By Jim George

Marketing & Design Editor

Pw 8239 Praxis Starterkits

Variable manufacturing in a time-sensitive world

A highly mobile plant floor, innovative communications approach, and flexible work force have Praxis Packaging thriving in western Michigan’s life sciences corridor.

Operate deftly to satisfy King Consumer--or lose out

The consumer is king, with retailers following in lockstep. This reality of today’s fight for survival in an overstored retail landscape mandates that product manufacturers adapt quickly to market changes in order to please fickle King Consumer.

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Flexible lines and a fixation on efficiency pack a powerful one-two punch at Toll Packaging

‘You have to think about efficiency in new ways,’ says Gerry Donley, president. This co-packer’s tactics include equipment retrofitting and finding new ways to reflect customers’ instructions in production quickly and accurately.

Pw 8681 J Lieb Foods 01

J Lieb Foods expands services with purchase of Welch's Plant

Ready-to-operate facility in Kennewick, WA, triples the company’s capacity and adds flexibility in co-packaging services to Pacific Northwest.

More from By Jim George

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Amenities put the TLC in hospitality

It’s a $400 million industry for motels through five-star resorts. The flexibility needed to package in-room ‘freebies’ provides insights into contract packagers’ work.

Biomedical Products Marketer Saves Big With High-Tech Aerogel Cartons

Can thermal-insulated containers increase co-packing's value? American Aerogel's containers cut Advanced BioHealing's shipping costs 40%.

By standardizing corrugate displays, Unilever reduces corrugate costs through bulk ordering of components. With fewer components

How Repackers Help Unilever In Mature Markets

Consumer products giant drives sales with specialty packs and displays. Success requires that repackers have the right location, can manage costs, and can support marketing initiatives.

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Effective Cost Management Is A Shared Buyer-Supplier Responsibility

Two-fifths of survey respondents say recent raw materials prices have risen at least 5%. More frequent collaborative procurement might improve those results, two consultants say.

Many of Assemblies Unlimited's packaging projects require hand assembly because of custom packaging requirements that are cost-p

Dimensions Of Turnkey Service: The'General Contractor'

Assemblies Unlimited positions itself as the ‘point’ for entrepreneurial marketers, using a national network of suppliers to deliver services from design to logistics.

Declare war on waste

Consumers today want products just the way they want them, when they want them. Marketers, who are in the business of persuading consumers to select their product, are depending on the package more than ever to help close the sale as the reach of traditional advertising methods erodes.

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Emphasizing product benefits to the 'bring-it- to-me' consumer

The label can act a versatile communications tool to keep a brand contemporary. Greg Metzger, director of marketing at Red Gold Inc., Elwood, IN, believes the label is a good place to begin in a package review when the goal is extending a longtime brand to a new generation of potential product users.