USA +1 (269) 806-4566
USA +1 (269) 806-4566
For over two decades, leading companies have relied on PTIS and Leading Futurists to guide their strategies and programs, through every three year Future of Packaging consortia, and now with our valued global alliance partners, provide insightful Packaging Foresight that you can use to help guide and grow your business.
Contact us to stay ahead of key drivers and trends impacting packaging.
Brian Wagner
brian@ptisglobal.com
269-806-4566
As we close out 2025, the packaging industry stands at a crossroads of unprecedented disruption—AI-driven supply chains, EPR mandates sweeping Europe and North America, and Gen Z's unyielding demand for transparency. Yet amid this flux, one framework has quietly...
By Brian Wagner, PTIS Founder & Principal "Consumer choices aren't clustering around 'average' anymore; they are bifurcating into 'good enough' efficiency and premium personal value. The middle? A commoditized chasm where price wars devour margins." Packaging...
Stay ahead of packaging regulations with PTIS. Simplify EPR compliance, reduce fees, and optimize reporting across the value chain.
PTIS delivers Strategic Packaging Solutions to help companies grow revenue, reduce costs, and mitigate risk with foresight-led strategies and sustainability integration across the value chain.
PTIS drives packaging innovation with strategies, sustainability, and research to boost growth, efficiency, and brand value across the value chain.
Prepare for the future of packaging with PTIS. Gain foresight, strategy, and actionable insights to lead innovation across the packaging value chain.
PTIS Virtual Packaging provides on-demand packaging expertise. Scale your team, drive innovation, and increase efficiency without full-time hires.
Generative AI is a game-changer for packaging, helping companies gather data, spot trends, and draft reports quickly. But turning those insights into a winning packaging strategy requires human expertise. Seasoned consultants bring decades of industry knowledge to...
By Mike Richmond, PTIS Founder & Principal As seasoned packaging professionals, management consultants and certified futurists, we emphasize that while predicting the future with certainty is impossible, we can analyze trends, explore possible scenarios, and...
In the fast-moving world of consumer goods, packaging is a brand’s silent powerhouse—shaping perceptions, driving sales, and building loyalty beyond its role as a container. A well-crafted brand brief is the key to this success, uniting teams, speeding innovation,...
Crafting a Comprehensive Brand Brief for Packaging Success In the fast-moving world of consumer goods, packaging is a brand’s silent powerhouse—shaping perceptions, driving sales, and building loyalty beyond its role as a container. A well-crafted brand brief is...
Shrinkflation, a once trendy and satirical term, has now become a lasting staple in today’s marketplace and an accepted brand practice. With inflation likely not slowing down soon, consumer brands face a considerable challenge. They must balance profitability...
Shrinkflation, a once trendy and satirical term, has now become a lasting staple in today’s marketplace and an accepted brand practice. With inflation likely not slowing down soon, consumer brands face a considerable challenge. They must balance profitability...
You’ve probably heard the Wayne Gretzky quote to skate where the puck is going, not where it is. The same goes for packaging strategy. With 2025 fast approaching, now is the time to pause, assess, and strategize for the future. The packaging landscape is evolving...
Now is the Time to Prepare Your Packaging Strategy for 2025 and Beyond With Q4 underway, it’s a critical time for packaging leaders to take a step back and set the stage for 2025. As technology, consumer demands, and sustainability pressures evolve, companies that...
PTIS is different than most packaging consulting groups. When PTIS started in 2001, we wanted to bring some new thinking and approaches through our management consulting practice. A forward future thinking, foresight, consumer understanding and insight along with...
Thinking Like a Futurist: Prepare for Packaging in Tomorrow’s World with Josh Calder, Partner at Foresight Alliance In a rapidly changing world, businesses need to think ahead. This is why futurists matter —not to predict the future, but to help companies think...
In today’s fast-paced regulatory environment, executives in the packaging industry must stay vigilant. Legislation targeted at packaging, such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), chemicals of concern, and material/container bans, can present unanticipated...
Stay Ahead of Legislation in the Packaging Industry by Todd Bukowski, PTIS Principal In today's fast-paced regulatory environment, executives in the packaging industry must stay vigilant. Legislation targeted at packaging, such as Extended Producer Responsibility...
Foresight is a vital methodology for anticipating future trends and uncertainties. Unlike forecasting, which relies on past data, foresight explores multiple plausible futures to guide present decisions. PTIS has honed this approach over two decades through the...
Foresight: Intuition or Science? How systematic methodology and analysis help us anticipate possible futures. We've all heard the saying, "Hindsight is 20/20." It's easy to look back and see how events unfolded, connect the dots, and understand the causal...
Introduction In the fast-paced world of consumer goods, packaging isn't just a box or a bag – it's the unsung hero, always there to protect our products and push the boundaries of innovation forward. And at the heart of this evolution stands the PTIS Future of...
As we reflect on the significant undertaking of integrating GS1 2D barcodes and QR codes onto packaging and pallets, it's clear that the journey is ongoing. The commitment to innovation and the resilience to adapt will define the industry leaders who shape the...
Contributed by Apis Wise Introduction The advent of technology has revolutionized the way businesses operate, and one such innovation in the realm of supply chain and inventory management is the GS1 2D barcode initiative. GS1, a global standards organization,...
Successful collaboration between brand owners and packaging suppliers has been a challenge for many decades. Both parties have different objectives, priorities, and approaches, which can create barriers to creating effective solutions and better business outcomes....
Introduction Successful collaboration between brand owners and packaging suppliers has been a challenge for many decades. Both parties have different objectives, priorities, and approaches, which can create barriers to creating effective solutions and better...
Closing out 2023, labor shortage may be the #1 “theme” for the packaging industry. Imagine it’s 2033 and we’ve solved the problem. We asked Southie Automation to share their perspectives on robots, cobots and why we believe the solution is here today! Two years...
Contributed by Southie Automation Introduction It’s 2033, what became of secondary packaging manufacturing as it grappled with the challenge of significant shortage of skilled labor in 2023? The implications were far-reaching, casting shadows of uncertainty over...
Imagine it’s 2033 and PTIS and NextGen Invent have a long-standing strategic partnership and are the recognized “GoTo” source for developing and implementing strategic and tactical packaging value chain use cases for Generative AI (Artificial Intelligence). We've...
Contributed by Center of Excellence, NextGen Invent Corporation Introduction It’s 2033 and PTIS and NGI have a long-standing strategic partnership and are the recognized “GoTo” source for developing and implementing strategic and tactical packaging value chain use...
Futurists draw from fields such as economics, culture, technology, and environmental science to provide a holistic view of the future landscape. The Voice from the Future article this month is contributed by PTIS Associate and package designer Rick Rangler...
Contributed by Rick Rangler, Colbie Blue Studio Meet Anya In a world dominated by technology, one profession remains essential: innovative and sustainable packaging design. Meet Anya, a packaging designer at a top CPG company, driven by her passion for creating...
With increased focus on digital and transformational changes across packaging more material related claims and challenges will be made and many new areas of opportunity and concern in the packaging sector will be scrutinized. Additionally, increased government and...
Contributed by Matt Daum, PhD and Jay Singh, PhD - Daksha Packaging Group In the high-stakes world of litigation, the choice of an expert witness can make or break a case. When it comes to issues involving packaging, it can be challenging to find the right expert....
We have all heard about the major impact that sustainability and circular economy principles are having on packaging and shaping decisions. Through our Future of Packaging Thought Leader survey, it is apparent that sustainability will be at the heart of packaging...
Contributed by Positive Scenarios Consulting (PSC) As sustainability consultants, we work with a wide range of organizations across sectors, from retailers to manufacturers. Many of our clients are companies that make, buy, or use packaging. And regardless of...
The Future of Packaging dates back to the mid to late 1990s, and our friend Andy Hines guesses that it might be the single longest-running foresight program in the world. In the mid-late 90s, while Mike and Brian were working for Kellogg’s, a group of Washington,...
Contributed by Andy Hines, Associate Professor of Foresight, University of Houston Nobody likes to be caught by surprise. Most of us would rather not be in reactive mode either. And some of us really like to be ahead of the game. Foresight and futurists can help...
PTIS appreciates and values our community of over 100 Associates and Alliance partners. In the May issue, Rick Rangler of Cobie Blue Studio, shares his experience leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Package Design. How will AI change design, and the future...
An error occurred linking the June 2023 article to here. Please click below to see the correct June 2023 article titled "Why Foresight: Making Sense of Change"Contributed by Rick Rangler, Founder & Creative Director, Cobie Blue Recently, many news headlines...
The latest issue of Packaging Foresight includes a letter from 2040 contributed By John B. Mahaffie, Futurist. This is a 2040 scenario, one of many possible outcomes for society in that future year. The story shows a world in which greater sustainability and...
Contributed by Michael Richmond, PTIS Principal and Jerrett Gogola, Sr. PTIS Associate Reacting to new legislation and public pressure regarding chemicals of concern in packaging has been a nearly constant initiative for brands and packaging companies alike the...
Voice from the Future Contributed By John B. Mahaffie, Futurist This is a 2040 scenario, one of many possible outcomes for society in that future year. The story shows a world in which greater sustainability and circularity come from changes led by industry...
Contributed By Matthew Wright, Founder and CEO of Specright The need to address supply-chain challenges such as inflation, evolving sustainability regulations and worker shortages continues to be top-of-mind for many companies in 2023. While each of these...
PTIS is a unique consultancy of packaging leaders who are adept at facilitating strategic plans with packaging material suppliers, converters and contract manufacturers. Our clients especially appreciate our experience working across the value chain, pragmatic...
Package design is one of the most important elements in product marketing and consumer engagement. Often, it will be the primary ‘billboard’ for the product as it sits on a retail shelf. Packaging can make or break a product’s success. Good package design improves...
Packaging Foresight is a collaboration of packaging news brought to you by PTIS and Futurist, John Mahaffie . We've had a busy 2022 administering the Future of Packaging program among client projects. We took a little break from our monthly newsletter Packaging...
A common theme that came out of the recently completed PTIS led Future of Packaging program was that sustainability and circularity are here to stay and will be a driving force in packaging over the upcoming decade. Whether it was biggest opportunities, challenges,...
By Michael Richmond, PhD, PTIS LLC Many business leaders think about today and the next quarter, perhaps looking two to three years into the future. What if they took some time to view 10 years ahead and start plotting where they want to be in 2032? This past...
Harnessing foresight to get to “Good VUCA” By the Future of Packaging team Our colleague Mike Richmond of PTIS is a big proponent of the VUCA concept, an acronym that originated in the 1990s U.S. Army War College. It stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity,...
