Edson Perin
One of the things I do since I learned to be a journalist over 30 years ago has been to keep in touch with the sources of information, to know what they are seeing and how they will behave in the face of constant market changes. My sources today are basically businessmen and executives. Many are from companies that use technologies that aim to take advantage of high-tech resources in their business and many are representatives of technology suppliers that give basis to the Internet of Packaging (IoP) and sell to the former.
This close contact, both in face-to-face conversations and online [today, the most and most used method], allows us to track how each one understands their business and how they react to the variations of the scenario, especially in this season of health crisis that we are now experiencing and that we are all learning together to get around. What I have seen most are positive opinions from people who are willing to maintain and even improve what they did before the Covid-19 pandemic. These are the people who inspire me the most and, to my great satisfaction, they are the majority.
Before this “optimistic” statement can arouse some incomprehension from those who know me personally, there is a great philosophical distance for me between “being positive” and “being optimistic. The positive being seeks energies to study and plan actions in a new scenario, which differs him in a diametrically opposed way from the optimistic being, who expects things to improve, without great change of direction plans. And changing course today is absolutely mandatory, so much so that the attentive and successful retail companies, for example, have gone to e-commerce and delivery to survive.
In this scenario of vision, analysis, planning and execution of changes, often radical, was where I found companies from various sectors – manufacturing, agribusiness, service and retail, mainly – preparing for the so-called New Normal, but not as a “new bad”, but as an excellent business opportunity. After all, it is the great challenges that bring value to those who survive adversity.
I don’t know if it is because I was born into a family of Italian immigrants full of claw and of long time Brazilians who took São Paulo out of its original misery and made this state what it is today, but I feel a deep satisfaction for the work, for the hand in the mass, for the construction, realization and, mainly, for the initiative. I feel a great joy when I hear people say that they are producing, making money, paying wages and improving the world. This is what really improves the world.
I have talked to many business people and executives lately and the most inspiring are those who are seeing a positive scenario of work and achievements. Neither the pessimists nor the optimists have much to say: they are just passive. Those who are most enthusiastic are those who have found the Internet of Packaging technologies to support their work, be it in a supply chain, to authenticate the legitimacy of a product, to add value to the customer experience, to make packaging more attractive, or even to deliver a more sustainable initiative, especially in relation to the environment and society.
I’ve selected for you the best in the subjects I’ve done in the last few weeks:
Marcel Sacco, general manager of Hershey Brazil and Latam, stated that “the vision that packaging is powerful media is on the rise, especially with technologies such as QR Codes, Augmented Reality, Near Field Communication (NFC), Digital Printing, i.e. generally through interaction with end-customer smartphones. We are aware of these trends and leading several actions towards the use of these technologies” – click here and read more.
Edissa Furlan, marketing executive for HP Graphic ArtsSince I entered the area of large formats, with the equipment that prints on different substrates and offer versatility to the work, I seek to invite customers to differentiation. This is very latent and is a matter of survival in all markets” – click here and read more.
The startup BioLambdaspecialized in the therapeutic and germicidal use of light, has developed a line of equipment that emits ultraviolet radiation C (UVC) in order to promote the decontamination of masks, objects, surfaces and environments. Caetano Sabino, founder and CEO of BioLambda, states that these resources can contribute to reducing the risks of contamination by microorganisms, including the new coronavirus, causing Covid-19 – click here and read more.
Retail as we know it will need to innovate and “contactless” concepts will help physical stores defend their territory and shape the future of the industry, argues Francisco Melo, vice president and global general manager of Smart Labels at Avery Dennison – click here and read more.
Augmented Reality applications are on the rise to enhance the customer experience. And the automaker Volkswagen (VW) pulled this trend out. “Can you imagine looking at your cell phone or tablet screen right now and seeing all the details of Nivus?”, so begins the company’s announcement to show its marketing initiative with RA (augmented reality) – click here and read more.
The Brazilian BiomechanicsThe manufacturer of orthopaedic prostheses has adopted the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology from iTag Tags SmartIn 2016, and “since then celebrates the decision every day,” as stated by Ricardo Brito, CEO and CMO of the company. According to the executive, the inventory of the 140 thousand items in stock is the first example of the efficiency of the processes with RFID. The counting process before RFID took 15 days of work and with a hit rate of 80%. With RFID, the same task is done in one day with a 99.9% hit – click here and read more.
And there are many other examples on our website IoP Journal Brazileven more recent.es.
It may be that the scenario will get worse, it may be that it will get better… One thing, however, is certain: whoever is working with glazed eyes in the future, in coming out of the crisis, will reap the best fruits.
Tenho I’m sure of what I’m saying.
Edson Perin is the editor of IoP Journal Brasil and founder of Netpress Editora.
