This week I want to talk about the importance of the artwork brief. In our book ‘Developing and Sustaining Excellent Packaging, Labelling and Artwork Capabilities’ we say it is a key part a world-class process. So here I talk through why I see it as being so important, why some companies believe they don’t need one, and for those who embrace the change, the continued discipline in its use, post implementation.

‘Introduce an extra step, an artwork brief, but won’t that extend our lead-times?’

Events either inside or outside a company will result in the need to introduce new artwork or change existing artwork. So a ‘change’ is required. I recommend to clients, as part of their move to excellence, that the ‘change’ is defined in an artwork brief and signed off as approved by key parties before starting.
A common reaction by companies is to think it unnecessary and I often get push back on the idea. They would much prefer to jump straight into designing the artwork using existing artwork as a vehicle to gather all the necessary information. They believe adding an extra step will slow the process.
However by analysing their existing processes I am able to show their current way of working results in artwork going round the development cycle several times, resulting in very long lead-times, frequent omissions or errors and some very stressed staff!

A good artwork brief defines ‘the change’ completely, with no ambiguity

In reality the brief is a collection of the information required and the source documents. A good brief is a clear and concise record of the change required with no room for any misinterpretation. The marked up artwork should be amended and presented with suitable software and not done by hand, for example.
An additional powerful use of the brief comes from the key stakeholders agreeing this is the change required. The signatories would need to be defined for each part of your company. This approval forms a critical control point in the process.
Once a piece of artwork is produced its review and approval would be made against the artwork brief, by the same signatories, making sure all the changes required have been implemented and that no other changes have been made inadvertently.

It is important to maintain discipline in the process

If an error is discovered with the artwork, caused by an incorrect brief, it is an important all parties realise a new artwork brief is required, with the correct information and there should be no temptation to ‘fudge’ the process.
It is hard discipline to start with and it needs to be continually reinforced by the process owners, but only by forcing people to stick to the correct process will you find that your ‘right first time’ metrics improve. Reducing the number of times artwork has to go through the process will then reduce lead-times overall, as well as making them more consistent.
In my next set of articles I will talk about the part played by various groups, starting with the packaging technologists/engineers.

To help you in your Artwork Improvement Program, you can also find useful information in my book Developing and Sustaining Excellent Packaging Labelling and Artwork Capabilities

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Should you have any questions about this or any other of my blogs, or would simply like to request a copy of my booklets, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly on my email.

For more information on artwork, go to our free download section.

In this week’s blog I am going to look at the use of technology in the artwork process, why it can be particularly helpful, the range of tools available and a short discussion on some of the potential downsides.

Technology can be particularly helpful where the potential for failure is high

I have explained in previous articles about how humans are pretty poor at checking detail. In a typical artwork process you have people responsible for carrying out activities such as: transcribing information from one source to another; performing multiple or repetitive tasks. So technology can be particularly helpful when used in the areas where the potential for failure is high.

In addition technology can reduce lead times and cost by ensuring everyone has the right, up to date information available to them when they need it, aiding coordination of the different groups and finally ensure process adherence.

There are technology solutions for different parts of the process

Artwork creation is the obvious place to start and for which there are a number of options available.  These tools create documents, artwork, drawings, 3D visualisations and also deal with barcodes and braille. These are proprietary, off the shelf packages generally used within the studio and the main issue here is ensuring you are working with industry standard software versions.

Document management tools securely store documents, ensuring versions are managed effectively and that audit trails are maintained. An important consideration is to decide the scope of documents that will be held within the document management functionality of your artwork management system versus other document management systems that may exist in you company.  Where will you keep core text documents, local translations, native and master artworks, drawings, packaging specifications and proofreading history reports?

The next key IT functionality is workflow – tools that let you map your process and execute your artwork projects.  These route documents through the process to relevant users and are typically part of your artwork management system.  They ensure the change is executed correctly, permitting a piece of artwork to be requested, produced then issued to the multiple parties for review, comment and ultimately approval.  Compliant electronic signatures can eliminate the need for paper approval, speeding up your process.

Further IT functionality includes planning tools, forecasting and budgeting and performance reporting and analysis.

It is important to understand the strengths and limitations of the tools you have introduced

One aspect of the artwork process which I am passionate about is proof reading. The introduction of electronic tools for text and graphic proofreading have been a great benefit and there are a number of excellent tools available.  These greatly reduce the risk of human error in proof reading but each tool will have some limitations where manual checking is still required.  For example, if text is embedded within a pixelated image it may not be detected and checked by text proof reading tools.  Therefore understand the limits of the tools you are using and make sure there are appropriate manual checks to augment.

So the use of technology can indeed be really useful enabler, making up for people’s common mistakes, ensuring process compliance and enabling a quicker response. There are multiple packages available with different strengths and opportunities.  Making the selection is an important decision that should involve representation from all of the functions that will be involved in the implementation, use and maintenance of the chosen solution.

In my next article I will talk about the importance of the artwork brief.

To help you in your Artwork Improvement Program, you can also find useful information in my book Developing and Sustaining Excellent Packaging Labelling and Artwork Capabilities

image004

Should you have any questions about this or any other of my blogs, or would simply like to request a copy of my booklets, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly on my email.

For more information on artwork, go to our free download section.

In my first four articles in this series on change and programme management of artwork improvement projects, I talked about:

In most organisations there are likely to be a number of artwork improvement projects and initiatives underway and the application of good programme management practices is a central part of ensuring successful delivery.  There is much written about successful programme management, so in this article, I will look at some of the aspects we have seen are important for success.

In the next article in this series, I will look at key learnings in the delivery of change programmes and how they apply to artwork improvement programmes

 

 

Contact us and we will send you a copy while free stocks last!




Our new book Developing and Sustaining Excellent Packaging Labelling and Artwork Capabilities will be launched mid-year, but we will soon have a limited number of free copies available.

Delivering right first time packaging labelling and artwork is key to the success of many pharma companies today. The book draws on our many years of award winning experience helping pharma companies transform their capabilities and will help you understand and deliver great capabilities in your organisation.

Andrew Love, who co-authored the book with Stephen McIndoe, provides unique insight from his many years experience as head of global packaging design operations for GlaxoSmithkline.

Steve Richmond, Head of Global Packaging at AstraZeneca has written the Foreword for the book.