A streamlined packaging artwork approval process is essential for brand owners looking to secure commercial success and avoid costly mistakes. Read on to learn more about:
- What a streamlined packaging artwork process can deliver regarding cost and time efficiencies.
- Why packaging approval workflows need to have transparency and collaboration at their core.
Understanding the packaging artwork approval process
Attractive, compliant packaging is the direct result of a well-designed artwork approval process. If only it were as easy as that sounds! Packaging Managers and marketing teams often grapple with a raft of challenges and complexities relating to the artwork approval process and artwork approval workflows, including:
Coordinating the input of internal and external stakeholders
- Meeting ever more challenging deadlines
- Nurturing inter-departmental collaboration
- Keeping artwork revisions efficient and timely
- Monitoring multiple artwork versions (watch out!)
- Staying on top of multiple packaging artwork projects
The importance of packaging artwork approval
Fine-tuning your packaging artwork approval systems is as much about brand management as it is about saving time and money. When Marketing Teams develop a packaging idea, many moving parts have to align to form the final packaging item.
In the mind of the customer, high-quality packaging is inextricably linked to how they perceive a product.
Even the simplest design-to-print process for a new packaging item involves contributions from several internal departments and external suppliers like printers and design agencies. The task’s complex nature makes it ripe for error.
At best, omissions or mistakes like the ones below can mean a longer time to market. At worst, a product will be unsaleable due to non-compliance, triggering an expensive and time-consuming reprint – or damaging to your brand.
- Missing product information
- Non-functioning barcode
- Incorrect product code
- Obsolete marketing assets (e.g., logos, fonts, illustrations, etc.)
- Missing or incorrect icons (e.g., Nutriscore, labels, recycling information)
- Unclear images
- Illegible text
- Weak translations
- Visible cut lines
- Poor quality printing
For Packaging Managers working on several products at once, it’s vital projects are realised on time to:
- Avoid a knock-on effect on products in the pipeline
- Meet time-to-market deadlines (this is particularly important for seasonal products and promotions)
- Develop brand reputation through consistent, high-impact packaging
Common challenges faced
One of the most frequent hurdles in packaging artwork centres on gathering feedback and securing approval. Keeping up to date with the suggestions and changes of multiple contributors becomes time-consuming and complex if done manually.
Packaging Managers face other difficulties on a day-to-day basis, including:
- Versioning: specifically, uncertainty over which is the approved final version of a design
- Difficulty accessing approved packaging artwork sent via email, corporate messaging systems, WeTransfer links, or stored on devices belonging to colleagues who are on holiday or no longer with the business – when they’re not backed up by the company system!
- Ongoing difficulties in managing projects and keeping details up to date via a master Excel sheet.
- Communication difficulties when departments work in silos without an overarching view of the challenges faced, resulting in disagreement, confusion and poor problem-solving
Best practices for a smooth packaging artwork approval workflow
There are several recommended steps to securing a well-coordinated artwork approval workflow:
1. Cross-functional collaboration
Ensuring everyone involved in a packaging design from design to print can work together easily is crucial so that artwork approval processes produce compliant, high-quality packaging. Engage all the teams involved in the approval process – for example, design, marketing, quality control and legal – by providing access to a collaborative platform. Centralising communication makes versioning easier and helps meet deadlines.
Working together using a shared tool makes stakeholders feel accountable and encouraged to work together rather than in silos. A centralised artwork approval process gives brands an advantage. Custom dashboards give all stakeholders a clear idea of their responsibilities: tasks to do, their deadlines, and timelines of completed tasks.
A centralised packaging artwork approval system that can track amendments in real time is the most reliable and efficient way to nurture interdepartmental collaboration.
2. Clear guidelines
Approval loops can become complex and difficult to manage. Many rounds of separate annotations and multiple versions of a design make progress confusing, slow and difficult to track, absorbing a disproportionate amount of staff time.
A well-defined set of guidelines for artwork submission, review and feedback will get everyone on board and appraised of the progress of a packaging project, so they know what they need to do. Some things to consider include:
- Designing a standard workflow to build familiarity and prevent having to reinvent the wheel
- Assigning responsibility for each stage of the process to keep pushing the project forward.
- Providing checklists for each stage to keep on top of each element.
- Communicating project deadlines to galvanise the collective effort.
- Limiting the number of approval rounds to maintain focus.
3. Centralise packaging artwork feedback
Gathering feedback from lots of different contributors lends itself to becoming messy. The best way to gather comments and ensure everyone’s voice is heard is via a centralised content management system. When changes and comments are trackable and visible in real time to all stakeholders (including the designer) the process is more straightforward.
Online artwork approval is perfect for simplifying the complex nature of approving a packaging design. Multiple stakeholders can comment, approve and reject artwork files collectively according to their access permissions.
4. Version control and tracking
Tracking versions of a design can be one of the biggest challenges for Packaging Managers. The risk is making up printing plates or sleeves – or even completing a print run – from the wrong PDF packaging file. This happens on a surprisingly regular basis, particularly in a time-pressured environment where marketing teams are juggling several packaging SKUs.
Errors are most frequent when several copies of a design are emailed to multiple stakeholders for their comments (i.e., approve, comment or reject), At the very least a strict version control file structure must be maintained – but the easiest way to deal with version control is via a centralised packaging workflow platform where stakeholders can access and interact with the latest (and only) PDF version of a particular packaging design.
A step-by-step packaging artwork approval workflow
An online artwork approval process using an online content management platform might look like this.
Upload artwork to a management platform
The design agency responds to the brief and uploads a single version of their proposed artwork to the platform
Establish a workflow and assign roles to stakeholders
Clarity around exactly who is doing what – and by when – smooths the process
Review/and revise artworks
Secure, traceable commenting in a centralised virtual space increases stakeholder collaboration and understanding of the project as a whole during the artwork review stage.
Get approval from stakeholders
Design agencies and prepress operatives respond to comments, adjust the artwork and upload a new version to the platform so that all stakeholders can approve it. Any missing approvals are flagged on the platform so they’re easy to trace or chase up.
Prepare packaging PDF file for printing
External stakeholders can access files directly from the platform if they have the right access permissions. Printers download files directly from the platform, without the risk of using the wrong version.
How Millnet enhances packaging artwork approval
Millnet is a content management platform developed specifically for the packaging printing industry. Its centralised, modular structure optimises every stage of the artwork creation, review and packaging PDF approval process.
- Artwork creation - Packaging design files are uploaded to the platform by the design agency or the marketing department for real-time amendments and approval from the project stakeholders
- Artwork review - annotation features allow all stakeholders to interact in real time by adding comments that are visible to the whole working group.
- Artwork approval - the approval of a design happens transparently and centrally, massively reducing the room for error and misunderstandings, so all the stakeholders can see how the project is progressing.
Millnet has been developed to reduce time to market for brand owners by encouraging collaboration, seamless version control and interdepartmental collaboration. The value of a team that works well together is priceless. Stakeholders interact simultaneously with the same PDF version of a packaging design, know the deadlines related to each project stage, and understand the tasks they’re responsible for. Staff in charge of packaging, – like marketing, quality control, legal and purchasing – become accountable and more engaged.
What are the benefits? More responsive, better compliance rates and a shorter time to market.
Millnet’s platform is being constantly developed and features helpful automated functionalities that reduce stress levels and free up time to allow staff to concentrate on added-value tasks.
Are you juggling packaging projects? Would you like to find out how Millnet could streamline your packaging process? Talk to one of our packaging process experts.
