A good set of requirements for your packaging prevents failure costs and delays. By involving the right stakeholders at an early stage and establishing concrete conditions, you ensure optimal protection and efficiency in the supply chain.
Summary of this article
Having a custom package developed always starts with preparing a set of requirements. You can read in detail why a requirements package is important in one of my earlier blogs on the subject. But let me summarize it for you;
A set of requirements describes everything your custom packaging must meet. This may sound simple; you have a product and it needs to be transported safely from A to B. It couldn’t be simpler, right? But what if your product is shipped to a hot destination and the glue on the case or crate comes off? Or what if an electronic product is used “in the field” in a wet climate and the packaging is not waterproof? Needless to say, this comes at a cost. And not just financially; it can also cost you customers.
By creating a complete set of requirements , you avoid this kind of situation.
Not too early and not too late. Weak, you may think? But let me explain: if you don’t start developing the packaging until the product is almost ready for shipment, you may miss important criteria, resulting in suboptimal results or delaying your order. If you start too early in your product development process, often not enough details of the product are known yet. It is advisable to wait until the main contours of the product are known and then start packaging development in parallel with product development.
Involve as many users as possible when drawing up the requirements specification. This includes your customer, as well as users within your own organisation. Each stakeholder has their own set of requirements for the packaging. For order picking, it should be as ergonomic and easy to handle as possible. From a logistics perspective, the packaging should make optimal use of the available loading space, while procurement will naturally be looking for a solution that stays within budget. Determine which requirements have priority and which packaging solution satisfies as many of them as possible. As packaging specialists, my colleagues and I are happy to help you make those decisions.
To ensure that all requirements and needs are addressed, I recommend using these 4 questions as a starting point:
These questions invite in-depth questions that help you uncover key packaging requirements.
Be as specific and detailed as possible, leaving no room for multiple interpretations. Challenge yourself and your team to keep asking questions until it is completely clear what conditions the packaging must meet. Only then can you develop packaging that is fully tailored to the product and your specific needs.
Make a clear distinction between requirements and preferences. Also specify the conditions under which each requirement applies and how compliance will be verified later. This prevents ambiguity and creates a requirements specification that designers and engineers can use as a practical starting point.
At Faes, we use the requirements specification as the basis for developing the packaging solution. Our engineers translate the intended use, the product and the specified requirements into a concrete design. They do not assess each requirement in isolation, but also consider how the different requirements affect one another. Reducing weight, for example, may influence the level of protection, while additional protection may affect dimensions, ease of use or transport costs.
By identifying these dependencies early in the process, we can make the right decisions together. Is a requirement technically feasible? Are any requirements conflicting? And does a preference need to be adjusted to comply with a standard, certification or specific defence requirement? This helps prevent issues from emerging only during production or testing.
The requirements specification also remains important throughout the rest of the development process. We use it to assess the design, material selection, production and any required testing. The result is not simply packaging that meets the requirements on paper, but a solution that performs as expected in practice.
Are you finding it difficult to identify all the requirements or document them correctly from a technical perspective? Our engineers are happy to support you from the very start. Leave your details in the form below or contact us directly.
Harold Pijs has been with Faes for more than 30 years and is Manager of Customer Service. As the driving force behind inside sales, he ensures reliable customer communication and a smooth order process. His experience makes him an indispensable link in customer-oriented service.
More articles by Harold PijsGood packaging doesn’t just happen by chance. Using a tried-and-tested approach, our specialists guide you step by step from the initial idea to the finished product.
