Interview with Pierre Pienaar MSc FAIP, Director, Packtech Solutions
Thursday, 22 May, 2014
I joined the AIP in 2003 and became a Fellow in 2005. I am extremely blessed and will be eternally grateful to the Australian packaging industry for being so accepting of me when I first entered the industry in 2001.
My company is reliant on me staying ahead of today’s issues, technologies and innovations in packaging. The AIP provides the guidance and the resources that I require to succeed in packaging, both today and in the future. I am recognised as a dedicated professional member of the packaging profession by my peers.
It is a rare product than can be separated from its pack when considering the power of packaging to sell a product. Cost is the top factor driving our industry today and the biggest driver of cost is packaging design. More and more emphasis will be placed on designing with the end in mind, be that sustainability, standardisation, rationalisation, food safety, recyclability and the perceived ‘greenness’ of packaging. For me it all revolves around the actual design of the packaging. So much can be driven at the design stage, keeping the end of the life of the package in mind.
Education in the industry is paramount to me, not only here within Australia but beyond our borders in the international community. My intention is to promote professional standards of competency through education and training and, at the same time, to advance and promote the standing of packaging specialists as a profession.
As a packaging technology consultant, I frequently hear about the shortage of skilled people in the packaging industry, particularly those with a formal education in packaging.
My advice to those starting in the industry is to become packaging-educated. We need to provide people with educational opportunities today to meet the demands of the workplaces of tomorrow. Education is for life - it is an investment that cannot be lost, spent or taken away.
My greatest achievement in the industry is being able to give, in some small way, something back to the industry that has given me so much. My aim is to serve our industry through education until I am no longer able to do so.
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