Packaging engineers, or "packaging managers" in modern parlance, are increasingly focusing on ecological and economic aspects, protection, logistics, and marketing when developing and optimizing packaging. The Swiss Packaging Institute will launch its next training course on June 8th.
Packaging protects the goods, serves as an advertising medium, and should also be easy for consumers to use. For companies, material and production costs play a crucial role. But the use of raw materials and recyclability are also becoming increasingly important. Furthermore, legal requirements and societal trends must be taken into account. It's quite a demanding range of considerations these days.
Packaging managers develop and optimize holistic packaging solutions, taking into account standards and specifications, and should be knowledgeable in finance and accounting, process management, the differences between pharmaceutical, food and technical requirements, product safety and quality management.
Photos: SVI
They must keep an eye on the interaction between the product and the packaging, coordinate, support and manage packaging projects and their sub-processes throughout their development, create documentation, incorporate information and communication technologies in a targeted manner, and should be able to lead working groups in a goal-oriented and business-minded way.
The program culminates in a diploma thesis. According to the European and National Qualifications Frameworks for Vocational Education and Training of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), the Packaging Manager with a federal diploma is classified at level 6 of 8. Today, all graduates automatically receive a diploma supplement, which outlines the content and achievements of the graduates in German and English.
The annual conference of the Swiss Packaging Institute SVI will take place on September 17th, focusing on the regulatory landscape in Switzerland, the European Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), requirements for packaging design, specifications for reusable packaging and waste management, and the SVI regulations.
