Azzi Et Al-2012-Packaging Technology and Science

PACKAGING TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE
Packag. Technol. Sci. 2012; 25: 435–456

Published online 31 January 2012 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/pts.993
Packaging Design: General Framework and Research Agenda
By A. Azzi,* D. Battini, A. Persona and F. Sgarbossa
Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova, Stradella San Nicola, 336100 Vicenza, Italy
Traditionally, packaging design has had a subordinate role with respect to product design and production
systems design; however, its impact on supply chain costs and performances can be devastating. Only in
the past few years its strategic role has been recognized both in theory and in practice. Although pack-
aging design research attracted considerable attention in the recent past, the purpose of this article is to
broaden the field even further in two main directions. First, an attempt is made to review the status of
literature on packaging design: a total of 89 articles published between 1990 and 2011 are reviewed
and classified by content. In this contest, related International Standards are also presented and discussed,
and a conceptual framework for packaging design is presented. Second, an agenda for future research in
this area is provided. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Received 22 June 2011; Revised 23 December 2011; Accepted 27 December 2011
KEY WORDS: packaging design; integrated packaging logistics; literature review; international standards; concep-
tual framework; research agenda
INTRODUCTION
Packaging activities are often perceived as a cost rather than a value added,1–3 and they can have
devastating effects on system costs and performance. Many authors emphasize the importance of pack-
aging in business strategy (e.g.4), and the role of packaging in industrial management continues to rise
due to increased logistics costs, improved packaging technology and enhanced environmental regula-
tion.5 In the academic world, up to now, the impact of packaging systems on logistic processes is often
only implicit and almost overlooked (e.g.6,2,7). The main purpose of the present research is to provide
a framework based on literature review to grant a holistic perspective on packaging design that will
eventually lead to improved overall supply chain efficiency.
The packaging industry is characterized by ever-growing innovation and continuous raise: main
drivers of these trends are certainly globalization and increasing distances between point of production
and point of consumption,6 increasing number of disposable products, changes in demographics and
lifestyles,6,8 improvements in hygiene standards,9 development of self-service distribution6 and
increasing of e-commerce and home-delivery services.10
A comprehensive overview of the role of packaging systems in logistics is a must for proper calibra-
tion of any supply chain, especially considering constantly new demands from consumers, governments
and public opinion, not to mention concerns about environmental sustainability, personal safety and
ergonomics.11
The present article aims to review qualitative and quantitative literature on packaging design while
exploring the research opportunities in this area and serves as a roadmap for future packaging design
studies and research. Five specific aspects that are of high importance for packaging design are
* Correspondence to: A. Azzi, Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova, Stradella San Nicola,
3, 36100 Vicenza, Italy.
E-mail: anna.azzi@unipd.it
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

436 A. AZZI ET AL.
distinguished: (i) packaging design for safety, (ii) packaging design for ergonomics, (iii) packaging
design for sustainability, (iv) packaging design for logistics and (v) packaging design for marketing
and communication. All these issues are currently dominating the debate within the packaging sector
and populating the pages of journal publications and international standards.
In the Methodology section, an overview of the present research results is presented, with focus on
the content categories driving packaging design. The State of the Art section summarizes the results
and introduces the General Framework: Five Interrelated Aspects section, which provides a general
framework to understand and analyze the design of an efficient packaging system with an integrated
approach. The Research Agenda section aims to provide suggestions for future developments in this
field before moving to the Conclusions section.
METHODOLOGY
For a literature review, it is particularly important to define clear boundaries to delimitate the research.
Because ‘one problem derives from the challenge that it is impractical to read everything’,12 we limited
the search to academic journals in English. Empirical articles on packaging design processes and
related technologies and equipment were excluded from the review. A total of 89 articles were identified,
all listed in Appendix A.
To perform a systematic study, we started from a content analysis conducted13,14 by, first, defining
sources and procedures for articles to be analyzed and, second, defining categories instrumental to the
classification of the collected articles.
First of all, articles related to packaging design were searched, mainly identifying the main drivers
that lead packaging design. Key words, databases and search period are listed in Table 1. The search
was made on a title, abstract and key word level. After a quick content check (based on abstract reading),
all articles pertinent with the investigation were carefully read to create a classification of drivers, methods,
industry sectors, type of packaging, and so on.
Although this search might not be exhaustive, it is believed that the articles reviewed comprise a rea-
sonably representative body of the research accomplished in this area. The allocation of the publications
in the researched period (1990–2011) is illustrated in Figure 1, showing how package design research
has grown over the years. This trend can be explained with an increase of interest about this topic and
about design practices in general.15
The distribution of articles by research approach is given in Table 2, where it can be observed that most
articles (~64%) fall into the empirical category, suggesting an empirical and more practitioner-oriented
focus. Theoretical works make up approximately 16% of the total studies, whereas approximately the
20% of the reviewed articles have a theoretical and empirical approach. Table 2 further indicates that lit-
erature on packaging design is mostly descriptive, with approximately 83% of the total articles falling into
this category. As Saghir and Jönson16 pointed out, packaging design requires a balanced consideration of
both qualitative and quantitative aspects. The undertaken literature review reveals that just 25 articles
include a quantitative approach (33.7% of the total).
Eighty-nine articles are also classified per content. Drivers were formulated by inductive content
analysis17: to identify content categories, heading and notes were written down in the margins of the
manuscript, then a lists of categories was compiled and organized by grouping similar drivers to reduce
the number of categories into a more manageable amount, by collapsing those that are similar into
broader higher order categories. Literature review revealed five main drivers to take into account for
the successful design of packaging systems: ergonomics, logistics, sustainability, safety and
marketing.
Table 3 summarizes how the reviewed articles correspond to the contest category classification
scheme. Figure 2 summarizes the number of articles dealing with primary packaging design rather than
secondary or tertiary. Of course, some articles might address more than one packaging typology, and in
some cases, the typology of the packaging system cannot be clearly identified (we adopted the definition
of ‘general’, indicating that the article does not deal with any specific typology).
As a final point, Appendix A lists the reviewed articles, along with related information like publica-
tion date, content, specific research methods (i.e. surveys and case studies), type of package content
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Packag. Technol. Sci. 2012; 25: 435–456
DOI: 10.1002/pts
Table 1. Information related to material collection.
Material collection
Key words (differently combined with Boolean operators) Resources and databases Period of research

Packag* design Compendex (Ei Village 2) May 2011
Packag* development Inspec (Ei Village 2) September 2011
Packag* design framework OAIster (OCLC) (A first research was carried on by two researchers in May 2011.
Packag* development framework Business Source Premier A second check was conducted in September 2011, by one of the
(EBSCO) authors to guarantee correctness and robustness)
Packag* innovat* SCOPUS, Version 4 (Elsevier)
Packag* choic* OR Packag* selecti* Web of Science (Thomson
Scientific/ ISI Web Services)
Packag* AND (Holistic OR comprehensive (Cited references were used as
OR integrated OR systematic OR systemic) a secondary source)
AND (approach* OR method* OR survey
OR paradigm OR roadmap)
Packag* system
Design for Packag*
Packag* AND (Assess* OR evaluat* OR compar*)
AND (performanc* OR function*)
ROADMAP FOR PACKAGING DESIGN STUDIES AND RESEARCH
DOI: 10.1002/pts
437

438 A. AZZI ET AL.
Distribution of articles in the period

1990-2011
10
0 1990
1992
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Figure 1. Distribution of the reviewed articles in the period 1990–2011 (it is important to note that the
literature review was conducted in 2011, which explains the low number of articles during this year).
Table 2. Distribution of research approaches by types of methodology.

Prescriptive Prescriptive and descriptive Descriptive Total
Types of methodology n % n % n % N %
Theoretical 3 3.4% 3 3.4% 8 9.0% 14 15.7%
Theoretical and empirical 0 0.0% 8 9.0% 10 11.2% 18 20.2%
Empirical 0 0.0% 1 1.1% 56 62.9% 57 64.0%
Total 3 3.4% 12 13.5% 74 83.1% 89 100.0%
(when not deducible, the definition ‘general’ was adopted) and whether or not the article deals with
industrial packagingi and with testing issues.
To allow an easier comprehension of the study, procedures and labelling found in the cross tabula-
tion are revealed:
• Content categories are marked as soon as there are mentioned as important in the article or eval-
uated in one of the presented case studies. This does not necessary mean the category and its re-
lation with packaging design are deeply investigated in the article.
• ‘Sustainability’ might be discussed from an economic, environmental or social point of view; for
this reason, the following codes have been used to identify each point of view: ‘EC’ stands for
economics; ‘EN’ stands for environmental and ‘SO’ stands for social.
• Surveys deal mainly with data analysis collected through questionnaires and interview processes
of different categories of stakeholders, and it is meant to investigate a certain aspect within various
packaging design topics.
• ‘Testing’ is adopted when studies deal with the testing of particular packaging materials and con-
figurations (e.g.22) as well as the special nature of transport vibrations to achieve realistic simula-
tions to be used in the testing laboratories (e.g.23).
i
Definition of Industrial packaging: it is packaging that facilitates logistical, production and procurement systems.18,19 In
particular, ‘industrial packaging’ refers to secondary, tertiary and full load packaging unit, intended for use within indus-
trial and distribution system with emphasis on product protection, ergonomics and shipping considerations (packaging
for protection, alignment, handling of raw materials, semi-finished materials, components and finished industrial goods
to permit efficient logistic flows). In other words, packaging is meant to facilitate internal operations or supply chain pro-
ducts exchange, such as assembly line kit containers, returnable containers for parts, supermarket kanban packages, and
so on. This includes both packaging used to contain industrial products, such as farm chemicals or raw materials for a
manufacturing process, as well as transport packaging used to facilitate the movement of filled primary and secondary
packaging. ‘One-way’ packaging material is designed for ‘once-only’ use, whereas reusable packaging can be used more
than once in the same form. Because industrial packaging is relatively homogenous, it is often regularly recycled as a
matter of business practice to reduce waste disposal costs.20,21
DOI: 10.1002/pts
ROADMAP FOR PACKAGING DESIGN STUDIES AND RESEARCH 439
Table 3. Distribution of research approaches by content categories (because some articles can deal with
more than one content category, the total sum is greater than 89).
Theoretical Theoretical and empirical Empirical Total
Content
category n % n % n % N %
Ergonomics 4 4.5% 6 6.7% 7 7.9% 17 19.1%
Logistics 12 13.5% 10 11.2% 26 29.2% 48 53.9%
Sustainability 10 11.2% 12 13.5% 41 46.1% 63 70.8%
Safety 12 13.5% 12 13.5% 22 24.7% 46 51.7%
Communication 11 12.4% 8 9.0% 31 34.8% 50 56.2%
Primary Secondary Tertiary Full load Unit General Cushioning
48
26
19
17
12
Figure 2. Distribution of the 89 reviewed articles according to packaging system typology. (Because
articles can deal with more of one typology, the sum is greater than 89)ii.
STATE OF THE ART
This section illustrates the five content categories or packaging design drivers, identified during the
research: ergonomics, logistics, sustainability, safety and marketing.
Packaging design for safety

Safety in packaging design is mainly related to two factors:
1. Content safety (e.g.24,25), which aims to the proper preservation of the package itself and its
content.
2. Ecosystems and human health safety, when hazards are related either to dangerous packaging
contents or unsafe packaging components.26,27
Preservation is the most important function of packaging.28–30,22 The increasing attention to this
aspect is partly due to economical motivations (such as product recalls, damage to reputation, loss
of sales, etc.) and legislation requirements during the distribution process. Many authors highlight
the importance of laboratory simulation to test adequacy of packaging systems (e.g.31,29,23).
Air temperature, humidity, air (pressure, speed), water (i.e. rain, wetness, other sources), radiation
(solar, heat), chemically active substances, mechanically active substances (e.g. dust, sand), flora
and fauna (microorganisms, rodents, insects, etc.), vibration (caused by transit, handling, conveying,
etc.), shocks, fall, acceleration, load, miscellaneous and electrostatic charging are all possible effects
caused by logistic processes and need to be taken into consideration.
ii
Definition of full load packaging unit (or ‘unit loads’): completed filled transport package, mainly intending the conso-
lidated tertiary package, thus the full load transport unit.
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440 A. AZZI ET AL.
In correlation with packaging safety, various systems and international standards have been
developed over the past decades, revealing the importance of proper setup and operation of
laboratory tests, to simulate or represent the hazards encountered during distribution and thus
to prevent damage. The importance of appropriate laboratory simulation of transport vibrations
and hazards is an incomparable tool for packaging optimization, as emphasized in the Inter-
national Safe Transit Association (ISTA) testing procedures.32–36 These procedures provide
guidelines for both general simulations, meant to offer random vibration profiles for a variety
of vehicle types and routes, and focussed simulation, assisting in the creation of user-defined tests
on the basis of actual field measurements.23
International standards are the basis for preventive laboratory tests, and ISO 418037 is the most im-
portant reference in this field. The recent edition of ISO 4180:2009,37 which replaces the prior ISO
4180–1:198038 and ISO 4180–2:1980,39 establishes rules for the compilation of performance test sche-
dules for complete, full transport packages, intended for use within any distribution system, except for
the packages used for dangerous material. It provides guidelines for the compilation of appropriate test
schedules for a known distribution environment, providing experimental data for a wide array of distri-
bution environments (depending on test specimen mass and forecast destination). This International
Standard also gives the elements for assessing the criteria related to acceptance of such packages after
they have been subjected to the package performance test schedule.37–52 Some prescriptive contribution
can be also found among academic literature (e.g.29,24,53).
Packaging design for marketing and communication
It is a widespread belief that packaging has fundamental marketing functions such as attracting atten-
tion to the product, reinforcing a product’s image and visibility, providing an attractive method to
convey the virtues of the product and persuading costumers.54–58 Especially when addressing
primary packaging, there is no doubt that the function is primarily marketing related, with the goal
of creating and conveying brand impressions59 and forming consumers’ perceptions of specific
products.60,61
Many purchases are influenced to a significant degree by the store environment (e.g.62), and it is
believed that approximately two thirds of supermarket purchases are decided at the point of
sale;63,60,4,56 thus, package becomes a critical factor in the consumer decision-making process.
Many factors have to be taken into account when it comes to packaging consideration. Market
variations are frequent and sometimes unpredictable, constantly changing to meet consumer changing
needs. Fluctuations in demographics and lifestyles obviously drive these needs (e.g. increased single
household requirements for small packs),6 inspiring many authors (e.g.64–66) to indicate the uses of
intelligent and active confections as opportunities to create a package design that reflects the commu-
nicational, functional and logistical requirements of different products.
Lange and Wyser67 identified some consumer trends, such as increasing demand for transparency
(i.e. product visibility is required), increasing demand for more convenient packaging, convenient to
open and re-close and user-ready especially in case of food-related products (e.g. oven or micro-
wave-ready packaging, heat-resistant pouches, etc.).
Holdway et al.10 mentioned how secondary meanings are given to packaging design because of
social context and associations embedded in the form and called these factors social engineering
attributes. Dangers related to such trend is investigated by Ward et al.,27 who indicated various
cases where inappropriate packaging can lead to misuse (e.g. wine-bottle shape is appropriate for
holding wine, yet the same vessel filled with acid could lead to misunderstanding and be very
dangerous).
From a marketing point of view, it is also important to recall the fact that consumers often let their
moral views influence their buying decisions:68 evidence can be found in the business success of com-
panies selling documented environmentally and/or socially improved products or consumers’ decisions
of boycotting brands or countries that are caught in unethical practices. Of course, designers need to take
into account the fact that culture does seem to condition how consumers view specific design details56
and keep abreast with such changes.
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Packaging design for logistics

The significance of logistic package system design has been recently demonstrated.22 Thus, packaging
logistics is a fairly new concept developed during the last few years and with increased attention from
both industry and scientific community.69,18,70 Many authors stress the close relationship between the
concepts of ‘packaging’ and ‘logistics’ (e.g.18,5,71,72,7), which focuses on the synergies achieved by
integrating packaging and logistics with the potential of increased supply chain efficiency and effective-
ness. At the same time, supply chain management stresses and develops methods to study dependencies
between levels, between point of origin to point of consumption.73,74
Numerous case studies presented in literature provide empirical evidence of the benefits gained by
logistics and packaging design integration (e.g.75,76). Arguments to extend the packaging design theory,
by considering aspects of logistics and more widely supply chain management, have been recently pro-
posed by many authors (e.g.77,78,2,7); however, most of the attention has been given to external logistic
activities such as transports, container saturation, pallet consolidation, and so on. Most authors seem to
ignore the fact that many inefficiencies can be attributed to packaging design (e.g. the need of repackaging
to fit in a warehouse shelf or the necessity to leave a packaging unit on the ground instead of a shelf due to
size incompatibility).
On the basis of this, the conclusion can be drawn that particular attention must be placed over both
internal and external logistic activities when designing a packaging unit because logistical packaging
innovation requires coordination and readjustment among several parties along the production and dis-
tribution lines, meeting each functional requirement.18,2 Thus, a logistics-oriented design can result in
much more efficient processing from many points of view: (i) handling, lifting and loading/unloading
activities;2,79 (ii) material handling devices;7 (iii) warehousing, stocking and stacking;77,7 (iv) filling,
order picking, sorting, kitting, packing and unpacking;21,2,77,79,7 (v) shipping, transportation (inter/
multi-modality) and delivery;2,77 (vi) traceability and re-traceability of information; (vii) re-use and
recycle;7 (viii) easiness of inventory controlling;2 and (ix) availability and transparency of different
kind of information to prevent random errors (poka-yoke design approach).
To accomplish efficiency, it is also important to correctly evaluate whether processes are handled
manually or automatically to recognize the constraints related to devices eventually used and to assess
the role of packaging within each process.
Packaging design for sustainability

The concept of sustainable development is very much in the forefront these days, in many countries
and within international institutional communities (including the United Nations, GATT, FAO and
OECD). The large-scale literature review offered by Carter and Rogers80 demonstrates that
organizational sustainability consists of three components: (i) the natural environment, (ii) society
and (iii) economic performance. The ‘triple bottom line’ allows an organization to achieve long-term
economic viability and addresses community goals for economic growth, social equity, justice and
environmental sustainability. Sustainability in packaging has three elemental components as well,
and environmental footprints are by far the most discussed; nonetheless, some consideration for
the social equity and economic value generated by innovations in packaging systems should not
be dismissed.81–83
Unfortunately, when a sustainable approach towards packaging design is attempted, either much
emphasis is put over the economic aspects, with too little focus placed on social and environmental
concerns, or traditional social and environmental initiatives fail to address long-term economic impacts,
including the effects on businesses and the availability of future funding sources. Because new materials,
solutions and configurations are constantly under investigation, packaging sustainability involves a
continuous improvement process,19 and even small changes can bring great opportunities in terms of
environmental, economic and social improvements.
Lewis’s survey stresses the need for a sustainable packaging system, emphasizing how such
‘sustainability journey’ is necessarily complex, because packaging plays such a critical role in
distribution, retailing and consumption.84 Sustainable development found in the reviewed articles
along with time distribution is depicted in Figure 3.
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442 A. AZZI ET AL.
8 6%
7
29%
21%
6
3
10%
2
15%
1
4 1%
4% 13%
0
1990 1992 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Ec En So Ec&En
Economic Sustainability Environmental Sustainability Social Sustainnability Ec&So En&So Ec&En&So None
Figure 3. (a) Sustainable development addressed in the articles along with time distribution. (b)
Percentage of articles mentioning or not mentioning sustainable dimensions as important.
Environmental sustainability. Sustainable packaging design is a challenging topic because environ-

mental issues have come to dominate social concerns,85,86 whereas packaging is perceived as an ancil-
lary activity, with a strong environmental impacts. Throughout their life cycle, packaging systems
consume renewable and non-renewable resources and energy, create waste, generate emissions and emit
pollutants.19,87 For these reasons, efforts must be made to encourage reduction (i.e. modifying or limiting
the way in which packaging is manufactured or used), packaging reuse and recycling of packaging
materials.
Over the years, considerable work has been made to diminish the environmental impacts of pack-
aging by focussing on issues such as lightweight materials, reusability and material selection,10 but
despite all the efforts, nothing has really solved the issue.88 To address environmental concerns
related to packaging, many countries have introduced policies and regulations that impose eco-taxes
or deposit return, others require companies to take back and recover their packaging, or even pro-
mote voluntary product stewardship programmers, to allocate and distribute waste management
costs, or shift responsibility onto product manufacturers.19 Directive 94/62/CE89 and its updated ver-
sion 2004/12/CE90 are meant to regulate materials rationalization and packaging waste reduction in
the European market, seeking to enforce producer responsibility and product stewardship by provid-
ing standards for recovery and recycling.91,81 In particular, these directives set some important
requirements related to source reduction, recovery standards, reuse, heavy metals content limitation
and minimization of hazardous substances in packaging.
Nevertheless, the environmental improvement of packaging remains a key challenge for most
industries.92
The environmental performance of a packaging system can be evaluated by applying the Life
Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. LCA is described by ISO 14040,93 with additional
updates in ISO 14041, 14042, 14043 and 14044 regarding the structure of LCA.94–97 ISO
14041 sets ‘a systematic set of procedures for compiling and examining the inputs and outputs
of materials and energy and the associated environmental impacts directly attributed to the func-
tioning of a product or service system throughout its life cycle’.94 This approach is widely used
in literature, and many empirical studies embedded in the review assess the sustainability of
particular packaging system configurations using LCA (e.g. 10,92,81,91,98). In this contest, several
design and decision support tools have been developed to allow packaging designers and engi-
neers to assess the sustainability of their packaging systems on the basis of LCA. Two interesting
examples are PIQET© (Packaging Impact Quick Evaluation Tool)82,99 and COMPASSW (Com-
parative Packaging Assessment). The first was developed and introduced by the Sustainable Pack-
aging Alliance, Australia, and it permits to compare different packaging format using a Web
platform through a series of packaging parameters. The second was developed by the Sustainable
Packaging Coalition, USA, and it is an online design software to help packaging designers make
more informed material selections and design decisions by providing quick visual guidance on a
common set of environmental indicators;100 it also provides analysis charts useful to compare dif-
ferent packaging alternatives, especially those related to component overview and package
details, life cycle analysis, packaging attributes and material health.
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Economic sustainability. Because profit is the major industry’s objective, the economic sustainability
of innovative packaging solutions is fundamental.
From the literature review, some rough and general data about packaging costs were identified:
• Labour, equipment and material costs seem to be identified as major components of packaging costs.79
• Approximately 9% of the cost of any product is likely to be the cost of its packaging.101
• Approximately 90% of packaging costs may be attributed to factors other than the packaging
material itself.102
• Manufacturing companies’ use and disposal of packaging account for up to approximately 60% of
the total production costs, or between 15% and 50% of the selling price of a product.103,104
• Packaging materials constitute as much as 65% of the global solid waste.105
• Hidden costs associated with overpackaging (i.e. related with disposal, increased traffic, pollution
and accelerated deterioration of transport infrastructure), in Europe alone, seem to be 20 times
higher than the cost of excessive packaging materials, and they have been valued at an estimated
€130 billion/year.106
Better packaging can certainly be a way to gain cost efficiencies,107 which depends not only on cost
related to materials21 but also on costs related to packaging design by manufacturing processes, logistics
processes, supply chain relationships, environmental costs and other hidden costs related to ergonomic
performances, lost sales, and so on.
Social sustainability. The social sustainability of packaging design well emerges by the ethical
dimensions of innovation in packaging identified by Vernuccio et al.58 In particular, we refer to the
following aspects:
• Facilitating recycling activities (e.g. limiting the use of multi-material packages, providing infor-
mation about recycling activities, etc.).
• Conveying information55 that is honest (it should tell the truth), truthful (it should withhold no
facts essential to the proper and safe use of the product), sincere (it should not deliberately confuse
the issue), comprehensible (it should not use vocabulary that is too specialized or too vague) and
complete (it should explain everything a typical consumer would find useful to an evaluation of
the product and its performance).
• Considering the disparate needs of several categories of potential consumer (left-handed people,
children, elderly people, people with disabilities, immigrants and economically disadvantaged
citizens) through a societal orientation approach.108–110
• Guaranteeing maximum levels of safety in use,111 even beyond the legal constraints and regula-
tory obligations.
Social sustainability is even more critical when considering sectors of particular social implication,
such as health care, in which any improvement in terms of cost reduction, logistics efficiency and
smoothing activities has a great social impact. Thus, innovative packaging design can be seen as a
challenging field.107
Packaging plays an important role in promoting hygiene and safety: improvements in standards of
hygiene and medical care in hospitals, for example, are in large part related to the use of pre-packed,
disposable medical products; the same can be stated about the food industry.3,4 Some authors stress the
idea that supporting a more responsible use of packaging through innovative packaging design can
also have positive effects to society’s culture, which is today affected by a ‘throw-away mentality’.84
Till and Nowak112 expanded the social aspects related to packaging design to a broader level, talking
about social solidarity and using packaging for initiatives that sustain the community (e.g. the diffusion
of messages intended to sensitize consumers to specific social causes or public initiatives).
Packaging design for ergonomics

Many works link productivity with ergonomics and stress the importance of integrating ergonomics
aspects with company activities underlining physical-, organizational- and psychological-related
improvements.113
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444 A. AZZI ET AL.
Production and logistic areas in industrial plants always require different degrees of manual handling/
lifting for different kinds of industrial packages. In these activities, bending and lifting or repetitive joint
motion can result in debilitating injuries. The Material Handling Industry of America underlines that,
whenever possible, designing the production and logistic system to include equipment (e.g. conveyors)
that specifically addresses ergonomics will help to reduce or eliminate worker injuries. However, in
many industrial environments (e.g. manual assembly lines, manual warehouses or picking areas),
packages of different sizes and weights need to be handled directly by human hands; thus, manually
handled packages need to be designed to meet ergonomic weight limits, reach requirements and optimal
handhold configurations.1
In these cases, the ergo-quality level of the task performed by workers directly on the package unit
are strongly dependent on the following factors: (i) package characteristics—first of all its weight,
dimension and material; (ii) frequency and duration of the task in which the package is involved;
(iii) workplace design and working environment; (iv) daily work organization; (v) package storage
modality; and (vi) package (manual) handle modality.
Some authors (e.g.1,79,7) mention the necessity to consider ergonomics issues in packaging design:
package opening, emptying and handling need to be designed to improve workers’ productivity as well
as to protect their health.
International standards can help the designer choose the best packaging design solution according to
ergonomics principles.
First of all, the standards included in ISO 11228 (parts 1-2-3)114–116 provide information for all
those involved in the design or redesign of a packaging system for industrial use and about all manual
handling activities as lifting, handling, pushing and pulling.
In particular, ISO 11228-1114 specifies recommends limits for manual lifting and carrying while
taking into account, respectively, the intensity, the frequency and the duration of the task. ISO
11228-3116 establishes ergonomic recommendations for repetitive work tasks involving the manual
handling of low loads at high frequency. It provides guidance on the identification and assessment of
risk factors commonly associated with handling low loads at high frequency, and it makes reference
in particular to the NIOSH method (developed by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and
Health, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/),117 the OCRA method (developed by the Italian Unit of research
in Posture and Movement Ergonomy, http://www.epmresearch.org/),118 which is a successful tool to
evaluate the risk of biomechanical overload on the upper extremities, especially caused by repetitive
movements of the upper limbs, and to the Strain Index evaluation. The Strain Index was proposed
by Moore and Garg119 as a mean to assess jobs at risk for work-related musculoskeletal disorders
of the distal upper extremities (hand, wrist and elbow). The ISO 11228 often refers to ISO
7250,120,121 which provides ergonomists a description of anthropometric measurements that can
be used as a basic comparison of population groups, to ISO 11226,122 which supports the evalu-
ation of static working postures, and to ISO 6385,123 which establishes the fundamental princi-
ples of ergonomics as basic guidelines for the design of work systems and defines relevant
basic terms.
Ergonomic aspects might be related also to accessibility of packaging content,108 that is, openability of
consumer packaging as well as transport packaging. These aspects need to be properly studied according
to categories of user: operating nurses might seek access to implants or devices as quickly and efficiently
as possible;124 in the same way, employees of a company might find advantages in easier and quicker
industrial packaging openability. Moreover, the increasing awareness of disabilities offer strong drives
to ensure that people with handicaps have equal access to work and leisure. Investigations in this area
are developing (e.g.108,125,126), and preferable size and shape especially thought for less able members
of our society are being identified.
GENERAL FRAMEWORK: FIVE INTERRELATED ASPECTS
Content categories identified by the literature review and discussed in previous sections build up
the framework in Figure 4. The presented integrated framework aims to assist packaging
DOI: 10.1002/pts
Related to CONTENTS/ENVIRONMENT/USERS
1) Distribution system characteristics: mode of transport,
transportation length, infrastructures conditions,
geographic area, change of transport modalities,
loading/unloading operations.
2) Environmental conditions
3) Package design: mass and shape
4) Materials used: mechanical and chemical characteristics
5) Content characteristics (dangerous/not dangerous) ECONOMIC dimension
1) Evident and hidden cost related to
1) Package weight, packaging life cycle
dimension and material ENVIRONMENTAL dimension
2) Tasks performed on the 1) Package design: mass and shape
package unit by human 2) Type and amount of package material
operator (i.e. loading, (including cushioning parts)
picking,..) 3) Packaging capacity
3) Frequency and duration of SAFETY 4) Packaging conversion and
the task performed by human distribution
operators 5) Transportation mode
4) Workplace design and 66) % post-consumer recycled content
working environment 7) % of non-certified raw materials
5) Daily work organization ERGONOMY SUSTAINABILITY SOCIAL dimension
6) Package storage modality 1) Sector in which the package is
7) Package handle modality adopted
2) Recycling activities
3) Honest, comprehensible, truthful,
complete information
4) Users’ needs
5) Hygiene and safety standards
LOGISTICS MARKETING
1) Handling, Lifting, Loading/unloading 1) Product information
activities 2) Market information
2) Material Handling Devices (MHD) 3) Costumer testes: fashion and culture
3) Warehousing, stocking and stacking 2) Design for end users’ needs (e.g. reusability,
4) Filling, order picking, sorting, kitting, openability, child safe packaging etc.)
packing 3) Theft proof design and/or device
5) Shipping, transportation and delivery 4) Demand planning
6) Traceability and re-traceability of 5) Marketing strategies and effects of promotions
information 6) Multisensory design approach
7) Disposal, reuse and recycle 7) Intelligent packaging
8) Inventory control 8) Active packaging
9) Availability and transparency of
information
Figure 4. Conceptual framework: drivers to integrated packaging design.
designers by illustrating main drivers and most important aspects related to a successful and in-
novative packaging solution.
As emphasized in Figure 4, the drivers have strong interdependences: changes improving one
aspect certainly will bring improvement or worsening of other aspects at the same time. Packaging
design needs to take place inside the hearth of the star, where every factor interacts with each other,
taking into account standards, regulations, lab testing and procedures supporting each issue.
Intersection and trade off

At this point, it seems clear that packaging design needs to compromise between all packaging func-
tions and to consider the role of the packaging itself within a systematic approach. Many are the
interdependences between different aspects of the framework, as it is emphasized by the empirical
evidence: ergonomics issues might drive to smaller packages, which in contrast bring higher material
consumption and material flow complexity; increased protective packaging and cushioning systems
reduce hazards related to handling and distributions, but can cause many unnecessary costs and
waste if oversized.24,29,23 Many other examples can be provided on this topic: Mollenkopf et al.21
demonstrated the strength of using a systemic approach when deciding between different packaging
system configurations, emphasizing how, as changes in one factor occur, interactions with other
factors cause the relative cost of the system to change.
Many case studies presented in literature make also positive interactions emerge (e.g.4,75,76), demon-
strating how often innovation in packaging drive to many benefits among different aspects creating syn-
ergies (e.g. improvement in transport space utilization brings to consequent lower costs and environmental
DOI: 10.1002/pts
446 A. AZZI ET AL.
5 DRIVERS
4 DRIVERS
3 DRIVERS
2 DRIVERS
1 DRIVER
0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
TRULY ADDRESSED MENTIONED
Figure 5. Distribution of the reviewed articles according to the number of topic discussed: comparison
between percentage of articles mentioning different drivers as important and percentage of articles
truly addressing different drivers.
benefits because less trips are made with a reduction in carbon dioxide and other emissions; improvement
in ergonomics and social-related aspects might bring consequent positive influence on marketing issues:
population is aging, and studies127 have shown that elderly consumers abandon certain types of packaging
altogether if the act of opening them becomes too difficult).
A systemic approach
Despite the multi-dimensional nature of packaging, the academic literature tends to analyze dimen-
sions separately. As shown in Figure 5, only few recent works are starting to integrate different per-
spectives towards a holistic approach: this trend is even more evident if we compare the number of
issues truly addressed in a single article, with the number of issues mentioned.
Because many areas of concern are common, it is urgent to move towards competitive strategies that
integrate all the presented aspects, which was clear since ancient times: Twede128 described protective
physical properties of ancient transport amphorae, also recounting their manufacturing process, industry
structure and logistical and marketing advantages.
From the literature review, it emerges that just few works propose a systematic approach for pack-
aging design, taking into account all five different drivers.129,130,2,7,131,3,132 Despite that, as shown by
Figure 5, most mention the importance of aspects related to the framework but do not really investigate
or discuss them in the article. Moreover, most of the articles fail in addressing sustainable related
drivers and limit their analysis to the environmental dimension of sustainability.
Other reviewed articles stress the idea of integrated packaging design, mainly taking into consider-
ation some of the drivers presented by the framework of Figure 5 (e.g.133,72,58,134).
Previous work about ‘packaging design framework’ is available, but as far as the authors know,
none addressed packaging design drivers in a comprehensive matter. The framework proposed by
Lockamy5 emphasizes the integration of finance, resource and customer performance measurement
system, although ergonomics and social sustainability are not at all discussed. Olsmats and Dominic129
developed a theoretical framework for a packaging scorecard based on subjective ratings, but none of
the social sustainability issues are addressed. Rundh’s4 framework relates function of packaging with
function of marketing; thus, besides not addressing the importance of ergonomics and sustainability, it
has a strong marketing footprint. Simms and Trott’s3 contribution seem to be one of the most compre-
hensive: the framework is built over packaging movement through the distribution chain, with a stake-
holders perspective, which, despite being a very interesting viewpoint, fails to address specific design
drivers and does not provide a roadmap to support packaging design. Finally, Svanes et al.132 proposed
several indicators grouped into the following main categories: environmental sustainability, distribution
costs, product protection, market acceptance and user friendliness. It is certainly one of the best holistic
DOI: 10.1002/pts
methodology for sustainable packaging design, although it does not properly address issues related to
ergonomic assessment and social and economic sustainability.
RESEARCH AGENDA
The advance and scope of the existing research in packaging design illustrates several issues that have
not yet been addressed in literature, at least with an integrated approach. This section suggests a
research agenda for integrated packaging design:
1. Identification of methods and procedures for an integrated and systemic packaging design.
Because there are common areas of concern, the necessity to move towards a strategy that
integrates all the main drivers is urgent.7,54,58 The proposed framework emphasizes this
need: the development of a multi-criteria approach, able to achieve an optimized packaging
configuration considering trade-offs and synergies, which would lead to a finalized pack-
aging that is not only safe, but also communicative, efficient for handling, sensitive to eco-
nomic, social and environmental matters as well as to ergonomic issues. In this contest, the
development of a unique software platform for integrated packaging design seems to be as
utopistic at this early stage, as useful and challenging to achieve the definitions of a set of
integrated procedures and guidelines for multi-criteria packaging design. Finally, the study
of existing packaging configurations as well as de novo design of packaging solutions
should be undertaken, in both manufacturing and healthcare sectors.124,107 This should
include new smart packaging forms and materials, taking into account every driver of
the presented framework as well as new solutions within carton and wood packaging,
which seem not to undertake much improvement over the years.
2. Criteria and procedures to take different alternatives into account need to be established.72
Trade-offs create the need to ‘weight’ the different drivers to identify the best possible solution.
Of course, the weighting problem involves an element of subjectivity, which may not be com-
pletely random or arbitrary; thus, further research is needed to evaluate the role of weighting
factors and provide guidelines.
3. Further theoretical works upon packaging logistics, also considering the many drivers empha-
sized by the framework: more research is needed to identify and describe opportunities and
obstacles within supply chain and packaging logistics change processes135,18,76 and to analyze
packaging standardization towards supply chain integration, taking into account a system and a
holistic design approach.6 Dynamic simulation would be one approach to incorporate multiple
organizations across multiple echelons in a supply chain, providing a more realistic analysis of
the complexities of a packaging system.21
4. Assessment and development of package configuration performance measures as well as pro-
cedures to relate decision variables to the performance measures. Packaging does not have to
be conceived as a static element, but rather in a dynamic way, leading to establish a control
mechanism based on key performance indicators to ensure the best alternative for packaging
available in each moment.72
5. Packaging design for e-business, home shopping and, generally speaking, emerging business
and social trends:2,9,10,136 systems will have to be deeply integrated for maximum logistics
efficiency. Traditional criteria about on-the-shelf impact and competitive differentiation will re-
cede, and the initial opening-the-box experience will become more important, changing the
structural and functional elements of packaging design. The interactions between the packaging
system and the end consumers need to be explored to further extend the scope of the traditional
packaging engineer.78,7
6. Further research to support integrated laboratory test simulation, such as evaluations of
vibrations as a function of location, means of transportations and longitudinal shock levels
due to shunts and atmospheric conditions;29 comparison among national security certifica-
tions; definition of accelerated life testing to simplify and accelerate the simulation pro-
cesses; dynamic simulation of logistics flows related to the package life cycle; and
DOI: 10.1002/pts
448 A. AZZI ET AL.
definition of procedures, test schedule and adoption of motion capture systems for inte-
grated ergonomics assessment.
7. Surveys to investigate within different kinds of stakeholder, end-costumer included, if the
importance of interrelation of logistics, ergonomics, marketing, safety and sustainability
aspects in packaging design is perceived.
8. Specific typologies of packaging needs further investigation,65,66 with a systemic approach:
especially active and intelligent packaging (i.e. capable of inventory monitoring, inter-
action of the package with home and food service appliances, temperature data screening,
enhancing the product sensory attributes such as aroma additions, self-cooling and self-
heating packaging, etc.), multi-sensorial packaging and brand recognition and recall during
consumer purchase processes.59,57
9. Packaging ethics and social sustainability issues should be further investigated137 together
with challenges and opportunities related to synergies with the other drivers of the frame-
work: great care is needed in exploring cross-cultural differences when dealing with these
issues.133 Packaging and its interaction with less able member of society need also further
investigation.108,126,125,138
10. Environment sustainability, with a broader look on every other driver embedded in the
presented framework, needs also further investigation. In particular, literature stresses the
frequent problem of overpackaging, with related consequences in terms of financial and
environmental impact (e.g.24,29,23). Some studies should be conducted to optimize config-
urations and thickness of packages, in recognition of the fact that current packaging design
fails to address the resource reductions needed to support the sustainability agenda.139
Some authors (e.g.140,8) put much effort on investigating the feasibility of developing
refillable packaging systems, which appeal to the consumer while reducing the overall
sustainability impact. Further research should be performed in this area, and innovative re-
fillable packaging configurations should be created, with particular attention to perform-
ance achievement from a sustainable, logistics, ergonomics, safety and marketing point
of view. Moreover, additional research is needed to perfect the recycle processes (i.e. con-
taminantsiii involved in packaging design process): Packaging design should facilitate
recycling not inhibit it with complicated material sorting and should encourage reproces-
sing while building an effective communication with the final consumer for a correct
disposal of the packaging system.
CONCLUSION
Quoting Hellström and Saghir,7 ‘a packaging decision is a complex process involving different actors
to consider, many functions to serve, different requirements to satisfy and conditions to pay attention
to. Hence, a packaging decision requires a holistic approach that provides means to manage these com-
plexities’. The present research aimed to provide a literature-based framework to support packaging
design with a holistic approach. In addition, related regulations and international standards are dis-
cussed. On the basis of the review, a research agenda for packaging design is presented.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful contributions to this
manuscript.
iii
As an example, a simple package made by paper should be considered: contaminants can be quite a few (wax coatings,
hot-melt adhesives, wet strength resins, ultraviolet-cured inks and coatings, carbon paper, excessive food contamination,
radio frequency identification tags, other materials included in the package (e.g. staples, etc.).
DOI: 10.1002/pts
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APPENDIX A
References Ergonomics Logistics Sustainability Safety Marketing Survey Case study Food/Beverage NON-Food General Industrial P Testing
Ahmed et al.136 X EC-EN-SO X X X
Ampuero and Vila141 X X X
Bernad et al.23 X X X X
Bone and Corey133 SO X X
Bovea et al.91 EN X X X
Bramklev142 X EC-EN X X
Chan et al.2 X X EN X X X X
Duizer et al.138 X EC-EN-SO X X X X

Early et al.87 X EC-EN X X X
Garber et al.143 X X X
García-Arca and Prado-Prado72 X EN X X
García-Arca et al.75 X EC-EN X X X
Ge77 X EC X
Gelperowic and Beharrell144 X X X
Gofman et al.145 X X X
Gulaid et al.120 SO X
A. AZZI ET AL.
Hellström and Saghir7 X X EN X X X X

Hicks et al.146 X EN X X
Holdway et al.10 EC-EN-SO X X X X X
Jahre and Hatteland6 X EN X X X
Kassaye and Verma147 X EN-EC X X X
Keoleian et al.92 X EC-SO X X
Kipp25 X X X X
Klevas148 X X X
Kumar et al.107 X EC-EN X X X
Labatt85 EN X X
Lange and Wyser67 EN X X X
Langley et al.108 X SO X X
Langley et al.149 EN-SO X X
Lee and Lye79 X X EC X X
Lee and Xu81 EC-EN-SO X X
(Continues)
DOI: 10.1002/pts
(Continued)
84
Lewis EC-EN-SO X X X X
Livingstone and Sparks150 EN X X X X X X
Lockamy5 X EC-EN X X X
Lockhart151 X X X X
Lofthouse et al.8 EC-EN-SO X X X X
Lye and Yeong152 X X X X
Lye et al.153 EN X X X X
Madival et al.83 EN X
Meroni64 X X X X
Mollenkopf et al.21 X EC-EN X X
Nancarrow et al.154 X X X X X

Nordin and Selke86 EC-EN-SO X X X
Oki and Sasaki155 X EC-EN-SO X X X
Olsmats and Dominic129 X X EC-EN X X X X
Olsson and Györei156 X EC X X X X X
Orth and Malkewitz59 X X X X
Paine130 X X EN X X X
Panczel22 X X X X X
Prendergast and Pitt54 X EN X X X X
Rokka and Uusitalo157 EN-SO X X X
Rosenau et al.1 X X EC-EN X X X X
Rouillard and Richmond29 X X X
Rundh4 X SO X X X X X X
Rundh57 X EC-EN-SO X X X X X
Saghir and Jönson16 X X X X
Saghir71 X EC X X X X
Schoormans and Robben60 X X X
Sek and Kirkpatrick24 X X X X
ROADMAP FOR PACKAGING DESIGN STUDIES AND RESEARCH
Silayoi and Speece158 X X X X

Silayoi and Speece56 X X X
Simms and Trott3 X X EC-EN-SO X X X
Singh et al.159 EN X
Singh et al.53 X X X X
Singh et al.98 X EN X
(Continues)
DOI: 10.1002/pts
455

456
(Continued)
Slattery124 X X X X X
Sonneveld28 X EN X X X
Svanes et al.132 X X EC-EN-SO X X X X
Svoboda and Hart160 EN X X
Thøgersen68 EN X X X

Twede and Clarke161 X EC-EN X X X
Twede18 X EC X X X X X
Underwood and Ozanne55 SO X X
Underwood et al.162 X X X
Venter et al.61 X X X
Verghese and Fitzpatrick163 X EC-EN-SO X X
Verghese and Lewis19 X EC-EN X X X X
Verghese et al.99 EN X
A. AZZI ET AL.
Vernuccio et al.58 X EC-EN-SO X X X

Ward et al.27 X SO X X
Wells et al.164 X X X
Wever165 X EC-EN X X X
Williams et al.131 X X EN-SO X X X X
Winder et al.110 X SO X X
Xiang and Eschke31 X X X
Yiangkamolsing et al.166 X EN-SO X X X X X
Young167 X X X
Yoxall et al.126 X SO X
Yoxall et al.125 X SO X X
DOI: 10.1002/pts

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PACKAGING TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE

Packag. Technol. Sci. 2012; 25: 435–456

Packaging Design: General Framework and Research Agenda

By A. Azzi,* D. Battini, A. Persona and F. Sgarbossa

Received 22 June 2011; Revised 23 December 2011; Accepted 27 December 2011

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Packag. Technol. Sci. 2012; 25: 435–456

Distribution of articles in the period

Table 2. Distribution of research approaches by types of methodology.

Primary Secondary Tertiary Full load Unit General Cushioning

STATE OF THE ART

Packaging design for safety

Packaging design for marketing and communication

Packaging design for logistics

Packaging design for sustainability

Environmental sustainability. Sustainable packaging design is a challenging topic because environ-

Packaging design for ergonomics

GENERAL FRAMEWORK: FIVE INTERRELATED ASPECTS

Figure 4. Conceptual framework: drivers to integrated packaging design.

Intersection and trade off

0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

TRULY ADDRESSED MENTIONED

117. NIOSH Web site: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hellström and Saghir7 X X EN X X X X

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Silayoi and Speece158 X X X X

Packag. Technol. Sci. 2012; 25: 435–456

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Vernuccio et al.58 X EC-EN-SO X X X

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