National Packaging Design Day 2024

May 7th marks National Packaging Design Day, and as we celebrate this day, it also gives us the perfect opportunity to reflect on the role packaging plays in the food manufacturing industry. When you are building or optimizing your packaging line, one of the most important decisions you’ll make is selecting the trays or containers to hold your products. But when should this decision come into play, and how important is it to choose trays designed for automation?

First, it’s essential to understand that the choice of trays, containers or paperboards isn’t just about aesthetics or convenience. It’s a strategic decision that can impact the efficiency, reliability, and overall success of your packaging line, as well as its environmental footprint. With sustainability becoming increasingly important today, selecting trays made from eco-friendly materials or designed for recyclability can be a strategic choice to future-proof your operations.

But, when should you consider the type of trays you’ll use? Ideally, the tray selection process should begin early in the planning stages of designing or optimizing your packaging line. As you conceptualize and design your line, you should have the specific requirements of your products and the operational needs of your production in mind. This includes considering the size, shape, material, and design of the trays.

So, what about automation? In today’s fast-paced manufacturing environment, automation is no longer just a luxury; it’s a necessity. As the world’s leading provider of reliable tray denesters, QUPAQ ensures seamless automation even with trays not explicitly designed for it. However, choosing trays specifically designed for automation ensures optimal results, enhancing efficiency and future-proofing your packaging line. This means the trays should be compatible with denesting and loading equipment, have consistent dimensions for reliable handling, and be sturdy enough to withstand the rigors of automated processes.

Automated packaging lines offer increased efficiency and reliability, allowing you to meet the demands of the evolving market more effectively. As technology advances and consumer preferences and demands change, you’ll need a packaging solution that can adapt and grow with your business. By investing in trays designed for automation and reliable technology to increase efficiency, consistency, and throughput, you’re setting yourself up for long-term success and scalability.

The world is constantly evolving, and while we believe that trays are here to stay, we can’t say the same for all tray materials. Tray materials seem to be constantly changing due to new standards and requirements for tray manufacturers. Food manufacturers, retailers, and end-customers have a higher demand for more sustainable materials that are easy to recycle while maintaining the core features of keeping food fresh for as long as possible to prevent food waste.

However, many new tray materials and tray types have not been designed for automatic tray denesting. This means that adapting to these new demands of sustainability could in fact lower your capacity drastically or enforce a higher price to end up on the retail price. This is something we have tried solving at QUPAQ.