Product development and product creation has always been (and continues to be!) one of the best bits of working in PTP. Seeing an idea form in someone’s head and watch it carry over to a drawing, a model, an actual sample is still as thrilling today as it was when I first started in this industry some 25 + years ago! Then to take a flight and watch other people using this same product is another level!

These days there is so much to consider when designing and developing product and factoring in regulatory requirements is an essential and ongoing challenge. At PTP we work hard to stay ahead of the game when it comes to knowing what regulations are coming over the horizon – and of course we have to do this on a global level.

The hot topic right now is packaging - mitigating where possible, reporting where needed and as an absolute minimum giving due care and attention to packaging material selection.

For us at PTP this manifests itself in many ways.

Firstly, we look to see if we can make the packaging integral to the product – so there’s actually nothing to throw away afterwards. Our collaboration with JPA is a perfect example of this where our Premium Economy blanket has a pouch that the product can fold back into, so we don’t need an extra bag or wrap.

Then we check on hygiene and operational requirements, does each product need to be individually packaged? We recently carried out a packaging review for one of our clients and managed to reduce external packaging by 75% on certain product lines just by rethinking the way the product is offered to the end user.

Another aspect is the item packaging itself – can we reduce the size? Again, we recently repackaged one of our products, reducing the size of the packaging, without impacting on the product itself and managed to reduce the plastic content by 21%.

Can we look at different materials? We use certified recycled plastic wherever possible for all appropriate packaging these days or if we can, natural materials such as rice or kraft paper.

In the UK we are required to report on packaging – whilst admin heavy, it does makes business stop and think for a moment – do we need this piece of packaging? If we do, does it need to be like this? Then we apply this ‘good practice’ methodology to everything we do, and it just becomes part of our ongoing product development process.

Product development is an all encompassing process and I think it’s important for our clients to know that we consider all elements of the finished product all the way through the R&D. The packaging might not be the most ‘exciting’ part of the products we supply but more and more it’s becoming an integral element that requires just as much thought.