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From desk-to-desk proofs to digital approval

After an acquisition, packaging approvals could drag on for months. A digital review process brought every one in under a month, and it's still in use.

The situation

A manufacturer had just acquired another company and needed its brands running on the parent company's systems. Packaging approval was entirely manual: design, marketing review, printing and regulatory label checks ran as separate steps. Proofs were printed, checked by hand, signed, and carried from one desk to the next. An approval took anywhere from two weeks to several months, depending on workloads and revisions, so no one could plan around it.

The work

  • Built the workflow and the platform. Moved design, marketing review, printing and regulatory review into one digital process connected to the parent company's systems.
  • Standardized the details that cause errors. Consistent serial coding and date management across every design.
  • Won over the skeptics. Some of the team resisted. A working trial showed them how much time they were spending redoing the same work, and they adopted it.
Results
Longest approvalsMonths → under 1 monthThe longest approvals, once several months, now finish in under a month
TimelinesPredictableApprovals no longer swung with workload and paper handoffs
Years laterStill in useThe process is still in use years later
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