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Packaging Horizons
Awakening a Sleeping Giant
Earlier this year a delegation of U.S. packaging professionals traveled to China to explore market opportunities, discuss industry technology and find common social ground.
By Robin Litwin
It's been said that as technology grows, the world becomes smaller. The Internet, e-mail, modems, pagers, cellular phones, conference calling and video link-ups have afforded businesspeople the luxury of instant communication from the confines of their offices, cars and homes.
Yet, in light of the high-tech information age and the multiple demands of work and family, it is easy to forget that there is, at times, value in personal, face-to-face communication. Such was the case earlier this year when a group of packaging professionals set their sights on China.
Ironically, the delegation's inception came as a direct result of Women in Packaging's (WP) presence on the Internet. After seeing WP's web-site, the China Women's Association for Science and Technology (CWAST) approached JoAnn Hines, WP's founding executive director, with an invitation to assemble a delegation to visit China. Not long after receiving the invite, Hines found that such a trip generated a great deal of interest among WP members. She began working with Liya International, a Sino-American joint stock corporation dedicated to bringing together Western businesses with their Chinese counterparts, to put together a group.
"I thought it would be an opportunity of a lifetime," Hines recalled. "We were very honored with the request, and it offered a great chance to give global exposure to the association. It's very rare that a women-focused group can take part in such a trade mission."
The trade mission consisted of representatives from all segments of the packaging industry, including scientists, engineers and purchasing managers from such corporate giants as General Mills, IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Coca-Cola, and even private entrepreneurs. Each participant came with his or her own goals, but as a group there was one common mission: to explore the opportunities available in what some are calling one of the largest growth areas of the new millennium.
Growing Pains
The group's two-week professional itinerary included visits to Beijing, Nanjing, Wuxi and Shanghai, along with optional cultural visits to Xian and Guilin, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and Tiannanmen Square. In each city the delegation met with a variety of associations and packaging leaders for roundtable discussions and networking opportunities. They toured several packaging facilities, ranging from a gold leaf factory to aluminum can and corrugated box operations. The varied experiences provided the group with insight into some of the challenges that the Chinese packaging industry faces. As the delegates discovered, some of these obstacles were due, in part, to China's social and political infrastructure.
"What I found most interesting were the differences between the three types of factories: the totally state-controlled, the joint ventures and those owned solely by the Chinese people," explained Leslie Edwards, a designer with Jeffco Inc., Tucson, AZ. "They are struggling with changing from a state-owned society to a privately owned society and therefore need to find people with management skills that fit with private industry."
Others, like Kate Dutrow, a plant manager at International Paper, recognized challenges in product distribution and meeting the packaging demands of a very different culture.
"The biggest challenge I saw was transporting product over long distances and rough roads," said Dutrow, who also recalled the accommodating lifestyle of the Chinese people. "While the U.S. lifestyle is extremely disposable and short-term, the Chinese buy with an eye toward the long-term, and they don't buy very much." China's available natural resources also help to shape the dynamics of its packaging industry. Without a major wood source, the paperboard manufacturers rely heavily on imported raw materials. However, Edwards believes the country's huge reserve of oil will provide the basis for what some of the Chinese delegates predict will be a surge in plastic packaging in the future. Despite these predictions, Dutrow saw enormous growth potential in China's paperboard sector.
"There are a lot of opportunities, not just in the milk carton business, but in corrugated, aseptic packaging and other paper products," she said. Dutrow's sentiments are in large part derived from the fact that many of the corrugated boxes seen by the delegation were not particularly structurally stable. Yet, transportation damage is one of the major issues in the region. This creates a perfect situation for either joint ventures or foreign, low-cost producers to seize a market opportunity.
Sanita Alrey, a packaging engineer at The Minute Maid Co., Houston, TX, added that much of the growth in the region will come from joint ventures, largely because they will pave the way for Chinese businesses to acquire new technology. "Through joint ventures, foreign companies will bring technology to China," Alrey explained. She said it will also allow Chinese businesses to acquire more capital and buy new equipment.
As foreign companies look to China for investment, even in the wake of the region's economic collapse, the Chinese people are seeking to take in what information they can to improve their own businesses. Such issues as the nation's recent decision to privatize its housing will undoubtedly play a role in the country's approach to its main resource--its people. Many in the delegation noted that the great number of people in China has affected the culture in plants to a great extent already. In many areas specific tasks are divied out among several people to ensure a job for everyone.
Despite these differences, the U.S. delegation found many things they shared with their Chinese counterparts. One was that of women in the workplace.
"It's the same in China [as in the United States]," explained Hines. "Women need to learn the skills that will put them at the forefront of visibility within their companies so they will have the same chance at advancement for top promotions.
Yet Anita Miranda, VP/sales and marketing for Packaging Services Unlimited, Roslyn Heights, NY, said she found that [Chinese] women, for the most part, had more time for family. "I think they have a better balance because the workplace allows them to be in touch with their families. We don't support that here," Miranda said.
Partnering potential
The exchange of ideas among the delegates from the United States and those from China lay testimony to the increasing globalization of an industry. Despite differences in culture, infrastructures, language and operations, one commonality was woven through each session: enormous potential can come from international communication. It may take work, but great possibilities exist in the Far East.
Miranda, like others, referred to the country as a "sleeping giant," yet she cautioned that it will take time to awaken it. "I honestly believe that American business has a place in China, but I think we have to navigate slowly," said Miranda, who cautions those who think they can go in, make some quick money and leave. A five-year plan is her advice.
However, in many ways the United States, too, needs to be awakened to the potential of the Far East. For many of the delegates, the trip was a step toward opening the region to their companies. Each person, though on the same trip, took away something different. For instance, Alrey made contact with one of her suppliers and learned of potential contract packaging locations. Packaging Services Unlimited's Miranda said she is now feels more in tune with her workers. Edwards fulfilled her dream of simply seeing China. Hines reinforced her efforts to incorporate a more global business perspective. And International Paper's Dutrow found great potential growth for manufacturing her product.
One thing that every member of the delegation came away with was a great respect for the Chinese people. It is these people--not video links, cellular phones or e-mail messages--who will drive the country's emergence during the next millennium. As history has testified, it is the people behind innovation, exchanging ideas and meeting with each other, who inspire growth on a global basis.
Robin Litwin is the Editor of Boxboard Containers International. She was a member of the WP delegation to China.
Bottom Line Perspective
Understanding Business Travel Objectives
There is no doubting the advantages that stem from international exchange, but at times such travel can be difficult to justify economically. It is no wonder the items squeezed out first are those that may not yield a tangible and immediate effect on the bottom line. However, Greg Kishbaugh, publisher of Boxboard Containers International magazine, says companies need to look at long-term gains when deciding whether to send employees on such ventures.
"First there is benefit to the employees who can broaden their horizons and learn more about their industry," says Kishbaugh, who adds that it's of benefit to the employer to have people learn what is happening abroad. Another benefit is it gives people the chance to interact and make contact with others in their professional group.
Yet Kishbaugh cautions that employers who endorse participation in such delegations should sit down and talk to the employees involved beforehand to ensure they understand why they are going and to make their objectives clear.
As international travel continues to play an important role in learning and growing in the packaging industry, employers and employees alike will need to communicate and approach each new opportunity with a willingness to do what it takes to better their businesses.
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