Towards smarter packaging!

Packaging has really come of age. It is no longer just a means to protect the content or the information carrier. It is much much more. It is a marketing tool as well. Brand owners are always on the lookout for innovative packaging to make their brands stand out. Customisation and personalisation took packaging to another level but there is still more.

Image recognition and augmented reality are the next big things in packaging, making it interactive or smart. More and more people use smartphones to do research while they are at a retail location to check reviews, price, etc of the item they wish to buy. If there is a NFC (near field communication) tag on a brand, it can establish direct communication with the consumer. NFC technology is featured in most high-end smartphones. These tags can store wide range of information and they can push this information to the smartphones, when electro magnetic induction creates a current in the passive device.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, there are immense opportunities with smart packaging. Smart packaging can also inform customers about the state of product within packaging, for example, temperature tracker can be built inside it to track the temperature in the entire supply chain. It can also detect certain gases when food gets spoiled and this can be communicated to store or customer. So, the opportunities are enormous and it can really change the way packaging is done.

Undoubtedly, packaging will continue to be one of the fastest growing segments in the printing industry for years to come. At the upcoming Printpack India 2019 show, there will be dedicated hall for the Label industry for the first time. Several shows and events are also now specifically focused on packaging like the recently held Propac, PackPlus and ALPS seminar.

This issue is packed with lot of information of these recently held events and what’s trending in the industry. At the Print 2030- 2.0 workshop, it was revealed that in 2040, not only conventional printing technology will be used to create tactile and exquisite product worlds, but there will be new applications in 3D printing and printed electronics which make it possible to implement analogue and digital methods with cost-favourable, highly flexible processes. The future of printing looks promising for the next 20 years.

Happy printing!

Sonal Khurana
sonal@smediagroup.in