Insights

Our books explore packaging beyond formats and containers, focusing instead on systems, failure modes, economics, and operational reality.

They are written for:

• Executives and operators
• Packaging manufacturers and suppliers
• Retailers and platform operators
• Investors, private equity, and venture groups

Each book addresses recurring questions we encounter in advisory and diligence work, including:

• Why packaging designs fail when manufacturing and equipment are ignored
• How cost, sustainability, and performance tradeoffs are misunderstood
• Where packaging decisions quietly erode margin or scalability
• How packaging influences integration risk and investment outcomes

Some titles are published; others are in active development.

All reflect the same systems-based perspective that informs our advisory work.

Sneak previews and excerpts are provided to give readers context and to support executive and investor discussions.

In addition to long-form writing, we publish articles and technical commentary addressing specific packaging issuesacross industries and operating environments.

These articles are not marketing content.

They are written to explain how packaging systems actually behave — and where common assumptions break down.

Topics commonly addressed include:

• Packaging design versus manufacturing reality
• Materials behavior and process limitations
• Equipment, automation, and line-level implications
• Sustainability claims versus real-world outcomes
• Retail, club store, and private-label packaging risk
• E-commerce, distribution, and damage dynamics
• Packaging considerations in investment and M&A contexts

Rather than maintaining a chronological blog, articles are organized by theme and system pressure, reflecting how packaging issues arise in practice.

Our full archive of published articles is available in a structured library, with downloadable PDFs organized by topic.

This library is frequently used to:

• Frame executive conversations
• Support venture, private equity, and M&A diligence
• Provide context before or after advisory engagements
• Illustrate category-specific packaging issues

Our books and articles are often used as reference tools within engagements — not as substitutes for advisory work, but as accelerators.

They help:

• Establish shared understanding
• Reduce friction in complex discussions
• Clarify tradeoffs before decisions are locked

In many cases, a focused article or excerpt allows conversations to start at a higher level, saving time and avoiding misalignment.

Everything published here is grounded in real operating environments — manufacturing floors, production lines, retail aisles, fulfillment centers, and diligence rooms.

This work reflects:

• Direct involvement in packaging design and execution
• Deep familiarity with materials, equipment, and production processes
• Experience across retail, e-commerce, regulated products, and bulk environments
• Ongoing advisory work with executives, operators, and capital partners

The goal is not volume.
It is clarity.

If a specific article, book excerpt, or packaging issue brought you here — or raised questions worth discussing — we’re happy to continue the conversation.

Packaging Resources is led by Eric Faber, an advisor, author, and systems strategist whose work spans packaging manufacturing, materials, equipment, retail, foodservice, e-commerce, and capital environments.

Eric’s perspective is grounded in decades of hands-on experience working with packaging manufacturers, brands, retailers, contract packagers, and investors on decisions where design intent, manufacturing reality, operational performance, and economic outcomes intersect. His work frequently involves situations where packaging choices carry meaningful implications for scalability, compliance, margin durability, and risk.

In addition to advisory work, Eric is the author of multiple published and forthcoming books and articles focused on packaging as a system—examining how fragmented decision-making across design, materials, equipment, sourcing, and distribution leads to predictable failure modes. This writing is regularly referenced in executive, investor, and diligence discussions to establish shared context and accelerate complex conversations.

Through Packaging Resources and its broader advisory ecosystem, Eric works with organizations navigating manufacturing upgrades, packaging design and validation, retail and e-commerce performance challenges, equipment and line-design decisions, and investment or M&A considerations.

This combination of practical operating exposure and systems-level thinking informs both the firm’s advisory work and its published insights.

In addition to advisory and publishing work, Eric has been actively involved in the broader packaging community through leadership and participation in professional and trade organizations, including the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP), American Beverage Association, American Chemistry Council, and packaging trade publications such as Packaging Digest and Packworld. These engagements support ongoing dialogue around standards, materials, manufacturing, and performance realities that inform Packaging Resources’ systems-based advisory perspective.