haulwen nicholas, packaging development manager, muller dairy contemplates the year aheadindustry must adapt production setups quickly for shorter runs and promo packswe are coming out of recession. it&rsquos great news for everyone, but for the everyday consumer there is still a growing trend to shopping at the discounters.for major brands this means it&rsquos increasingly difficult to &ldquohook&rdquo in a consumer to be loyal to a brand and not shop on price. then there are the other distractions &ndash much as we may not want to admit it, there are more exciting things to do than shopping for groceries. so how do the brands keep the consumers engaged, in a world with such change and where people have less time and a limited attention spanthe answer is we have to give consumers something new and exciting. because of this, packaging needs to do more it is at the forefront of grabbing the hearts and minds of consumers. so innovative packaging, designer packs, high quality print, unique coding for competitions and promotions is key to the future.but even this is not enough. a brand will only get a couple of months of peak interest before the sales drop off as the consumer bores of the idea and wants the next thing. such promotions last no longer than six months and each time they need to be more exciting than the last. this means as an industry there is a need for change no longer can we rely on high volume production. lower volume runs, in shorter leadtimes, better quality for the same cost are becoming the norm. everyone from packaging manufactures to those that pack the products have to realise this is a trend that is likely to stay with us for some time. so how do we adapt we can&rsquot all rip out our equipment and start again, but we all know that as we invest we need to look at machines which can give us quicker changeover, improved efficiencies, sharper printing and better tolerances.as an industry we need to react quickly, as it&rsquos only going to get faster and more demanding, as everyone looks for packaging that is better, cheaper, with shorter runs, in quicker leadtimes. 
