As 2024 gets closer to wrapping up, it makes sense to have a bit of a recap on the year and reflect on some of the lessons learned throughout the year.
So here are 5 Lessons learned;
One – Change is still the only thing guaranteed
As much as we talk about it, the reality is, change is still one of the only things guaranteed in this world.
Our industry experiences lots of changes that impact how we do business. For example, the change in a national standardisation of kerbside recycling came into effect 1st of February 2024, meaning that councils and regions around the country were all aligned with what materials were accepted and not accepted.
We also saw the US Dollar continue to change throughout the year making it hard to forecast, budget and ultimately cost projects and opportunities confidently and consistently.
Two – Sustainability projects and conversations started taking a back seat
This lesson is probably a flow-on effect from the cost of living continuing to play havoc across the market.
As wallets tightened and revenue and profits got squeezed, it meant other things needed to give way and it felt like the market was starting to prioritise projects on whether or not they could produce a quick return on investment, if it didn’t, it typically got pushed back.
Unfortunately, sustainability projects seemed to fall into this very category of not demonstrating a quick return on investment and therefore started taking a back seat conversion compared to the previous years.
Three – Collaboration is still key to innovation
Innovation continues to be a must for many (even during a tighter market). However, the challenge many faced was how to achieve that with limited to no resources, or little to no funding.
From our experience, the best way to innovate was to collaborate. We discovered that getting different stakeholders in a room from different industries and markets created new perspectives and opportunities to solve complex problems.
Four – Having a clear strategy helps a lot!
One of the ways to get through challenging years is to ensure you have a clear strategy ahead. If anything, it’s even more important to get clearer on this.
Why?
When things are out of your control such as US Dollar, Freight, Markets downturns, and Raw Materials controlling what you can becomes quite critical in getting through the tougher times.
Equally, when we have a clear strategy, the activities typically become easier to execute.
Five – Don’t forget to pause and rest
This year not only felt hard, but took a lot of energy to get through. It was tough for many and simply getting through to this point was seen to be a success (and is!).
This brings us to our last lesson which is, ensuring you take time to pause and rest. Even the best need to apply this approach and sometimes this is easier said than done but is important for pushing through.
So, if you’re one of those people who just managed to get through 2024, we hope you have an opportunity to pause and rest during the festive season.
Finally, lessons are great to reflect on, but what we find even more important is to take those reflections and lessons and put them into practice or action.
Till next time
Hi-Tech Packaging Team