As of February 2026, the first wave of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is officially live. The checks have cleared for producer dues in Colorado, data
Under the new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws active in 2026, not all packaging is created equal. While the base fees cover the cost of
We are one month into 2026, and the landscape of packaging compliance has officially shifted from “planning” to “payment.” For Food & Beverage leaders, Extended
For two decades, the standard playbook for warehouse peak season was simple: “Hire more temps.” If Q4 volume surged 30%, you increased headcount by 30%.
Walk into any growing distribution center, and you will eventually find the bottleneck. It isn’t usually the forklift drivers or the pickers. It is a
For years, “On-Time In-Full” (OTIF) was considered a logistics metric. If a CPG manufacturer missed a retailer’s delivery window, the blame fell on the carrier
Every time Marketing proposes a new SKU—a seasonal variety pack, a club-store pallet display, or a limited-time flavor—Operations faces a binary choice. Do we build
By moving the FSMA Rule 204 compliance deadline to July 20, 2028, the agency acknowledged the massive technical hurdles facing manufacturers. For many operations directors,
At what exact point does a manual packaging line become a compliance risk? For decades, operations leaders calculated this tipping point based on throughput. If
In 2026, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) leaders face a mathematical problem that efficiency alone cannot solve. Retailers like Walmart and Target have tightened On-Time In-Full
The FDA just blinked. After intense industry pressure, the agency extended the FSMA Rule 204 compliance deadline from Jan. 20, 2026, to July 20, 2028.
The fiscal landscape of 2026 presents a distinct and unforgiving set of challenges for the North American manufacturing and logistics sectors. We stand at a
2025 didn’t bring the explosive growth many predicted after the pandemic years. But it did reshape the U.S. CPG packaging landscape in ways that matter
In a busy manufacturing or fulfillment facility, “good enough” is often the enemy of “efficient.” Processes are established, habits are formed, and over time, inefficiencies
For emerging and mid-sized brands, building an in-house packaging engineering team is often a luxury. You have product developers, marketers, and operations staff, but the
Too many businesses still treat packaging design as a simple creative expense—the price you pay to make a product look good on the shelf. It’s
Many companies treat packaging errors as statistical inevitabilities—a minor percentage of “shrinkage” or waste representing the cost of doing business. This underestimation creates danger. For
Your sales team is your primary engine for growth. Their job is to find and seize revenue opportunities. Yet, in many organizations, their efforts are
