Why packaging management only becomes strategic when product, packaging, and artwork are approached as one concept
The clock is ticking. By implementing the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation | PPWR, the European Union strengthens the requirements for packaging throughout its entire lifecycle. The objective is to reduce packaging waste, advance the circular economy, and increase transparency regarding material usage, recyclability, and sustainability.
In the future, companies will need to prove more precisely which materials their packaging contains, the percentage of recycled content, and whether all regulatory requirements are met.
While sustainability, circular economy, and compliance are discussed heatedly, however, one question often remains unanswered:
Where does the information needed actually come from?
In many companies of the packaging and process industry, product data, packaging specifications, artwork files, and regulatory information are stored in different systems. Packaging development, marketing, quality management, regulatory affairs, and external agencies work with separate data. The result: media breaks, duplicate maintenance, and considerable coordination effort.
What is often underestimated: SAP can manage product and packaging together
Many companies still consider packaging as a standalone topic unconnected to product development. Yet modern SAP-based approaches enable a consistent management of product, packaging, and artwork files in a shared context.
Using SAP Engineering Control Center | SAP ECTR, packaging structures, material information, technical documents, and artwork files can be directly linked to the corresponding products. Instead of isolated data silos, a holistic digital information space emerges.
Advantage: All parties involved work with the same data basis.
If packaging data is already consolidated in SAP today, this not only creates the foundation for compliance. It also reduces complexity, improves transparency, and accelerates innovation processes that will determine future competitiveness.
The right approach depends on the initial situation
Before selecting technologies or digitalizing processes, it is crucial to have a holistic view of the existing system and process landscapes.
Questions like these determine the best solution approach:
- Which SAP systems are currently in use?
- Is product data, for example, managed today in an SAP system, in a third-party system, or in decentralized systems?
- How close is the collaboration with external agencies and packaging suppliers?
- Which regulatory requirements have to be fulfilled?
- Which strategy is planned for the company: on-premise, cloud, or hybrid?
On this basis, DSC collaborates with companies to develop a target architecture for packaging and artwork management. This development is not only about implementing a solution, but also about consistently linking product data, packaging structures, artwork processes, and compliance requirements within the existing SAP landscape.
Learn more: Packaging and artwork management with SAP