DscoopX Expands Packaging Opportunities

DscoopX, held March 5-7 outside Washington, D.C., welcomed more than 2200 attendees this year amidst a late-season snowfall that blanketed the city. This year’s show included a 45,000-square-foot tradeshow and a heavier focus on packaging, with a range of educational sessions for this sector. Presenters suggested a transition from conventional to digital printing, which eliminates plates, cylinders, and mounting equipment and reduces opportunities for human error.

DscoopX, held March 5-7 outside Washington, D.C., welcomed more than 2200 attendees this year amidst a late-season snowfall that blanketed the city. This year’s show included a 45,000-square-foot tradeshow and a heavier focus on packaging, with a range of educational sessions for this sector. Presenters suggested a transition from conventional to digital printing, which eliminates plates, cylinders, and mounting equipment and reduces opportunities for human error. According to Gary Bernier, a brand development manager from HP, digital inks now “have the same scuff and fade resistance as the conventional inks used in packaging today” and should therefore be acceptable for applications such as detergent packaging, which require greater durability.

Keynoter Soren Kaplan, who founded InnovationPoint, a consultancy focused on strategic innovation, discussed creativity and the development of new ideas in corporate cultures. While norms for product and service offerings exist in every industry, Kaplan suggested that innovators leapfrog these norms. They are more open to servicing new sectors, which ultimately differentiates their business growth. As examples, Kaplan cited Fujifilm’s growth into candy bar wrappers (the material is similar to film), or movie theaters who have changed to monthly subscription models.

Keynotes also included Jim Stengel’s “Leading a Growth Culture,” in which the former Proctor & Gamble guru advocated emotional intelligence, authenticity, and ambitious purpose for companies looking to avoid stagnation and retain top employees.

“Why don’t more leaders lead with a sense of inspiring purpose?” Stengel asked. “Why is this more the exception than the rule if it works and it feels good.” Leading through purpose, he said, gets crowded out, particularly for C-level executives who are overburdened by heavy to-do lists and days filled with meetings and other obligations. In addition, CEOs may require new levels of emotional intelligence that they didn’t need at earlier levels of their careers.

To help leaders re-prioritize, Stengel advised reworking schedules and examining how time is spent. CEOs, he said, should spent 40 to 70 percent of their time on people, either on nurturing existing talent or acquiring new talent.
 

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