On the Mark #4: Advanced technology, smart factories key to maintaining momentum in 2023

Catching up on interesting news and innovations in production, packaging and more

2023 manufacturing industry outlook.

The manufacturing industry has been going strong since the pandemic, but near-term challenges, such as supply chain issues and cyberattacks, may limit the industry’s momentum. This Deloitte report explores the manufacturing industry trends to consider for 2023 including investing in advanced technologies to increase resilience, strengthening talent management strategies, enhancing mitigation strategies for supply chain assurance, making progress on smart factory solutions and focusing on corporate social responsibility. Source: deloitte.com.

Medium-sized packaging hit hardest by inflation as customers turn to bulk buying or ‘Premiumization’.

Inflation is causing consumers to adjust shopping behaviors –- and medium-sized packaging is expected to be hit the hardest. Consumers want a better value for their money and are making alternative choices to save money, such as buying in bulk, switching to private label products or choosing higher value products to get more value for the money. In addition, according to a recent GlobalData survey, 67% of consumers globally are finding recyclable or refillable packaging important to their product search. Source: packagingtechtoday.com.

Predictive maintenance is on the mind for most companies.

At the recent Pack Expo International conference, attendees were asked to participate in a PMMI survey about their plans for predictive maintenance in their operations. The survey found a broad range of interests among CPGs, including vibration analysis, thermography, equipment health monitoring sensors and many more. With such a broad array of possibilities, OEMs are challenged to meet all their needs. Most packaging industry companies are at early stages of adoption with predictive maintenance, but the survey shows interest. Source: automationworld.com.

Sustainable packaging trends include flexible packs and adoption opportunities.

Another PMMI survey at Pack Expo discovered CPGs commitment to sustainable packaging, even though many challenges are on the horizon, particularly with regard to updating operations to accommodate for sustainable packaging. Many CPGs have old equipment requiring adjustments to work with the new packaging. Hurdles to adoption include slowdowns in production to make room for testing and experimentation of new materials, the higher costs of sustainable, flexible packaging and the anticipated learning curve due to changes in packaging. Despite these challenges, the survey found that most CPGs are making the effort to implement sustainable packaging. Source: oemmagazine.com.