Prism eLogistics started out in 2020 as a straightforward pick, pack, and dispatch operation, right as e-commerce accelerated and a global health crisis reshaped supply chains and consumer expectations.
Since then, the Basingstoke, UK-based company has grown into a full-service fulfillment, contract packing, and shrink sleeving partner for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and beverage, cosmetics, personal care, and nutritional brands, serving both business-to-business (B2B) and direct-to-consumer (D2C) channels in a market defined by tight margins and constant brand churn.
That growth has come from layering value-added services — labeling, kitting, and promotional bundling — on top of standard pack-and-ship work, moving beyond reactive fulfillment into proactive consultancy. Managing Director Ian Wright accelerated that shift after joining in 2023, and below, he shares six lessons from it that other co-packers can apply to their own operations.
1. Get involved before the production line, not after
Many co-packers operate reactively, receiving goods and assembling them to a fixed specification. Prism eLogistics emphasizes the importance of working with clients to shape those specifications well before anything reaches the line.
"If you can get in right at the start of a project and help brands navigate their packing and packaging needs, you create a proposition based around partnership and consultancy that is complemented by technical expertise and fully integrated fulfillment," Wright says.
2. Right-size the pack for how people actually shop online
Brand teams don't always think through how pack format affects online conversion. Wright points to pack size as a simple but high-impact example.
"Which consumer is going to spend £40 [~$54 USD] online on a 24-pack of a new product they don't know and haven't yet experienced? Far better is a 12-pack, mixed selection that allows consumers to try all the flavors and get a taste for it, albeit with a lower recommended retail price," he says.
Prism eLogistics says it builds its edge by taking on pack formats other operators avoid.Prism eLogistics
3. Specialize in hard-to-fulfill formats
Retailers are pushing brands toward smaller multi-packs to make better use of shelf space, but few operators can actually run those formats efficiently, which makes the capability a differentiator for those who can, says Wright.
"There is also a growing movement in RTD beverage to 4- or 6-can multi-packs. This is being driven by retailers as an efficient way to use limited retail space and maximize sales. Any successful drinks brand these days has a 4-pack product. Despite this, it is one of the hardest formats to fulfill. There are only two can fillers we know of in the UK that can do it inline, which means we are able to pick up this work by taking 12- or 24-packs, breaking them down, and repacking them into 4-packs," Wright says.
4. Catch structural design flaws before they become retail problems
A package that looks premium on a designer's screen can still create real risk on the shelf. Wright recalls a brand that designed a micro-flute corrugated 4-pack carton for a supermarket retailer without a locking mechanism.
"We often have to step in when brands create structural designs without understanding the reality of retail," Wright says. "While the box had a premium appearance, the brand risked tarnishing its reputation by having boxes easy to tamper with and products easy to take straight out of the carton on the shelf."
5. Use sleeving to solve problems packaging alone can't
As more brands move from colored PET to clear PET to support closed-loop recyclability, sleeving has become a tool for solving problems beyond decoration for Prism eLogistics, a lesson that could be applied by other co-packers.
"We are working with a brand that is as known on the shelf for its distinctive brilliant white rectangle bottle as it is its highly visible logo. However, as they have needed to move away from colored PET bottles to clear in order to promote closed loop recyclability, they were left with the choice of labeling a clear bottle, which is undesirable as the product can separate or finding a way to sleeve a clear rectangular bottle," Wright says.
6. Apply the playbook to other categories
Looking ahead, Wright sees the same playbook extending into new product categories for Prism eLogistics' customer brand base.
"Perfumes, cosmetics and personal care markets are facing the same challenges as beverage brands and stand to benefit from our expertise in sleeving, co-packaging, and fulfillment," he says. "We want to do more and with the expertise and knowledge we have built up, we are ideally placed to make this happen in the near future."
