I come with an experience helping CPG and personal care customers solving their supply chain problems improving responsiveness and enabling visibility. My work touches providing solution for the late stage customizations covering packaging, distribution, and point-of-sales (PoS). I would like to present the following specific experiences and trends that I have been noticing in the payments industry that can aid the discussions of the advisory board. • As the lines between conventional and digital printing is fading, digital printing and available technologies are promoting late stage customization in a more effective way with conventional printing technologies deploying digital workflows. Existence of laser, Inkjet, Direct thermal/thermal, and Hybrid technologies is aiding this transformation. Digital printing is no longer an outlier for any typical packaging application (label, carton, or box). • 3D printing: It is presenting remarkable impacts on downstream of the supply chain, such as production and distribution. Tailoring personalized offers to each customer and the involvement of clients in design and production activities hold potential for a shift in priorities of cost and profit management, and late-stage postponement can make the supply chain more agile and flexible to react to changes in the marketplace • Late stage customizations are positioned to bring value to brands. Designing boxes with a late-stage customization solution in-mind encourage brands to use that real estate for, cross-promotions, personalized messages, and graphics that make the consumer feel good about what they just bought. For example, corrugated boxes are using variable data creating dynamic graphics, text, or other information to help rationalize the number of SKUs produced. Boxes can carry new, personalized marketing messages for E-Commerce. Secondary packaging can deliver product-specific information, such as ingredients, brand graphics, quantity count, etc. All these possibilities of late stage customization adds value to brands. • Deployment of late stage customizations plays a crucial role in ensuring right value to consumers. Consider Glocal marketing campaigns as we notice national or global campaigns with regional or local tie-ins. Another phenomenon we notice is the major feature film release with promotion for your local theater. Let us look at another use case where boxes shipped from an online retailer with graphics relevant to the contents, heightening the “unboxing experience” and delight the consumer, with something worth sharing. • Lase Reactive Materials is another way to bring value to consumers late stage customizations. Once the laser-reactive material has been applied, the package is ready to personalize. As laser marking can happen anywhere in the supply chain, offers real-time marketing that is most relevant to the consumer. • The advances in serialization is also aiding late stage customizations. The basis for every efficient serialization process is secure and reliable handling and storage of data. With advances in serialization manufacturers and their partners in the supply chain now have a powerful tool in their hand to manage codes, regulations and workflows in the most flexible way. Customizing products as late as possible, eliminate redistribution, unpacking, reconfiguring and repacking. Thus late stage customization keeps products in their most basic format until the final packaging steps, reducing packaging process costs. This enables responding to orders up to the last minute, meeting immediate requirement changes and market demands. With my experience and know-how in the field of late stage customizations, I am confident in bringing unique a value proposition to this online advisory board offering mindshare and collaborate with experts in trend-spotting and anticipate future disruptions in the space.

Customize products as late as possible, eliminate redistribution, unpacking, reconfiguring and repacking. Late Stage Customization keeps products in their most basic format until the final packaging steps, reducing packaging process costs. Respond to orders up to the last minute, meeting immediate requirement changes and market demands. As a consumer goods professional, late stage customization has been directed at specific products and markets. The current chocalate packaging process consists of various types of chocalates and brands. This resulted in a lot of different printed packages, which made it a costly and complex process. The supply chain management of these factories asked for a less complex packaging system, which can be monitored more easily and be more efficient. Cadbury figured that different printed packages can be put through a more uniform packaging line, with a customization step at the end of the process.

With over 25 years of distribution experience across multiple companies (including Eddie Bauer, Abercrombie & Fitch, Stanley, Frontgate, and Hillman), I have a wide range of knowledge in packaging and labeling to meet presentation, security and protection requirements. I have not only run facilities but have negotiated with packaging and automation vendors specializing in packaging and labeling.

I have over 25 years experience in consumer goods for brands in which packaging has and is a key focus whether this be from innovative market leading design, environmental impact and considerations, footprint and space specifically linking in shipping/warehousing efficiency, manufacturing through to in-store to on-shelf presence and appeal. Customisation is now more than ever a key element of packaging design and development as it has a fundamental influence on the effectiveness and efficiency of how a product can be adapted to the bespoke requirements of the modern consumer omni-channel world which the ability to respond to changing needs and expectations is paramount to success.

I have a deep background in technology and logistics/distribution aspects of global supply chains demanding late stage customization in the following indsutries: - CPG - HBA - High end consumer electronics (home theaters, professional grade and auto) - Branded licensed products - Commercial grade architectural openings My experience also involves demand planning for raw materials and sub-assemblies of products customized at late stage, including packaging development/printing. Some of the concepts related to the late stage customization were briefly touched upon in my Future of PLM board posts. As an Operations executive, I find it to be my duty to continuously pursue meaningful innovation. Participation in advisory boards offers the opportunity to share my own insights and innovation efforts as well as learn form the insights of others, which I find extremely valuable.