TraceGains and Esko have demonstrated a connected product development and packaging workflow that took a fictional food product from reformulation to finished, shelf-ready pouches within 48 hours.
The companies completed the project during the recent Esko World event in New Orleans. Named ‘The Big Easy’, the exercise was intended to show how shared data, artificial intelligence and integrated workflows could help brands respond more rapidly to regulatory requirements, supply chain disruption and changing consumer preferences.
The project involved adding a new ingredient to a fictional product, redesigning its packaging, updating its nutritional and labelling information and producing finished pouches for event attendees. The entire process was completed in two days.
According to the companies, the demonstration connected product development, regulatory compliance, packaging design, artwork approval and production activities that are frequently managed through separate systems.
“For food and beverage manufacturers, reformulation and packaging change have become strategic necessities,” said Paul Bradley, Sr. Director of Product Marketing at TraceGains. “Companies regularly adjust recipes to address changing consumer preferences, evolving regulations, sustainability commitments, ingredient shortages and cost pressures. These projects can often become trapped in fragmented workflows, with teams working across disconnected systems and datasets.”
TraceGains and Esko said the need for connected workflows is becoming more pressing as manufacturers prepare for the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation. The regulation is expected to prompt companies to review packaging formats, material choices, labelling requirements and sustainability claims.
Changes to packaging formats or claims may also affect ingredient declarations, product specifications and formulations, increasing the number of departments and data sources involved in an update.
“Regulatory change has always been a catalyst for innovation, but it can also expose inefficiencies in disconnected processes,” Bradley said. “As organizations prepare for requirements such as PPWR, they need the ability to assess impacts quickly, update product and packaging information accurately, and execute those changes across multiple markets without introducing additional risk.”
The approach combines the TraceGains network and its product and compliance data capabilities with Esko’s packaging and artwork management systems. The companies said this creates a continuous flow of information covering ingredient sourcing, product specifications, nutritional values, claims, artwork, approvals and packaging production.
Using AI-supported tools and connected workflows, The Big Easy project progressed through reformulation, artwork creation, review, approval and production while maintaining synchronised product and packaging information.
“The industry has spent years talking about digital transformation, but many companies still manage product and packaging updates through disconnected processes,” Bradley said. “When a product changes, ingredients, nutritional values, supplier documentation, claims, labels, artwork and approvals must all stay aligned. We’ve shown that brands no longer need to address these activities separately.”
Jan De Roeck, Esko Marketing Director, said increasing regulatory, sustainability and supply chain pressures were requiring brands to accelerate packaging changes without compromising the accuracy of product information.
“Whether the driver is new regulation, sustainability commitments, supply chain disruption or changing consumer expectations, companies need packaging processes that can keep up,” he said. “The Big Easy demonstrated how rapidly brands can move from change to execution when packaging workflows are connected to trusted product and compliance data.”
Although packaging is the most visible result of a product update, De Roeck said the process depends on the accuracy and availability of information generated earlier in the product development cycle.
“Packaging is often the most visible part of a product change, but it is rarely where the process begins,” he said. “Every packaging update depends on accurate product information, approved specifications and trusted data. The real value of Source-to-Shelf comes when product data, packaging content and production workflows operate as one ecosystem, enabling brands to execute change at a speed that simply wasn’t possible before.”
TraceGains and Esko said the 48-hour exercise was not intended to suggest that all product and packaging projects should be completed within two days. Instead, it illustrated how connecting data and workflows could remove delays caused by manual transfers, duplicated information and separate approval processes.
“This wasn’t a simulation or a theoretical use case,” De Roeck said. “We connected people, processes, data and technology to solve a realistic business challenge in real time.”
“By bringing together TraceGains and Esko, we’re helping organizations eliminate silos, simplify complexity and accelerate innovation,” he added. “The Big Easy showed what’s possible when the entire journey from source to shelf operates as one connected process.”
To stay up to date with the latest trends, technologies, and insights from the world of packaging, visit our sister editorial project at https://packagingreporter.com/