Dubai 7th April 2009: The importance of packaging education cannot be over-emphasised and is central to delivering high quality products that people want to buy.
This was the principle message being given out a conference session at the 2009 edition of Gulf Pack - the only packaging event for the entire region that is targeted at packaging machinery manufacturers who want to present their products to the dynamic Middle Eastern market.
Bruce Harte, Professor at the School of Packaging at Michigan State University, told delegates that the experience gained by students in their programmes ultimately adds value and creates profit for those organisations that are best equipped to take advantage of it.
"Packaging is a multidisciplinary degree that incorporates elements of engineering, chemistry, biology and business. Packaging interacts with all elements of the supply system necessary to deliver products to consumers in a safe, high quality, sustainable state. It involves materials selection, package design, production, distribution and marketing based on consumer needs and desires," he said.
"Over the past 15 to 20 years, the traditional roles of packaging as a protector and an ensurer of product quality have broadened into a multi-disciplinary dimension including brand differentiation and a guarantor of trust amongst consumers. It is a key element in the safe delivery of high quality products in the global supply chain. It helps maintain shelf life for perishables and is vital for the secure delivery of products. It can help protect the product from the environment or protect the environment from the product. But it can also do so much more," he continued.
"For instance, packaging for beverages may have oxygen scavengers built into the packaging material to ensure longer shelf life; a gas mixture might be added to the plastic containers housing meat products to keep them fresh and maintain the colour of the meat; Chlorine Dioxide is regularly added to the packaging of fruit to prevent mould; sterilising agents are added to other packaging to prevent the growth of pathogens in food products, and so on.
"Innovations in packaging have also been responsible for major shifts in the ways consumers regard particular products," he continued, "such as in the way Listerine moved from a purely liquid form to PocketPaks which deliver the mouth freshener in a soluble tab; or the way Nestle's Condensed Milk saw its sales pick up dramatically when delivered in squeezable tubes and pourable bottles instead of their convention tins. Although in some cases this actually put up the cost of delivery, it nevertheless resulted in higher sales as consumers were better able to make a connection with their own lifestyles."
Prof Harte said that many of the innovations brought in to address the problems of handicapped people had in themselves found favour with mainstream markets. "They addressed the issues of flexibility of use, being simple and intuitive to use, with perceptible information and a tolerance to error by the user - all of which are just as applicable to able bodied people. For instance the 'EZ Grip' lid on a Maxwell House jar is attractive to everyone, regardless of whether they are disabled or not.
"New scientific innovations are also increasingly to be found on packaging within the food industry including, for instance, packs that change colour as an expiry date approaches, or that include labelling that can 'talk' to your mobile phone giving cooking suggestions or content information."
Since its inception in 1952, over 7,000 students have graduated from MSU's School of Packaging and now at any one time, some 500 students and 25 people undertaking PhDs attend the School's range of programmes. In 2008, a new branch of the School was opened in Dubai's Academic City to cater for the Gulf's most significant flexible packaging suppliers. The School runs a multidisciplinary programme that incorporates elements of engineering, chemistry, biology and business and leads to a Master of Science degree in Packaging.
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Press Release 2009
