Globalized packaging industry drives global IoPP certification

Many companies today run packaging operations in multiple countries, often on different continents. In many cases, an identical package is produced and filled in these countries. Brand graphics, product names, etc., may vary slightly, influenced by local cultural norms, but maintaining a strong global brand image relies on ensuring that corporate standards of package quality and decoration are met across all these production lines, wherever they may be located.

That result relies in turn on clear communication among design and production staffs in widely separated facilities where different languages are spoken. And that communication is most strongly facilitated by standardized training, because it is more important that all parties understand the professional language that is being used than that they be fluent in each other's national languages.

For instance...

Patrice LeMaitre, CPP (Certified Packaging Professional) of Dow AgroSciences SAS in Drusenheim, France, points out that most global companies establish a common language to facilitate everyday communication (at Dow, that language is English). Those exchanges can adapt to inexact language and usage that varies between countries, though more time than usual may be involved.

However, it is "essential" that packaging personnel in a global organization such as Dow use a precise common technical language that enables exact communication of design and production specifics. For instance, LeMaitre and his colleagues recently developed an inspection manual that uses common packaging language to facilitate communication among the company's commercial unit in Tokyo, its production facility in France and its package supplier in Switzerland.

Abbott Diagnostics facilitates employees' CERTIFICATION STUDY GROUPS in-house. To learn how, see www.packagingdigest.com/ info/abbott03

"The Institute of Packaging Professionals [IoPP] Fundamentals of Packaging Technology course I took was the starting point for this project," he states. "I still use the course material as a reference book every week, and I wanted to put similar reference materials in the hands of those I interact with."

Andres Soto, CPP, who currently works with GlaxoSmithKline [GSK] in Puerto Rico, cites a parallel experience in communication. A meeting he attended brought technical specialists together with corporate managers to discuss implementing what's known as Hospital Unit Dose [HUD] blister-packs for a GSK product.

"Both groups were IoPP-certified, so the corporate managers understood the basic concepts and the HUD requirement the packaging specialists presented without the need for further technical explanation that would have slowed the process."

C.R.S. Ravishankar CPP, packaging development manager with BP-Castrol India Ltd. in Mumbai, India, on the other hand, does not work with counterparts within BP across country lines, but he does interact with suppliers, both within India—where a rapidly-growing and complex packaging industry is developing—and elsewhere overseas.

The Indian packaging industry does not yet have many IoPP-certified packaging professionals. BP-Castrol pioneered the practice of hiring professionals who qualified at the Indian Institute of Packaging in design and package development, recognizing the value of specific training in packaging. Ravishankar (who describes himself as a "passionate packaging professional") learned about IoPP certification in 2000 and applied to take the Institute's certification training. He received his certification in 2002.

"This was extremely valuable to me in my dealings with global suppliers."

In 2005, when BP could not find budget funds to enable him to attend the annual IoPP conference in the U.S., Ravishankar paid the travel costs himself. IoPP, recognizing his commitment to enhancing his own knowledge and spreading it in his home country, waived the conference fees and discounted the lodging costs.

India currently follows established Indian Standards in packaging, but is in the process of evolving toward meeting global standards as global business grows. In his dealings with colleagues and suppliers within India and across the Middle East, Ravishankar tries to introduce IoPP and CPP certification as a way to speed that evolution. Several of those contacts have become members of IoPP and certified as CPPs.

"Many Indian and Middle Eastern companies are not aware of IoPP's training," he says. "Our growing network is beginning to extend itself into those companies."

In the U.S., the ability to hold IoPP's Fundamentals of Packaging Technology courses at company facilities has created a unique opportunity for overseas colleagues to learn alongside American packaging specialists. The onsite setting where all participants are members of one company allows the course to go into detail about proprietary issues that enhance both the overall technical training and the chance for attendees from global locations to learn together.

Attendees at IoPP seminars conducted at General Mills Inc., for instance, come from both the company's domestic and international businesses, and include personnel from manufacturing plants, technical centers and corporate offices. More than 150 people from 15 different sites have participated in the IoPP seminars.

"In many cases," points out Stuart N. Bernard, senior R&D manager of packaging innovation/technology for General Mills, "these are people who work in widely separated geographic locations in several countries."

The key results, Bernard points out, are improved communication and closer working relationships that would not have developed otherwise.

The common thread in these disparate stories is the practical value of clear communication. When packaging professionals around the globe use a common technical language, companies save time and money (often a function of time) and can enhance their bottom lines. From France to Puerto Rico to India, professionals such as LeMaitre, Soto and Ravishankar are helping to spread that message.

A second benefit of the IoPP training and certification that leads to improved communication is recognition of the importance of packaging as a discipline. That, in turn, can impact the attitudes of packaging professionals and the people with which they interact.

Says Bernard, "We find that IoPP certification gives our employees added confidence and increased credibility when they deal with outside vendors."

Now, that is a welcome benefit that translates into every language.

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