefits of actively participating in the circular economy. They understand that a focus on sustainability benefits the environment, their workforce, and also addresses the needs of an expanding customer base that votes with their wallets — these environmentally conscious consumers prefer to support businesses that use sustainable business practices.
Sustainability is a core value at Billerud. We leverage our institutional knowledge in sustainability to help brands meet their own sustainability goals through reductions in raw material consumption and by optimizing their packaging supply chains. For example, we have helped brands, like Traeger Grills, eliminate the use of plastic foam in their packaging by substituting corrugated materials for plastic foam. By focusing on the structural strength of the redesigned package, we were able to use corrugated materials to provide the same protective qualities as plastic foam. The new, all corrugated packaging was completely recyclable and helped the brand meet their own sustainability initiatives.
When working with brands as part of a D2D engagement, we handle all aspects of the package redesign ranging from designing the new package to sourcing the raw materials for their product factories in SEA. For brands that only need help with designing their packaging, they can tap into our team’s knowledge base by using DaaS.
Designing for Manufacturability
Balancing the aesthetic appeal of a package with the pragmatic needs of ramping up production is a challenge frequently encountered by brands. For example, let’s say your design agency created an eye popping, visually engaging package. How can you ensure that the new packaging design files, that you send to your OEM, will result in packaging that is compliant to the design files, adheres to your brand guidelines, and has the intended structural integrity required to protect your products? Financial implications need to be considered — will this design concept be affordable?
Although some design concepts might be amazing, they could be quite difficult to manufacture or be very costly to execute. With our extensive experience and thorough knowledge of printing and converting processes, we ensure all structural and graphic design elements will be reproduceable at scale and fit within budgets. Our experience allows us to anticipate any issues before they happen. With our foresight leveraged on your behalf, we can avoid delays in getting your product to market and we can reduce your packaging and distribution expenses.
DaaS Creates Designs that Meet Your Budget Constraints
As part of our scope analysis, we discuss your packaging budget with you. We strive to design attractive, protective packaging that will comply with your brand guidelines and also consider your budget constraints.
We understand how easily a brand can get caught up in an eyepopping design, like something that is “retrofuturistic”. However, creating a package that meets that criteria yet costs eight or ten times the budgeted cost for each package, would be an exercise in futility. We take your aspirational packaging design ideas and translate them into pragmatic options that will comply with brand standards and be affordable to manufacture.
How Long Does it Take to Complete a DaaS Project?
The amount of time required to complete a DaaS project varies based on the scope of the project. Once the Master Service Agreement (MSA) and the Statement of Work (SOW) have been signed, we get to work.
Scope variations may occur based upon:
- A change in the number of individual SKUs that require a new package design
- The complexity of the package being designed
- For example some products have irregular exterior geometries that require designing unique solutions for the product package
- The composition of your team members who participate in the design process including how many members are actively engaged in the design of a particular package
- The responsiveness of your team with providing feedback in accordance to the mutually agreed upon production schedule
- The level of existing functional knowledge of packaging and supply chain optimisation on your internal team
- A delay in one aspect of the design process can have a cascading impact on timelines.
- If there is a delay in any portion of the design process, the completion date will most likely be extended to incorporate the delay that occurred earlier in the process
SOWs provide clarity and transparency. They provide you with a 360 degree understanding of the process. Ongoing updates regarding project status will be provided throughout the entire project. With our thorough planning process, project management acumen, and regular, transparent communications, you will always be up to date on the status of your project.
Can You Provide More Details about the Difference Between DaaS and D2D?
Although the above information provides some of the services available within the context of DaaS and D2D, the below chart provides a quick summary of scope variation between the two engagement options.
Conclusion:
Packaging needs for brands vary across time. By offering two engagement options – either DaaS or D2D – we can provide a customised suite of services that align with your particular needs. Whether working with you on individual, project based assignments or supporting you with on-going design, quality, and sourcing support, we can provide you with innovative packaging solutions. We can help you avoid costly mistakes, increase the speed of new package introductions, improve the sustainability of your packaging, increase distribution efficiency throughout your supply chain, and reduce your expenses. Would you like to learn more? Contact us today to discuss developing optimal packaging solutions that will best support the specific needs of your brand.