Packaging: Educational, Profitable — and Fun
More than one management guru has professed that what we do
for a living should be fun as well as profitable. Too often we lose sight of
that in the daily rush to get things done.
I recently learned of an educational program sponsored by
APL Ltd., a global container operator, along with its sister company APL
Logistics, that brings the world of packaging and logistics into the classroom.
First and foremost, the program is fun. It teaches kids geography, global trade,
and what transportation and logistics are all about. Someone has to tell the
kids. They’re not learning this stuff from their parents at home. And,
shocking as it might be, now there are even television ads that show warehouses
and pallets of goods!
The Boomerang Box program illustrates the way raw material
and goods move from one continent to another through international trade. Based
on a traveling 40-foot cargo container (the “Boomerang Box”), the
program includes a popular Web site (apl.com/boomerangbox) where teachers and
school children can track the container’s movements around the world and
learn about numerous aspects of international trade, logistics and
transportation. Last year, APL also launched a mobile classroom in a 20-foot
container called Boomerang Box Junior.
“We’re delighted that the educational outreach
represented by the Boomerang Box has received such high recognition,”
says Ed Aldridge, APL’s president for the Americas. “International
trade is breaking down barriers and fundamentally changing the world. We think
it’s vital that school kids understand the role that trade plays in their
lives.”
The program’s effective and easy-to-use curriculum is
packaged in three levels for students from kindergarten through 12th grade. The
program is currently in use at more than 200 schools worldwide, and the Web
site averages 1,000 hits per month. APL has received e-mail communications
about the Boomerang Box from teachers and students worldwide.
Among the many cargoes carried in the Boomerang Box have
been grain shipped for CARE from the U.S. to India; a decorative pavilion
transported from Chongquing, China, for the Seattle, Washington, Chinese
Garden; and computer monitors sent from Korea to Hamburg, Germany.
The Boomerang Box program was begun four years ago by APL in
partnership with the Port of Seattle.
Another worthy educational effort, focused at a higher
level, is the work being done by the Packaging Education Forum (PEF). The
organization has for the past 40 years or so (its predecessor was the Packaging
Education Foundation) created a bridge between university graduates with
technical, marketing and management education in packaging, and the business
community.
The corporate-membership organization has provided millions
of dollars to 24 universities for activities ranging from research projects to
establishment of academic programs providing degrees or majors in packaging
technology.
PEF brings together packaging industry leaders who discuss
industry and technical trends and needs. This year, at Pack Expo Las Vegas,
September 9-12, PEF will induct four career packaging professionals into the
Packaging Hall of Fame during its annual awards ceremony. This year’s
inductees are Dr. Melvin Druin, retired vice president of packaging, Campbell
Soup Company; Lloyd Ferguson, president, Summit Publishing Company; Ted Marquis
Sr., founder and president, MARQ Packaging Systems Inc.; and Yoshikane Mito,
director and chairman of the Japan Packaging Institute.
“These individuals are packaging professionals who
spent their careers inventing and refining the packaging material, containers,
machinery and components that affect every consumer on this planet,” says
Ben Miyares, president, PEF.
Who says work has to be all work? Just more proof that
packaging can be fun and personally rewarding — as well as profitable.
Clyde E. Witt
executive editor
cwitt@penton.com
