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Lessons learned from your best projects

Packaging professionals share their best experiences with projects—and what they learned.

Pw 5184 Lessons Exclaimation

In April 2009, Packaging World posted an online survey asking packaging professionals about their best and worst packaging projects. We also asked respondents to elaborate on what they learned as the project unfolded. Here are the highlights from some of the best projects described to us in our survey.

Project: We expanded and increased line speeds to 3,600 cans/minute for a canned petfood with $10 million of new packaging equipment from filler to stretchwrapper. We received input from all of the key players at the plant and input from Corporate.

Lesson: It can’t hurt to listen to everyone involved in a project to see how it affects each and every person. With everyone’s experiences and input, we were able to implement a good, seamless plan. Everyone, from the warehouse manager to the filler operator to plant engineering, can add valuable input to a new or modified project.
Engineer with a petfood products company

Project: Setup and startup of a “Equal sachet” packaging line in Australia. At the time, it was the fastest sachet line in the world. Reached first start-up to full production in 10 hours.

Lesson: Get everyone who will be involved and welcome their input—this is critical for buy-in and cooperation. Treat projects like a moon shot and contemplate everything...even send along the tools that will be required by the mechanics. And record—videotape or similar—all training, so that if new people run the machines, they get the benefit of your efforts.
Ralph Dillon, Compliance Surety Associates

Project: I helped put together a survey for AORN (Assn. of periOperative Registered Nurses) on medical devices and the aspects of packaging that the nurses preferred.

Lesson: Working in a small group is much easier than working in a large group. If there are too many people trying to be leaders, then you get nothing done.
Daniel Locke, Smith & Nephew

Project: Our gas furnaces were experiencing 18% to 20% damage return. New packaging design—a protective corrugated wrap was increased from 32 to 44 ECT and corner pads were changed—and improving our handling techniques have limited this to less than 2% damage return, with savings in the millions of dollars. The two-year project was completed in 2008.

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