Peel-and-seal to the rescue

Once in a while you come across a story and this thought crosses your mind: These guys may have actually helped to save the world.

If you think that’s a bit brash, when was the last time you tried to open a package of Double A or Triple A batteries? How long did it take? How many sharp implements of destruction did you use? Did you wonder if all this packaging was really necessary? And finally, what would you do if you ever met the designers of this package?

We’ve all been there. Unless of course, you just opened up a package of batteries with peel-and-seal technology. If that’s the case, you want to know how DHL’s packaging group helped get this product to market.

Yes, you read that right. Turns out DHL doesn’t just deliver packages. It also has an extensive packaging operation with more than 40 sites across North America. While the majority is secondary packaging (reworking store displays and trays, for instance), there is also a primary packaging capability here. That’s where the peel-and-seal story starts.

A battery manufacturer (we can’t say which one here) came to DHL and asked if they could build and operate packaging lines using the technology. By the way, peel-and-seal packaging technology is not new, but it was brand new to the battery manufacturing industry.

The timeline was not generous—a little more than eight weeks. Oh, and that timeline included delivery of the packaging equipment, setting it up and pumping out the first packages.

Alicemarie Geoffrion , vice president of DHL’s packaging operations, says the company did not shy away from the challenge. “From an equipment standpoint, this was not easy. At the same time, we had a chance to help reshape an industry and support our customer’s biggest new product launch in recent history. Best of all, if it all worked, we could stand back and realize we were key to their success,” she recalls.

“At the same time, this was a high-pressure situation,” Geoffrion says. “We could also negatively affect a new product launch for this company,” she adds.

But that didn’t happen. The product was delivered on time, and consumers had the chance to open their battery packages much more easily.

This was also the start of something new in packaging for this industry, says Geoffrion. The battery manufacturer’s new design opened up a new way of thinking for the industry.

The packaging team back at the battery manufacturer now sees new opportunities for not just this packaging technology, but applications of it. Not the least of which is a sustainability angle since the package is not an open-and-throw-away one. Instead, it allows consumers to reuse the package for the life of the batteries in it. And who knows what other sustainability ideas may come along next?

Did all of this actually save the world? Not really. But giving consumers frustration-free, sustainable packaging sure helped them on several levels.