PACKAGING PATTERNS OF TRADE
1. Food Gathering Little
-------------- movement
of goods
2. Agriculture
----------- Merchant Local
Chains
3. Simple Technology . Longer
----------------- . distances
Packaging :
4. City State in glass : Continental
---------- & Amphora |
especially | Trans-
5. Empire (Roman) for long | continental
-------------- distances |
:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
. Contraction
6. Medieval (Europe) . Local -
----------------- : Continental
:
7. Industrial : Trans-
Revolution Packaging | continental
---------- Development |
|
- primary |
8. Consumer Society | Wholesaler
---------------- | -Retailer
- secondary | .
| .
| : Int-
9. Mass Production - tertiary | : egrated
Society | | .
--------------- to cope with | | .
increased | | :
volume & | | : MNCs
integrated | | :
distribution | : | info flow
10.Post Industrial - especially | : | substitutes
Society reduction in | . | for moving
--------------- labour goods
intensity Hyper
(self- Markets
service)
Packaging follows the Constant Trend of Distribution - greater volume of goods distributed over greater distances increasingly requires a systems approach to their handling. The Constant Trend is one of increasing level of packaging - where each level is designed as part of the whole system - with a view to assembly, protection, transportation by different media, successive dismantling and handling, down to sales display and customer purchase. Increasingly, buildings, equipment and transport media become part of the system.
The different levels of packaging can be picked out with economic development:
Higher levels (e.g. container) have been developing recently. They will however differ for different products.
The whole packaging process is labour intensive compared with the manufacturing process, and catching up developments can be expected here - together with impacts from the Computer-Media.
The Constant Trends are expected to operate, and become interwoven
with Computer-Media (CM) developments.
From a starting point, where the systems approach is mildly
ingenious but antiquated, we expect a progressive build up for
most products to the Container level.
The packaging lines which generally following an automated production
line are antiquated. We can expect to see the packaging line
merge with the production line, producing primary packaged
products - closely linked on CM principles to the Secondary
packaging line and the Tertiary packaging process.
The Secondary and Tertiary levels will be linked by CM to the
requirements of the rest of the distribution system.
Optimum loading of the lorries with respect to the destination requirements
of the goods is notoriously difficult - optimum
loading routines exist but have tended to be too number intensive to be
calculated in time (or at least computer programmes exist but
have not been taken up to a large extent). CM is gradually
scheduling the optimum loading of lorries (or other transport
media) to meet the destination of products.
There is also the present problem that for much of the time a
lorry is travelling empty on its return journey. Growing CM
networks between organisations will be able to match some of the spare
journeys with goods transport needs, and eliminate more of
the overlap. This may result in the decline of manufacturers'
and distributors own transport fleets. The development of
higher (lorry size) level of packaging (e.g. container)
will help this. Firms have arisen providing this service, and
it is obviously easier for them to fill more of the empty return
journeys.
Machine-Readable
Naturally, each level of packaging will be machine-readable for
automated handling throughout the system
Systems
Under this scenario, the construction of warehouses, retail outlets
and all the equipment therein is minutely part of the total
system. It must be common to manufacturer, transporter and
distributor. This requirement for standardisation will be a
factor slowing up development considerably. The transport system
is also likely to become part of the system (already seen in some
lorry systems and the container ship).
Packaging levels
The primary pack has evolved from the need for self-service.
Use of the secondary level as an additional display and selling
aid is following, and is likely to become widespread.
Developments of higher level packaging (ship size) are less
certain - other than ships being designed to handle and hold
so many containers. But we expect to see a trend where
materials are moved in bulk if their form lends itself -
e.g. if they are liquids or powders or their final assembly is
trivial compared with the whole. (Thus whisky is now shipped
in tankers and bottled in the US). There are obviously savings in
space, transport of redundant materials, fragile elements requiring
higher levels of packaging, and loss through breakages.
Underground Economy
We must note trends from
Underground Economy
that an increasing proportion of goods will be sold
as "remainders" in underground economy markets - possibly becoming a
majority in some cases. Thus the need for outdoor
selling will covertly become an influence in the design of the
total system.
Home Ordering
The Computer-Media is beginning to enter the home (through the Internet).
The home CM will begin to transmit to the store its purchasing
requirements - which will automatically be made up
for collection by the purchaser. Trials are occurring, though at
present, with one or two exceptions, consumer interest is not yet high.
Naturally it requires most homes to be connected to a network. There
is progress towards this in the US, followed by the UK.
This trend may take longer than current IT people predict, but progress
is expected over the next decade. After a lapse of over half a
century, the ability to have one's box of groceries made up for
you is returning (from
Leisure & Wealth Deployment).
The trend we have in mind will require the home PC to be used for
more practical purposes than at present. Microsoft has really caused the
PC to automate the typewriter, and associated tasks; and with others to
cause the PC to replace the radio and record player. What is needed is for the
PC to begin to control household tasks - here acting as
a stock control and ordering system. This is likely to take longer to come
about than merely browsing down a virtual store with a mouse. It may require
someone to cause the PC to do this, as Microsoft caused it to automate the
typewriter.
Speed of Change
We have tended to develop above a picture of the mature Post Industrial
situation. We are quite a long way from it in places. How fast
may the changes be?
There is not really new technology involved, except for the
Computer-Media and related developments - thus this is one of the
times-scale constraints, which will take the end points of these
developments well into this century (from the Computer-Media).
The developments over the start of this century will be
more prosaic but leading in the direction described above:
This field will continue, as in the past, to provide opportunities
for people with good ideas relevant to the moment -
and for other practices to find themselves in rapid decline.
Industrial and commercial areas differ considerably in their take up
and automation and use of the Computer-Media. Progress is seen as
linkages being made on a trial and error basis. Thus developments
in any particular area are best considered from the position already
reached in that area, and what are the practical possibilities
for such linkages in the short term.
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PACKAGING & DISTRIBUTION PROCESS - IMPACTED SCENARIO
This system merges with that of automated retail stock
control and point of sale check-out systems which are coming in.
There will come a time when a customer buying a single can of drink will
trigger another container load being despatched from the warehouse,
and perhaps another ship being despatched from abroad with metal or
plastic for the cans - without any other human involvement.
The whole will be delayed while standardisations evolve over a
very large number of organisations. The Computer-Media will be tried
in various parts of the system - but not a great deal of inter
linkages for a few years. These linkages are likely to be private links,
not through the public Internet as is the present trend. The public
Internet is plagued with viruses - like all open systems in life forms.
Firms are likely to detach their public Websites from their computer
systems. Only those selling to the public are likely to take orders
through their Websites. But even here they may be detached from their
computer systems, finding other ways of transferring data to delivery
and stock control systems.