Actionpoint is offering customers the ultimate bespoke packaging experience at the brand-new facility the Packaging Creation Lounge. Based at our Rainham headquarters, in Kent, the Lounge provides a creative, fully equipped, and immersive setting away from the distractions of day-to-day work.
Why are you offering this service?
Our focus is on helping you to find exactly the right packaging solution to meet the unique needs of your business. It’s not just about selling packaging, it’s about making a real difference to your operation and finding new ways to make your packaging better – more attractive, effective, durable, cost-efficient, sustainable. And at the Lounge, you are involved in the whole packaging design process, truly making it your own.
Actionpoint’s slogan is ‘thoughtful packaging’ and we’ve put a great deal of thought into this service. The project began in June 2021 and the Lounge opened in April 2022 at a cost of £200,000. It’s exciting to see our investment, plans, and dreams come to fruition and we can’t wait to share it with you.
How does an appointment at the Lounge work?
You relax in comfortable and modern surroundings while you share your packaging problems and preferences with our talented in-house design team. This highly collaborative process takes a holistic view, considering your sustainability goals, packing processes, storage and delivery requirements, futureproofing, and more. Then you get to see our team turn your packaging ideas into unique digital designs, construct the prototype, and put your packaging through its paces in the trial room.
If needed, we can make amendments to the design and repeat the process until you’re completely happy with the finished result. By the end of the visit, you’ll have a personalised packaging solution to take away with you.
Do I need to bring anything with me?
A briefing document will be sent to you, which we ask you to complete and return in advance of your appointment. This will capture details of your existing packaging, along with your initial thoughts and ideas for your new packaging, plus any concerns or issues you are currently experiencing. This gives our team the chance to start thinking about solutions and putting together preliminary designs and drawings before you arrive, making your appointment as productive as can be.
If possible, it is helpful to bring along an example of the packaging you are using at present, along with the product(s) you need the packaging for.
You are welcome to bring your laptop, which you can use at any point during the appointment. For example, you may want to catch up on work or emails during quieter moments – such as while the digital designs are being constructed, or the prototype created, or during breaks.
How long does the appointment take?
It depends on how complicated the design is, so it could be a couple of hours, a morning/afternoon or a whole day. But you can choose how long to spend at your appointment. Perhaps you don’t want to collaborate on the design and prefer to see what concepts have been created for you, based on the specifications of your briefing document. Or you only want to see when the prototype has been made. Or you aren’t interested in being present for the testing phase. It’s entirely up to you how much of the process you would like to observe in person.
If you want to make a day of it, you can soak up the whole experience or combine it with co-working – there is plenty of open workspace in the Lounge, plus break-out area, and of course free Wi-Fi.
How much does it cost?
The Lounge is a way for us to add value to our packaging services, so an appointment is completely free – including any samples created. And you really are getting a bargain. The estimated value of half a day at the Lounge is £3,000 for exclusive use of our technical and design expertise, staff time, material costs, equipment, and venue.
Who should make an appointment at the Lounge?
At some point or another, most of our SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) customers would benefit from an appointment at the Lounge. To give you an idea, here are a few scenarios when it would be particularly helpful:
- To create a custom packaging design for a brand-new product
- If you don’t like the look of your current packaging
- To solve a packaging problem, such as:
- Speed up packing process and efficiency
- Reduce damages / returns
- Reduce amount of packaging used
- Reduce packaging costs
- Change to a completely different packaging material
- To try sustainable alternatives and see how they perform, such as:
- Paper-based
- Recycled or recyclable plastic-based
- Innovative solutions that don’t need voidfill
- Vegan-friendly solutions
- To experiment with print branding to find ideal placement on your packaging
- To see for yourself how your packaging performs under stress (in the trial room)
- To have more involvement and ownership over your unique packaging design
- And, above all, if you want an intensive and enjoyable packaging design experience, where you leave at the end of the appointment with a working prototype that ticks all your boxes.
Who owns the finished packaging design?
Actionpoint owns the intellectual property of the design created during your appointment at the Lounge.
Can I take the finished design to another packaging company?
Yes. You are not tied into using us. But, as we own the intellectual property of the finished design, there will be a fee charged for taking the design to another packaging supplier. The cost varies depending on the complexity of the design and the time taken to create it, but to give you an idea a rough price range could be between £200 and £500.
What equipment is at the Lounge?
- A full suite of computer-aided design (CAD) software, including 3D visualisation and prototyping
- CAD plotting table
- A large format digital printer that will print onto virtually any substrate
- A range of corrugated board / box testing equipment
- A range of equipment for testing various aspects of flexible films / materials
- A range of Storopack voidfill systems
Which members of my team should attend the appointment?
We recommend you bring a representative from each aspect of your packaging process. This may be just one person who has all the knowledge, or a team of individuals from key areas such as purchasing, project managing, quality, and warehouse operations.
What are the pros of using the Lounge?
- It greatly speeds up the process of creating bespoke packaging. Instead of several weeks of going back and forth – agreeing the design, creating samples, and making tweaks – everything is done in one appointment. You walk away with a printed, physical sample ready to go.
- If you don’t know what to do for the best with your packaging, this is your chance to ask the experts, get in-depth answers, and brainstorm ideas together based on what you want your packaging to achieve.
- An appointment demystifies your packaging, giving you a better understanding of what materials, products, and solutions would work best and why. It helps you to make informed purchasing decisions that will improve packing efficiencies, customer unboxing experience, and your bottom line.
- It puts you in the driving seat, giving you complete control over your packaging every step of the way.
- The process can be repeated, so it’s ideal for trying out different materials – such as our Eden range of eco packaging – and get hands-on with your print branding to create perfectly positioned artwork with a wow factor.
- Find it hard to visualise images in your mind? At the Lounge, you are shown 3D graphics displaying all angles of the design on a large screen – like a virtual tour – with the designer there to explain the images and answer any questions. Plus, you get to see and hold physical packaging prototypes in your hand, no guesswork involved!
- Bespoke packaging with a bespoke experience. If you want to immerse yourself in the whole packaging design process, you can. If you want to dip into specific aspects and leave others to the design team, you can. And if you want to complete work tasks during the appointment, you are welcome to use the Lounge’s co-working areas and break-out space.
- Refreshments and catering options are included during your visit.
What are the cons?
- This isn’t suitable for everyone. If you’re completely happy with your current packaging and have no need or desire to change then we’re not going to try and persuade you otherwise – the Lounge is not for you!
- If you do not want to have control over every aspect of your packaging, and you would rather leave it to the experts to sort it all out for you, then the Lounge wouldn’t be the best use of your time.
- If the products you need packaging for are exceptionally large, such as bulky machinery or equipment, they may not fit on the cutting table in one go. This would require separate packaging parts to be created and fixed together, and so would take longer to do – adding more time to the length of your appointment.
- There are some product tests that can’t be completed on site, such as vibration testing to replicate transport conditions. However, if requested we can outsource transit testing to a known and trusted packaging laboratory. Added to this, we are continually improving the facility so new equipment will be introduced as time goes on.
- An appointment will involve time out of the workplace, and travel, which we understand can be very difficult. However, we are confident that it will be worth your while – and your new packaging may even save you time and money in the long run. Plus, the Lounge offers plenty of co-working and break-out space, so you don’t have to lose a whole workday if you can complete tasks on your laptop and phone.
How soon can I make an appointment?
We are open to bookings now. Simply contact your account manager, call 0800 840 9570 or send us a message.
