Zip-Pak Opens Engineering Center
- Published: August 15, 2017
CAROL STREAM, IL | Zip-Pak, global supplier of resealable technology for flexible packaging, is establishing a new Engineering and Innovation Center (EIC) at its Carol Stream, IL, headquarters. With an opening date scheduled for late 2017, the EIC will house 9,100 sq ft of laboratory space along with 5,000 sq ft of engineering and office space, initially staffing 20 employees. The new EIC will centralize the company’s product innovation and core business functions under one roof. It also places engineering and innovation in close proximity to its core US manufacturing facilities, as well as a number of key customers and supply chain partners.
“Our new EIC will enable us to be more nimble and flexible in responding to the needs of our customers,” says David Pritchard, who was recently named Zip-Pak director of global innovation and engineering and will carry out the mission of the EIC. Pritchard, a 30-yr veteran of the flexible packaging industry, has spent his last 12 with Zip-Pak in various leadership, sales, and engineering roles. “Enhanced collaboration among our teams of packaging experts, along with our supply chain partners and customers, will provide even greater levels of service, support and cost efficiencies.”
Recent focus group feedback has called attention to areas of consumer concern regarding confidence in a secure seal and a desire for a more positive experience when initially accessing the product contents of a flexible package. As a result, the company has developed several tactile and audible feedback technologies to provide assurance that a resealable package is fully closed. The company is also working closely with supply chain partners to enhance the experience of first opening a resealable flexible package.
“With the EIC operational, [we] will have enhanced capabilities to provide brand owners with new and more forward-looking ways to satisfy consumer demand for convenient resealable packages, while ensuring manufacturing efficiency,” says Pritchard.
