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For packed products, packaging affects every logistical activity and thus the overall economic and ecological efficiency (eco-efficiency) of supply chains. The purpose of this research is to explore how integrated approaches are used in packaging development processes to increase eco-efficiency along supply chains and how a set of pre-selected factors influences the adoption of practically integrated approaches within companies.

The research approach is explorative and based on nine cases in the food and manufacturing industries in Sweden. In total, 26 semi-structured interviews were conducted.

The chapter describes the way in which companies work with ‘integrative’ packaging development process elements. It explores how four factors – product characteristics, packaging requirements, logistical conditions and environmental efforts – influence their approach.

The study analyses the packaging development processes at a limited number of companies in Sweden.

The findings can help logistics managers to better understand how integrated approaches can be applied in packaging development processes to increase eco-efficiency of logistical processes along the supply chain. The study provides logistic managers also with information about which influencing factors can serve as facilitators or barriers to these approaches in their organisations.

Previous research has demonstrated the potential economic and environmental benefits of integrating a logistics perspective into the packaging development process. This study complements existing knowledge by presenting extensive empirical data on the practical application of integrated approaches in packaging development processes in industry.

The purpose of this study is to: contribute to existing models of new product development (NPD) and provide new understanding of how a new product’s packaging is managed and integrated into the NPD process of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms and build on prior research, suggesting that firms lack a pipeline of new packaging innovations by uncovering the factors that influence this pipeline issue.

A grounded theory methodology was adopted. Research was conducted through a total of 37 interviews with key informants in the UK FMCG industry, packaging industry and associated firms.

Three distinct levels of packaging development were revealed: skin deep, body modification and format change. The emphasis within many firms is primarily on changes to packaging at the level of the label (skin deep) or aesthetic design (body modification), whilst technological and format changes are overlooked. The factors that contribute to the level at which development is undertaken are identified.

Existing literature has largely examined packaging at the level of skin-deep and body modification. The development of new packaging technology has been overlooked. This study’s propositions guide the way forward for further research.

For firms, the development of new formats and genuine packaging innovation may be being overlooked. There is a need for them to re-examine their activities to ensure that they are addressing all three levels.

This theory-building study has generated a new typology which, alongside the unique framework, reveals the factors influencing the level of emphasis within firms.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how firms manage the front end of new product development projects where packaging forms a core part of the product itself. Within the fast-moving consumer goods industry, innovation provides opportunities to create packaging that forms an integrated part of the product offering. The authors refer to these as packaging-integrated-products. This study conceptualises three levels of integration and investigates how they impact upon the management of the front end.

The study consisted of a two-phase design. This involved a preliminary study with key informants, followed by a multiple case study design, which examines product development projects with differing extents of packaging integration.

The results identify nine different new product opportunities. The authors also present 11 propositions that reveal the key characteristics of the front end of packaging-integrated development projects, as well as the project management requirements to capture the opportunities they present.

Initial insights into a number of unique front-end project management characteristics required to deliver different project types form an area for further research to better understand product packaging integration. The propositions presented guide the way forward for future studies.

The findings provide marketers with new understanding of three types of new product opportunities presented by packaging integration and demonstrate what is required to capture the opportunities they present in the front end of product development.

The paper contributes to extant studies of packaging development in the marketing literature, which have previously failed to capture the high levels of integration between packaging and the product. The authors present a new conceptual approach to understanding integration and subsequently uncover how the opportunities it presents can be captured.

The outcome of product development, i.e. the product design, together with the packaging solution, has a great impact on the logistics performance of supply chains. Despite this, packaging has traditionally been given a very modest role in the product development literature as well as in the logistics literature. The aim of this paper is to show how logistics performance and product design can be affected, and improved, by the packaging organization within a company.

A single case study has been conducted at IKEA, including on‐site interviews and review of internal documents. Along with the case study, a literature study has been conducted within the areas of product development, packaging and logistics.

The IKEA case suggests that the packaging function should have a strong link to both the logistics function and the product development function within a product‐developing company to be able to improve the logistics performance.

As the evidence is collected through a single case study, the results are not to be seen as generalizable but should be regarded as a first step to future research within the interface of product development, packaging and logistics.

Packaging and logistics are usually considered late in the product development process with the result that possible logistics solutions are constrained. Through considering “the whole package” – i.e. the product, the packaging and the supply chain characteristics – at an early stage in the product development process, savings can be made.

This paper includes the aspects of product development, logistics and packaging, an interface with very limited research contributions.

The purpose of this paper is to explore different types of packaging paradoxes and the reasons for their existence in food supply chains.

The research uses a multiple case study approach with rich empirical data from seven leading companies in Swedish food supply chains. The research uses coding and a paradox theory lens to analyse packaging paradoxes, both within and between companies in a supply chain.

The paper provides a novel theoretical lens which uses comprehensive empirical data to identify and categorise four types of packaging paradoxes on two system levels in food supply chains. It presents detailed descriptions of, and underlying reasons for, the paradoxes. It also discusses strategies required to manage packaging paradoxes.

Future research should confirm and extend the findings in this study by incorporating data from companies in other countries. It should cover the importance of paradoxes, their impact on company performance and innovation, and how different paradoxes are related to each other. It should also investigate strategies to manage paradoxes further.

The findings should help companies acknowledge and identify management principles for packaging paradoxes in food supply chains.

It is the first study which systematically explores packaging paradoxes in food supply chains. The study offers a new approach to understand the complexity of packaging decisions in food supply chains. It contributes to the packaging logistics literature by extending theoretical knowledge about conflicts of interest related to packaging. The management discussion offers initial insights into management of packaging paradoxes and directions for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the Kansei engineering toolkit that has been developed to provide a set of tools and techniques to support better packaging design.

The toolkit has its foundations in Kansei engineering but the work has extended the scope and increased reliability of results by: including structured linkages to designers; replacing “highest level Kansei” from Kansei type 1 with brand values; introducing a more structured process for the elicitation of type 2 selection of pack physical properties; reducing the complexity of the semantic differential survey used to elicit consumer perceptions; and structuring a process for selection of the Kansei words.

The work has shown that the proposed toolkit is able to support the design of packaging by illustrating the process with industrial case studies.

Kansei engineering and the techniques presented in this toolkit are inevitably simplifications of the real situation, since many more variables affect the consumers purchase decision than is tested in this process. There is still a need to test the insights gained by the toolkit into a wider investigation.

This paper offers the packaging industry a robust and repeatable method to develop better packaging.

The paper presents an overall description of the Kansei engineering toolkit for packaging design and is a structured process that provides quantitative results for the relationship between branding, consumer perception and design variables.

Grounded in paradox theory, and with the objective of structuring and extending existing knowledge of conflicts of interest (e.g. trade-offs) in packaging logistics, the purpose of this paper is to identify categories of paradoxical tensions in packaging systems used in supply chains, and to develop a conceptual framework that describes these categories.

This research uses a theory building approach. It develops a conceptual framework of paradoxical tensions for packed products in supply chains. It revises and extends current knowledge in this domain by applying paradox theory from organisational research.

The paper develops a generic, conceptual framework that identifies, categorises and describes packed product paradoxes on two system levels: supply chain and company levels. The categories of paradoxes refer to performing, organising, belonging and learning.

The framework provides a new theoretical explanation of conflicts of interest in packaging logistics in terms of paradoxical tensions related to packed products in supply chains. It structures and increases general understanding of such tensions within and between actors in a supply chain. The paper also discusses differences in terminology between tensions which are possible to settle and those which lead to paradoxes.

The framework provides a structure for analysing the organisational impact of strategic packaging decisions. It can help highlight different stakeholders' organisational constraints related to packaging.

The framework's systematic categorisation of four types of paradoxical tensions, with thorough descriptions of the meaning of packed product paradoxes of each type, offers an expanded and in-depth explanation of the organisational impacts of packed products in supply chains.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the aspects of internal and external transformation that take place in each company along the supply chain when a “sustainable packaging logistics” approach is implemented. Before this can be achieved, it is necessary to identify and characterise the principal cornerstones and stages associated with this implementation.

In the paper the combination of “case study” and “action research” techniques have been chosen. It has been analysed the implementation of “sustainable packaging logistics” in the supply chain of Mercadona (one of the largest retailers in Spain), paying special attention to the implementation and evolution in one of its main food suppliers.

To adopt a “Sustainable Packaging Logistics” approach allows for a proactive integration of the efficiency and sustainability in supply chains. The proposal to implement “sustainable packaging logistics”, based on four cornerstones and three stages of evolution is particularly significant, while contributing to improved competitiveness. This implementation constitutes an evolutionary process which is conditioned by how each area, department or company along the supply chain interpret and assess different packaging features over time.

The model is based on a single supply chain analysis.

This paper may be of interest both for researchers and professionals, because the model can aid companies in improving their global vision of product and packaging design in order to jointly increase sustainability and efficiency in the supply chain.

Develops and exemplifies the proposition that the key factors determining the success of packaging innovation can be unified by considering them as consumer driven, technology driven, and distribution driven. The concept of the packaging and distribution mix is developed to show how organisations can respond, through marketing variables under their control, to attempt to gain a competitive advantage over rivals. A packaging optimisation strategy is described, based on a total systems approach, which proposes a balance between the complex mix of external influences.

Liquid encapsulation techniques have been used extensively in advanced semiconductor packaging, including applications of underfilling, cavity‐filling, and glob top encapsulation. Because of the advanced encapsulation materials and the automatic liquid dispensing equipment involved, it is very important to understand the encapsulation material characteristics, equipment characteristics, encapsulation process development techniques in order to achieve the encapsulation quality and reliability. In this paper, the authors will examine the various considerations in liquid encapsulation applications and address the concerns on material characterization, automatic liquid dispensing equipment/process characterization and the encapsulation quality and reliability. The discussions will be helpful for future material and process development of semiconductor packages.