Rebecca Oesterle: Energizer Case At Structural Packaging Summit
The “Structural Packaging Summit,” will be kicking off in only a couple of months. As Newlogic’ President, Marc Drucker, continues to review patent reform and it’s relation to the future of packaging the rest of Newlogic is hard at work reviewing upcoming presentations.
Rebecca Oesterle has worked at Energizer for 26 years and is currently the manager of global packaging development at Energizer Holdings. Rebecca will be presenting “Case Studies in Success: The Easy-Open Battery Package,” which describes the collaboration with Tegrant to develop an EZ Turn and Lock battery blister package for hearing aids.
Greg: What are some of the highlights of your presentation?
Rebecca: I plan on taking the audience through the ideation & implementation process of creating our new EZ Turn & Lock package for hearing aid batteries.
Greg: Your research indicates that you worked with Tegrant and other collaborators to develop new packaging, what inspired you to work with them?
Rebecca: For the package structure itself, we only worked with Tegrant. At the time they were one of our blister card suppliers and had knowledge of thermoforming blisters. We had an idea of how we wanted the card & blister to work together but needed their expertise to help finalize the design. The other collaboration was mostly internal except for finalizing the graphics on the structure.
Greg: How do you work with R&D departments?
Rebecca: Well my group is for all intents & purposes the packaging R&D department. We have a highly skilled group of packaging professionals and a state of the art Package Design Center that the organization can rely upon. Several of us our trained facilitators and we routinely engage cross functional groups in ideation sessions. Some ideation sessions are conducted to answer a specific consumer need, while others are more “what if.” When we need some outside assistance then we look to our trusted suppliers or a select group of Package Design firms. Many times we’ll bring them in during the ideation phase to spur thought or we’ll reach out to them during design finalization if we feel we need them.
Greg: What’s your background in the industry?
Rebecca: I came into packaging originally as an Industrial Engineering in packaging areas of Energizer’s manufacturing complex. Later I had production management responsibilities of packaging areas. I then had Supply Chain responsibilities with major retailers and packaging was often in the mix. I officially began having packaging in my title in 2004 when I became the manager of packaging development for Energizer in the U. S. At that point, I got more involved in the industry, attending conferences and packaging specific training. This led me to obtain my CPP through IoPP, I then enrolled in the Executive Leader Master’s Program in Packaging Sciences at RIT and received my M. S. in 2009. I am currently the Leader of Global Packaging Development for Energizer Household Products.
The "Structural Packaging Summit" takes place from February 28 to March 1st in St. Augustine Florida. Go to the structural packaging summit's website if you're interested in registering.
Compiled by Greg Covelle & John Cass