Factory automation, material traceability and regulatory requirements reshape packaging
During a recent Automotive Logistics livestream, Toyota’s Andy Winebloom and Stellantis’ Dan Hankinson discussed the challenges of designing packaging for automated production, tracing material content through supply chains and managing evolving regulatory requirements.
In this clip from Automotive Logistics’ packaging livestream, Dan Hankinson, director of Mopar global product regulatory compliance, transformation and governance at Stellantis (sharing his own perspective, not the views of Stellantis) and Andy Winebloom, senior manager at Toyota Motor Europe discussed how automation, material traceability and evolving packaging regulations are influencing packaging design, supply chain decisions and cost management.
Designing packaging for automated production
Packaging design becomes significantly more complex when automated equipment is introduced into production, according to Toyota's Andy Winebloom, as manufacturers must coordinate the development of packaging with equipment that may not yet have been designed.
Winebloom explained that conventional packaging development typically involves selecting a box or stillage, determining whether dunnage is required and agreeing how parts should be positioned. Once automation enters the process, however, packaging may need additional features, including clamping mechanisms that machinery can release, moving components and rollers to feed parts into equipment.
These requirements can make packaging more like production equipment than simply a means of transporting components. Because packaging and automation must often be ready simultaneously, manufacturers have less time to test, adjust and resolve problems before implementation.
Accuracy is another consideration. Where automated equipment lacks vision systems or other intelligence to locate components independently, packaging must position each part consistently and precisely. That increases the importance of manufacturing tolerances, adding to development time and cost.
The challenge is therefore to account for automation requirements early enough in a new model's development to ensure that packaging and equipment work together without creating delays or additional expense further down the line.
Traceability and digital product passports
For Stellantis' Hankinson, the growing demands of packaging compliance mean manufacturers need to understand not only what materials they buy, but also what those materials contain and where they originate.
This requires visibility beyond the immediate supplier, including information about raw material sources, recycled content and potentially restricted substances in packaging components such as printing inks. Manufacturers must also be able to verify suppliers' claims and maintain a reliable chain of custody through multiple tiers.
Hankinson highlighted how traceability can have commercial as well as regulatory implications, citing examples of US state programmes offering financial incentives to businesses that can demonstrate their post-consumer recycled content comes from local sources.
Digital product passports could provide a way to organise and communicate this information, Hankinson noted, suggesting that packaging passports might eventually connect with passports for the products they contain, linking packaging data to products moving through the supply chain. He stressed that this was a prediction about the direction of regulation, rather than a description of settled requirements.
For packaging and logistics teams, this means developing the ability to collect, store and share reliable data now, rather than waiting for future requirements to become mandatory. “If you don't start building your blocks right now, you're going to have a really tough time catching up,” Hankinson warned.
Aligning business priorities and forecasting costs
Both Hankinson and Winebloom emphasised the need to bring different business functions together when making packaging decisions. Winebloom argued that departments such as purchasing, logistics and finance can become focused on their own key performance indicators (KPIs), resulting in decisions that benefit individual functions rather than the business as a whole.
“Generally, whoever shouts the loudest will win, but it might not be the best overall solution for the company from a cost or an environmental point of view,” he said.
In his experience, aligning departments around common KPIs makes it easier to identify the best total cost and reach agreement on packaging decisions.
Hankinson highlighted the importance of forecasting how changes in sales, product mix and packaging design could affect future costs. Models that connect sales volumes with anticipated packaging fees, for example, could help finance and sales teams plan ahead, while identifying opportunities to improve competitiveness.
Achieving this requires reliable data from suppliers and an understanding of what different internal and external customers need. Hankinson said packaging and compliance specialists are increasingly being brought into commercial discussions, rather than being consulted only when problems arise.
Simplifying compliance through data and innovation
Looking towards 2030, Hankinson identified transparency, scalability and simplicity as priorities with the expansion of packaging regulations including extended producer responsibility (EPR) programmes.
Requirements vary between jurisdictions, particularly across US states – where differences in packaging categories and fee structures can make compliance difficult to manage consistently. Hankinson argued that businesses need scalable systems to collect and translate data, rather than relying on spreadsheets or numerous disconnected tools.
His priorities included “transparency of data, the ability to collect it easily” and simplifying the systems used to manage packaging obligations.
Winebloom, meanwhile, argued that regulation could act as a catalyst for innovation rather than simply an additional burden. Toyota's approach, he said, is that “problems are opportunities”, with new materials and manufacturing technologies potentially reducing costs as they become more widely adopted.
Although the transition is likely to bring short-term costs and operational challenges, Winebloom said that he expects it could ultimately produce more cost-competitive products with better environmental performance.
For automotive manufacturers and their logistics partners, the challenge is to combine reliable data, coordinated decision-making and packaging innovation to meet regulatory requirements while improving supply chain efficiency.
Watch the full livestream on demand here and don't forget to register for Automotive Logistics' next livestream – 2026 in review and trends for 2027 – on December 2, 2026.
