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Volatility Breeds Leaps Forward

I may have mentioned it here before, but one of the advantages of reading every issue of Packaging World from cover to cover is the speed at which I can pick up on trends or recurring themes.

Matt Reynolds1

Another theme walloped me over the head this month, and though it’s found in several of the stories within, it’s most succinctly—albeit narrowly for my purposes—summarized in Anne Marie Mohan’s expansive Robotics Special Report.

Robert McElmurry, Business Development Manager for Fanuc Fulfillment Group, advises that “[when it comes to e-comm packaging capabilities] the time is now.” Presenting during a Fanuc webinar titled “E-Commerce Fulfillment Solutions,” McElmurry said, “We’re seeing a ton of investment in this space, especially given current events, things have really transitioned at a rapid pace. … if you’re not acting in this space, or at least thinking about how you’re going to automate robotically, it probably means you’re behind, and it’s time to get started.”

E-commerce is naturally a charged topic at this pandemic moment, where the omnichannel is roiling and its constituent parts—retail, foodservice, institutions, and e-comm among them—are either adding or losing share. The new landscape on the other side of COVID-19 will require refitting, investment, and rethinking to match and serve the new omnichannel mix.

But e-comm is just one example of a larger sense among many brands that there’s fresh, previously unattainable opportunity to be found in the volatile marketplace we have today. As my PMG colleague (and apparent reincarnated California gold rush 49er) Jim Chrzan likes to say, “there’s gold in them thar’ hills.”

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