Custom Design of Packaging through Advanced Technologies: A Case Study Applied to Apples

Materials (Basel). 2019 Feb 3;12(3):467. doi: 10.3390/ma12030467.

Abstract

In the context of food packaging design, customization enhances the value of a product by meeting consumer needs. Personalization is also linked to adaptation, so the properties of the packaging can be improved from several points of view: functional, aesthetic, economic and ecological. Currently, functional and formal properties of packaging are not investigated in depth. However, the study of both properties is the basis for creating a new concept of personalized and sustainable product. In accordance with this approach, a conceptual design procedure of packaging with personalized and adapted geometries based on the digitization of fresh food is proposed in this work. This study is based on the application of advanced technologies for the design and development of food packaging, apples in this work, in order to improve the quality of the packaging. The results obtained show that it is possible to use advanced technologies in the early stages of product design in order to obtain competitive products adapted to new emerging needs.

Keywords: computer aid design (CAD); customization; food packaging; fused deposition modelling (FDM); personalized design; product design; reverse engineering.