Packaging Goes High Tech in Supply Chain Security: Vendor Spotlight – Avery Dennison –

The speed of business has exponentially accelerated the supply chain, and our members rely on a variety of vendors’ tools, technology, and services to help them make their departments and the flow of goods run effectively. Our Vendor Spotlight Series aims to highlight innovative companies and their C-Level leaders who are taking the industry to the next level when it comes to LP & security.

Bob Gavin-Avery Dennison
Bob Glavin – Avery Dennison, Printer Solutions Division

We recently caught up with Bob Glavin, Vice President, Market Development and Innovation at Avery Dennison Printer Solutions Division. Bob’s career includes experience in a variety of roles within Marketing, Product Management, Development and Innovation across 30 years with Avery Dennison. His experience encompasses the early days of barcoding in retail when UPC codes were first widely adopted, moving from implementation by the retailer to the originating product supplier.

 

ISCPO: How does packaging innovation play a role in maintaining a high standard of supply chain protection? 

Packaging today has become more and more cost-effective while simultaneously significantly expanding its functionality and purpose. A secure and durable enclosure is no longer enough. Today’s package also needs to deter theft, carry a great brand message to help sell its contents, ensure that the product is authentic, be sustainable, and help prevent loss due to insufficient tracking, tracing, and/or poor visibility as to package location. Today’s “ideal package” is inexpensive, robust, tamper evident, sustainable, and is visible at all times, in effect continuously shouting “here I am!” It should also enable ready access to specific information about its contents – what are the contents made of, where did they come from, and where do they need to go – allowing for transparency and traceability for recalls or other purposes.

 

ISCPO: How have packaging/labelling processes evolved over your tenure, specifically around security?  

Technology today has enabled and accelerated a lot more exchange of information within a supply chain. A lot of labelling in the past was done for the purposes of one location, or one company. Now the ability to exchange information between trading partners can be seamless and automated. In a well-defined end-to-end solution, a package or identification label put on at the manufacturing source can not only help protect the product but also provide valuable information on the contents of the package, all the way to the end consumer. The information can even be “tailored” to the audience. For example, enabling access to package origin and when it got to all trading partners in the supply chain, and specific component, ingredient and origin information to the end consumer.  Packaging can be the “passport” for its contents, including information regarding where it has been and specific details about it. In really well-designed processes, leading supply chain companies are harnessing technology to do all of this with little or no “human interaction”- without additional labor.

 

ISCPO: Tell us more about Avery Dennison’s commitment to sustainability. Why should Loss Prevention practitioners and risk management professionals care about sustainability?

Avery Dennison has a deep, companywide commitment to sustainability. It is one of our eight core values. In 2018, we were named to Barron’s list of top 100 most sustainable companies. Sustainability is not only the right thing to do– we all need to be good stewards of our planet– it’s also good business. As our CEO Mitch Butier says: “As materials science innovators committed to making a meaningful difference, we see sustainability not only as a responsibility but also as an opportunity—to lead, to invent and to build a more resilient and profitable company.” We have set aggressive sustainability goals to achieve by 2025. In order to reach those goals, we have defined clear and measurable programs that we will activate every year around greenhouse gases, landfill waste, and responsible sourcing of paper, films, and chemicals. These eco-friendly programs allow us to ensure we are continuously on the path to successfully accomplish our long-term sustainability goals.  Our goals also extend to helping our customers be more sustainable as well as ourselves. Leaders in all supply chain organizations should and do care about sustainability, because not only is it important for the future of our planet, it is also important to their customers, making it good for business as well.

 

ISCPO: The speed of business has exponentially accelerated the supply chain, and our members rely on a variety of vendors’ innovative tools, technology, and services to help them make their departments and flow of goods run effectively. Tell us a challenge you see facing many professionals in the industry today and how Avery Dennison helps to solve this issue.

Consumer demand requires the industry to improve velocity and have more actionable decision making data. However, every customer we talk with has a major challenge finding labor, and controlling its costs. We all need to reduce costs, so how can one do this with fewer, not more, labor hours? Avery Dennison designs and implements comprehensive “Intelligent Labeling” solutions, often using RFID technology.  These solutions provide increased velocity and exponentially more actionable data, all without adding (and often dramatically reducing) the labor needed to collect and synthesize that data into clear actions. With real world, on the ground experience focusing on the Fulfillment, Food and Retail supply chains, we connect the physical and digital worlds by designing specific process solutions with and for your team, delivering ROI’s that are often measured in a few months versus years.

 

Thanks Bob!