This week’s episode of The Downtime, a weekly manufacturing podcast, features Stephanie Neil, vice president and editorial director at WTWH Media.
With more than 20 years covering manufacturing automation, Neil joins Sarah Wynn and Sheri Kasprzak, co-hosts of The Downtime podcast, to discuss a recent story she wrote for Packaging OEM. The feature focuses on Amcor’s sustainable packaging design and how the company utilizes Dassault Systèmes’ 3DExperience platform to improve the development process and reduce waste.
On the Plant Engineering side, Kasprzak also highlights a piece written by Dave Duncan, exploring five manufacturing trends that can accelerate sustainability progress.
Defining the perfect package with Dassault Systèmes: a journalist’s perspective
To open the interview, Neil shares a piece she worked on last summer, featuring an interview with Ray Wodar, Dassault Systèmes’ global director of business consulting for consumer-packaged goods (CPG).
Wodar introduced the concept of the “Perfect Package” and how the initial design impacts the entire product lifecycle.
“When you think about what the perfect package is, it goes from design to end of life,” said Neil.
During the interview, Wodar shared how CPG companies can use Dassault’s digital capabilities, including structural design, modeling and simulation (MODSIM), project management, lifecycle analysis, specifications management, and more.
Read the full interview with Wodar here.
Neil, pictured on the right side of the image, has covered manufacturing automation for more than 20 years. Source: Dassault Systèmes, Stephanie Neil
Amcor is designing the next-generation, more sustainable package: a journalist’s view
Neil’s latest story shines a spotlight on Amcor’s rigid packaging business, where sustainability remains a key pillar.
“Designing sustainable packaging is a core company value for Amcor,” she said, noting the company’s commitment to creating lighter-weight, recyclable, and reusable containers.
To accomplish this, Amcor has used Dassault Systèmes Catia computer-aided design (CAD) software for a long time. Recently, Amcor upgraded to Dassault’s 3DExperience platform, which streamlines recyclable packaging development by integrating CAD and finite element analysis (FEA) simulation in a single workflow.
“When developing a new container, the design engineers will use CAD and a digital twin to simulate the different dynamics of the container,” said Neil. “That might be different shapes, it could be environmental factors or altitude.”
To hear more about how Amcor is combining design, simulation, and sustainability goals – and the digital tools that are reshaping packaging – click here and listen to the full episode with Neil’s insights.
Intelligent packaging: pouches, barcodes, and more
The conversation also highlights the power of the flexible pouch – including consumer convenience and how the format can serve as a marketing platform.
They also explore 2D barcodes – these smart barcodes use dots, squares, and other shapes to encode information and can hold up to 4,000 characters – much more than the 12 digits of a 1D barcode. Consumers can scan 2D barcodes to receive allergens, expiration dates, batch/lot numbers, and more.
Sunrise 2027 is the industry’s date to transition to these smart barcodes at point-of-sale systems.
Episode 16: The Sound of Sustainability | Show notes & time stamps
00:19 – The co-hosts open the episode
00:52 – The co-hosts set the table with this week’s topic, sustainability
01:15 – Discussion about sustainability and this week’s guest, WTWH VP Editorial Director Stephanie Neil
02:28 – Wynn and Kasprzak introduce Stephanie Neil and her story on Amcor using Dassault Systèmes software
03:05 – Interview with Stephanie Neil begins
03:44 – Neil discusses the Amcor sustainable packaging story
09:21 – Discussion about Amcor’s approach to packaging design with Dassault Systèmes’ software
11:58 – Conversation about generative AI and the future of 3D Design
13:02 – Neil mentions Engineering.com’s story on Dassault Systèmes’ partnership with Volkswagen
13:40 – Wynn gives a shout-out to WTWH Media, including B2B publications Design World, Engineering.com, and Fluid Power World
15:00 – The trio chat about flexible packaging, including how pouches like Daisy Sour Cream offer consumer convenience
16:41 – The trio discuss 2D barcodes for packaging
19:31 – Neil’s interview wraps up
20:54 – Kasprzak discusses Plant Engineering sustainability trends from Dave Duncan
25:00 – Start of game time segment
34:07 – The dynamic duo wraps up the show
About The Downtime podcast and co-hosts
The Downtime is a weekly manufacturing podcast from WTWH Media that features insights from its automation and controls publications. It’s co-hosted by Wynn, who serves as the senior editor (digital) for Packaging OEM, and Kasprzak, who is the managing editor for Plant Engineering, Control Engineering, and Consulting-Specifying Engineer.
New episodes are released every Thursday on this website, along with streaming platforms SoundCloud, Spotify, and YouTube.
Check out The Downtime’s archive
Episode 1: Packaging + Robots + Tariffs, Oh, My!
Episode 5: Thinking Inside the Box
Episode 6: Conveyance, Copilots & College Grads
Episode 7: Running on AI and Coffee
Episode 10: Manufacturing Fun!
Episode 12: Digital Transformation
Episode 14: Take a Bite Out of Manufacturing
