For example, one company suspended its capital packaging investments because it’s in the middle of a merger, said the management official for a small water bottler.
Another management executive at a small food company probably represents many others when he said his company hasn’t made plans for packaging expenditures this year. “Our budget this year simply does not allow for it.”
A packaging executive for a large household products company said packaging purchases are being restricted. Management, he noted, is “too busy trying to satisfy the shareholders.”
A production executive for a mid-sized food processor indicated that packaging investments are being curtailed because “no new products have been introduced.”
A maintenance executive for a large milling company said packaging purchases were on hold because “we’re revising other processes in our plants.”
However, sometimes packaging investments stall because the company was actively purchasing in previous years. An engineer for a large cereal maker said purchases beyond replacement are not being made because “most of our equipment is relatively new.”
See the story that goes with this sidebar: How the recession affected packaging
