The packaging industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by increasing environmental awareness, urbanisation, sustainability, and convenience, and growing importance of technologies such as sustainable/eco-friendly packaging and active packaging. In the last three years alone, there have been over 310,000 patents filed and granted in the packaging industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Internet of Things in Packaging: Synthetic Resin Containers.
However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilising and reaching maturity.
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Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.
80+ innovations will shape the packaging industry
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the packaging industry using innovation intensity models built on over 87,000 patents, there are 80+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Within the emerging innovation stage, automated mixers and dispensers, shipment tracking and authentication, and autonomous vehicles for warehousing are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Automated bundling tools, and mechanically actuated dispenser packaging are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are automated tissue dispenser and dosage metering type vials, which are now well established in the industry.
Innovation S-curve for Internet of Things in the packaging industry
Synthetic resin containers is a key innovation area in Internet of Things
Synthetic resin containers can be used for various purposes, one such use being able to block incident light of particular wavelength. In addition to this, these containers help in meeting environmental goals as they provide recycling opportunities.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 60+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established packaging companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of synthetic resin containers.
Key players in synthetic resin containers – a disruptive innovation in the packaging industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to synthetic resin containers
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Yoshino Kogyosho is one of the leading patent filers in synthetic resin containers. Some other key patent filers in the space include Amcor, O-I Glass, and IFCO Systems.
Amcor recently introduced the DairySeal™ line of packaging featuring ClearCor™, an advanced polyethylene terephthalate (PET) barrier. The introduction of DairySeal will help dairy alternatives, nutritional, and ready-to-drink (RTD) market to have a more sustainable packaging solution that can be used across all retail channels.
In terms of application diversity, European Molecular Biology Laboratory leads the pack, while L'Oreal and Saint-Gobain Oberland stood in the second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, IFCO Systems held the top position, followed by Cargill and Royal Unibrew.
Synthetic resin containers will potentially become the approach favoured by many future packaging players. The importance of the technology can be observed today by looking at the latest innovations and research by key players in the field.
To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the packaging industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Internet of Things (IoT) in Packaging.
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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
