Modernizing Packaging With AI Chatbots

A Mentor for Every User

By Brian James, Senior Instructor at Indiana State University and CEO at Packaging Mentors

Imagine this scenario: Your company has just developed a groundbreaking product. It requires a new packaging format, materials, machinery and processes. As the lead packaging engineer, you’re tasked with ensuring a smooth product launch. But where do you start?

Perhaps you reach out to a supplier. Can you trust them completely? In a perfect world, sure. But too often suppliers have their best interests at heart. So, you grab a textbook or scour the internet. Textbooks might be outdated, and online searches often feel like panning for gold in a sea of irrelevant results. Plus, it’s time-consuming. What if you need guidance tailored to your specific challenge? Mentorship from a senior packaging engineer would be ideal, but what if you are the most experienced person on the team?

Now imagine this: You turn to artificial intelligence (AI), a chatbot, a digital mentor armed with a curated knowledgebase, tailored specifically to the packaging industry. This chatbot draws from databases vetted by packaging experts, associations, and academia. It’s not just another AI regurgitating random internet trivia. It’s a reliable, accurate, and unbiased resource you can trust.

The packaging industry is no stranger to change, but the rapid pace of innovation demands equally innovative solutions. Enter chatbots: the future of data management and education.

Reliable and Curated Knowledgebases

General-purpose AI systems like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini pull from massive, unfiltered datasets. For specialized industries like packaging, this scattershot approach doesn’t cut it. Industry-specific chatbots offer a tailored solution:

Verified materials data: Strength, recyclability, and sustainability information specific to packaging needs.

Regulatory guidelines: Up-to-date compliance standards across regions.

Case studies: Insights on machinery performance and manufacturing efficiency.

This focus ensures users access trustworthy, directly applicable information. No more sorting through irrelevant content.

Enhanced Efficiency for Engineers

Packaging engineers juggle tight deadlines and high-pressure decisions. Chatbots designed for technical environments transform how they work by:

• Answering material compatibility questions instantly.
• Offering predictive analytics for production workflows.
• Recommending solutions based on real-world scenarios.

Instead of spending hours researching, engineers get actionable insights in seconds.

Empowering Education

Chatbots aren’t just for professionals, they’re reshaping packaging education as well. Imagine a student working on a packaging design project:

• Instead of wasting hours on outdated textbooks or aimless internet searches, they query a chatbot for immediate, relevant information.
• The chatbot simulates real-world challenges, offering solutions grounded in industry standards.

By serving as an interactive textbook, chatbots free students to focus on applying knowledge rather than finding it.

Chatbots: Daily Utility Meets Strategic Vision

Chatbots excel in two critical areas:

1. Daily Operations: For routine questions and troubleshooting, chatbots act as digital assistants, enabling teams to work faster, minimize downtime, and boost productivity.
2. Strategic Innovation: For high-level challenges like optimizing supply chains or exploring sustainable materials, chatbots equipped with large language models (LLMs) generate innovative ideas and strategies, complementing human expertise.

By bridging immediate needs and long-term goals, chatbots elevate both packaging operations and innovation.

A Mentor for Every User

Think of a chatbot as a mentor, accessible 24/7, scalable across organizations, and always learning.  As a Senior Instructor at Indiana State University, I’ve seen how quickly educational materials become outdated. A chatbot solves this problem by offering consistent, up-to-date guidance.

For laborers and line workers, chatbots are a game-changer. When making snap decisions on the production floor, like troubleshooting machinery or choosing the right materials, workers can consult a chatbot for instant guidance without waiting for a supervisor. This keeps production lines humming and empowers employees to act confidently and efficiently.

Embracing Chatbots, Not Fearing Them

Chatbots are not here to replace us, they’re here to enhance us. They make knowledge more accessible, accurate, and actionable. For the packaging industry, they’re a game-changer, ensuring everyone from students to senior engineers to line workers have the tools they need to succeed.

The question isn’t if you’ll use specialized chatbots but when. Companies and individuals who embrace this technology today will lead the industry tomorrow.

About the Author

Brian James is a Senior Instructor and the Program Coordinator of the Packaging Engineering Technology bachelor’s program at Indiana State University. He is the founder of Packaging Mentors LLC, a company specializing in packaging education and consulting, and he is developing AI chatbots tailored to the packaging industry. Visit packagingmentors.com and indianastate.edu to learn more.