SUMMER 2020
46
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
Welcome to PMMI’s Virtual Executive Leadership Conference
From meeting sustainability demands and initiatives to leveraging leading technology to optimize operations, here are the most up to date resources you can use to empower your people and your business. Every year, PMMI, the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, hosts an Executive Leadership Conference (ELC), which brings North American OEMs together to learn about the latest trends, equipment demands, and potential obstacles from industry experts and CPGs. This year, PMMI is offering a digital version of the conference, which is packed with insightful presentations from thought leaders on how not only to meet emerging demands, but also how to adapt to operational changes during COVID-19. The topic of sustainability is a hot button issue in the packaging industry right now, but as the coronavirus spread to North America, many wondered if the industry’s commitment to sustainability would be paused to meet more pressing supply chain demands and the need for protective packaging. To answer this, OEM Magazine spoke with Donna Ritson, president of DDR Communications, a
The Shifting Sustainability Model
A new PMMI report on packaging sustainability outlines how CPGs and OEMs are responding to consumer demands for environmentally-friendly packaging—even as questions arise about how COVID-19 will impact the future. Stephanie Neil Editor-in-Chief For the past few years, manufacturers have been concentrating on sustainability efforts as part of a promise to consumers to do their part to help save the environment. Subsequently, PMMI, recently conducted research on how this industry is responding to the packaging sustainability call to action. The result is a business intelligence report released in March called Packaging Sustainability: A Changing Landscape. The report, which is available for download, is based on 60 interviews completed in early 2020 with food, beverage, consumer packaged goods (CPG), and pharmaceutical manufacturers, as well as contract packagers, OEMs, and material suppliers. It concludes that packaging sustainability has moved beyond a trend and is now a global shift.
0220_ELC_V2.indd 46
market intelligence firm that conducted research on behalf of PMMI for its latest sustainability report. To find out what the outlook for sustainability will be like after COVID-19, read the story below. Another insightful ELC presentation shows OEMs how to implement virtual and augmented reality to keep up with demand while also making sure operations are in accordance with social distancing guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). OEM Magazine has reported on how virtual and augmented reality can practically fit into OEM operations, as well as how builders can use the technologies to better assist customers during the pandemic. Now, Michael Campbell, the executive vice president of augmented reality at PTC, shares how the company’s partnership with Rockwell Automation makes it even easier for OEMs to adopt altered reality technologies. Flip to page 48 to read the full story. Take a digital front row seat at PMMI’s virtual Executive Leadership Conference to learn more about how you can prepare your company to withstand the pandemic, as well as meet emerging demands at: pmmi.org/elc “This is the time to look at our businesses in a different way,” says Emmanuel Cerf, vice president of Polypack, Inc. and chairman of PMMI. “Business models are changing. The future looks very different, we all need to assess and adjust.”
The findings: Companies, in general, want to respond to consumer demand for more environmentally-friendly packaging. They are tackling it from different angles—by either minimizing packaging to reduce waste, using sustainable materials that can be recycled and remade into new products, or adopting durable packaging designs that can be returned and reused. And, approximately one in four CPGs interviewed are making machine purchases specifically to address these packaging sustainability goals, and many more are making machine modifications. That, of course, was before COVID-19. “This pandemic is giving us a whole bunch of new questions to ask,” says Donna Ritson, president of DDR Communications, a market intelligence firm that conducted the research on behalf of PMMI. “What is the outlook for sustainability after COVID-19? In this time of uncertainty everything will be different. The trends in this report are still valid, but the question is, are some packaging sustainability goals going to accelerate and are other sustainability goals going to take a back seat? We don’t know.” Already, the business dynamic has changed drastically due to coronavirus, including a hyper awareness of safety and hygiene, plummeting oil prices, and a marked increase in e-commerce. The latter two issues greatly influence packaging
5/26/20 10:06 AM
