Authors: Asta Salmi; Joona Keränen; Leena Aarikka-Stenroos; Tuomas Kalinainen
Digitalization and new IT solutions are influencing business networks. As one example, intelligent packaging solutions are quickly developing and will be increasingly implemented in value chains that involve tangible products. It is bound to benefit different business networks as well as end consumers. Currently, intelligent packaging seems to be used by single companies that manage the whole supply chain and therefore do not need to convince other companies to use these offerings. Consequently, intelligent packaging is not yet prevalent in networks of multiple companies. This paper sets out to analyze adoption of intelligent packaging on a larger scale, with the purpose of understanding what would enhance its implementation in networks. Intelligent packaging may be a component that is added to a normal package, or be the whole package itself, providing intelligence into the product through packaging. This study focuses on such intelligent packaging solutions like indicator, sensor, monitoring and interaction technologies that can be printed or added into packaging. The goal of this study is to investigate the drivers and barriers related to adopting and implementing intelligent packaging solutions in value chains and business networks. We compare the supplier’s views of intelligent packaging business and its implementation to those of its customers for the purposes of seeing how different actors in the network (value chain) perceive this business. This allows us to shed light on the drivers and barriers that different network actors associate with the adoption and implementation of intelligent packaging solutions in business networks. Our case study concerns a forest industry company (supplier) and focuses on its grocery, tobacco, pharmaceutical and cardboard packaging value chains as examples. We interviewed people at different departments of the company, to understand the supplier’s perspective. Furthermore, we interviewed four customer companies of this supplier. In total we conducted 12 face-to-face interviews in four European countries, as well as ran continuous discussions with the supplier company. This study contributes to our understanding of the adoption of intelligent packaging solutions in particular, but also more generally to adoption of innovations that influence several actors in business networks. Our findings also suggest possible solutions for commercialization of intelligent packaging solutions.
Journal: n.a. (n.a. – n.a.)
Web Address: n.a.
Publish Year: 2016
Conference: Poznan, Poland (2016)