Packaging Precision: Delivering Mass Customization at Scale

Tried-and-true Solutions for the Customization Conundrum

By David Hicks, VP – Maintenance Excellence Practice, TBM Consulting

Finding the right balance of efficiency and flexibility is essential for mastering mass customization at scale in packaging. © gumpapa – stock.adobe.com

As the trend toward packaging customization gains momentum, expected to nearly double by 2032, many manufacturers are struggling to keep pace with growing demand. Already challenged by supply chain hurdles and staff shortages, custom packaging adds even more complexity to the manufacturing process, often resulting in bottlenecks that increase lead times and potentially impact on-time delivery.

Like it or not, there’s no turning back. Customization is here to stay, and success depends on finding the right combination of speed and precision. To compete and deliver customization at scale, companies need to figure out how to meet customer demands while achieving peak operating performance.

But rather than reinvent the wheel to solve their customization conundrum, companies can turn to two tried-and-true strategies—with a few modern twists—to maximize efficiency and performance.

Tech-forward Time Study

Time studies have been around since the dawn of the industrial revolution, back when stop watches were the norm. Now we have advanced capabilities like motion capture, IoT sensors and visual AI analytics to gather real-time data and uncover productivity optimizations. This data can help inform realistic production targets, workforce and resource planning and manage overall costs.

Start by identifying your highest-value tasks — those with the biggest impact on throughput and quality. Then, get a 360-degree view by examining each task under different conditions. You might find there are anomalies that emerge on different shifts, under certain weather conditions due to heat or humidity, or even with specific products.

Recruit a cross-functional team to analyze, interpret and figure out what the data means across the business. You’ll want to consider all perspectives before making decisions. A change in one task or process may affect other operations — adjustments never happen in a silo.

Apply predictive analytics against the data to help spot patterns, forecast challenges and take proactive steps. If you discover that some unavoidable bottlenecks happen under certain conditions, say with certain material or fill weight, you can at least accommodate for that in your production plan.

“Living” Line Balancing

Another staple of manufacturing since before World War II, line balancing ensures that both operator and machine time are evenly distributed. Distributing tasks across the production line eliminates idle time, keeps lines on track with takt time, reduces in-process inventory, and decreases cycle times.

Like time study, line balancing begins with understanding your existing process. Build a map of all the tasks involved in a process, including how much time each takes from the information you gathered through the time study. This will help you identify bottlenecks and areas of excess capacity, giving you the ingredients for better alignment.

Then, decide which tasks may benefit from a redesign. Truly take a step back and look at each task like you’re seeing them for the first time. Consider bringing in a cross functional team to help —sometimes fresh eyes can bring enlightened solutions. Be careful not to dismiss redesign proposals out of hand because of the status quo. Once you’ve revamped where necessary, establish and document the new Standard Work.

Strategic Talent Deployment

Next, assess and deploy talent strategically. Conduct a skills assessment to evaluate the current skill levels of employees through hands-on tests, written exams and performance reviews. This will aid in identifying gaps in knowledge and skills that need to be addressed and help to place staff on the line accordingly, putting ace operators where it counts and beefing up training where needed. Then consider an equalization program to ensure all employees reach a standard of competency. This requires continuous monitoring and additional training as needed to maintain and improve skill levels across the workforce. Encourage a mentorship program that pairs senior operators with apprentices to assist with ongoing training and shadowing.

Finally, consider using automation where appropriate to reduce manual error and repetitive tasks like filling, sealing and labeling. It’s not always a silver bullet, but automation can work extremely well in mundane tasks where operators tend to get bored, complacent and lose their focus and attention for detail.

Keep in mind that this is not a one-and-done exercise. Line balancing must be a “living” process of continuous monitoring and adjustment. To regularly monitor, re-examine, investigate new methodologies and adjust, create a matrix based on changes in takt time or staffing.  The matrix will help visualize how changes in staffing affect the balance of the production line.

The Sweet Spot: Customization + Peak Performance

Finding the right balance of efficiency and flexibility is essential for mastering mass customization at scale in packaging. The best strategy is to approach it with a continuous improvement mindset and regularly audit and optimize to achieve peak operational performance.

If you’re not constantly working to improve, you can bet your competitors are, so there’s no time for complacency.

About the Author

David Hicks is the VP – Maintenance Excellence Practice with TBM Consulting. Learn more at https://www.tbmcg.com.