Research the Discipline Construction and Reform of Packaging Engineering Based on the Complete Packaging Solutions Ying-zhe Xiao1,a, Xi-hai Hao1,b, De-jian Zhao1,c 1 School of Packaging and Materials Engineering, Hunan University of Technology, Zhuzhou, China (axiaoyingzhe7410@126.com, bhaoxihai@tom.com, czdjwsx_009@163.com) Abstract - The shortcomings of the existing professional education in the packaging engineering discipline are summarized in this paper, and the new packaging engineering education method is put forward on the basis of regarding packaging system design and providing complete packaging solution as the guiding ideology after researching and analyzing the education and development situation of packaging engineering domestics and abroad. It is emphasized in this work that modern education should focus on practical teaching link and cultivate the students’ awareness of building big project design and system design. These not only make students’ professional comprehensive design ability used maximum efficiently by enterprises and market, but also promote the rapid development of packaging industry. Keywords - packaging engineering, construction, complete packaging solutions products packaging to the environment in using process, try to improve their reusable, and furnish services from professional consulting to complete package solution and the subsequent related services for customers. Obviously, the product concept covers the whole value chain [2]. specialty I. INTRODUCTION Packaging engineering is a new interdisciplinary science which merges with multiple natural sciences and social sciences on the foundation of packaging science and packaging engineering science. At the same time, it is a system engineering combining with technology, engineering, art and culture. Its major content includes the theory of various aspects and their application in the packaging field such as packaging materials, packaging containers, packaging decoration, packaging printing, packaging machinery, packaging technology and craft, packaging test, packaging circulation and management, packaging regulations and so on, and is a significant science foundation of the development of packaging industry[1]. With the expansion of the scale of international commodity exchange and the progress of science and technology, human being has a more profound understanding to the serious influence of the commodity packaging to ecological environment. The requirements of the international packaging are more and more strict, and make up harsh and complex regulations. It requires that packaging workers can't only focus on mastering a single skill, but also should start from products, and can have certain cognitive ability and a considerable degree of mastery to the packing used materials, modeling structure, process manufacturing and the whole process of circulation environment that packing goes through. The development of science gives birth to the whole concept of packaging design. It regards the market as the driver, considers customers’ demands as driven, provides the complete package solution which covers the whole logistics process in the packaging life cycle for customers, efforts to reduce the impact of Fig.1. Disciplinary formation of packaging design II. ANALYSIS OF PRESENT RESEARCH SITUATION AT HOME AND ABROAD A. The education of packaging engineering abroad Through the early investigation, we know that packaging engineering discipline was built in the 1950s in the developed country, such as School of Packaging in American Michigan State University. It was created in the 1950s and has formed to the complete system of cultivating the packaging engineering bachelor, master and doctor till the 1990s. At present, there are 39 universities that are training the packaging engineering talents at any levels in American, including five universities offering Master Degree and two universities offering Ph.D.[3]. Packaging engineering education in Europe was almost in step with that in US. Several Europe countries, such as Germany, Britain and France, are more developed relatively. Here, the higher education system which trains Bachelors, Masters and Ph.Ds at every level in packaging area is nearly perfect in German, such as Germany Dortmund University, Stuttgart Printing College, Berlin Institute of Technology, Packaging Technology major of the Leipzig Higher School in Germany and so on. Besides, France has had Packaging College, while there are also packaging engineering in Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, India and Thailand. The professional education of packaging engineering pays attention to the cultivation of the students’ comprehensive ability in foreign, for instance American universities attaches great importance to the humanities applications and reflects in packaging design, while Germany pay more attention to the practical skills and the teaching of management knowledge needed by enterprise[4]. B. Domestic education of packaging engineering In China, Jiangnan University is the first to set up the packaging engineering discipline. Since 1962 the packaging engineering course has been started. It began to recruit undergraduate in the name of Packaging Machinery in 1977 and try to set up Packaging Engineering degree in1984. In the same year, it also began to cultivate graduate students in the direction of packaging technologies and equipment research [4]. At present, since the background that packaging engineering relies on is different in universities and colleges of China, its teaching and curriculum mode are also various, and roughly trend to the following aspects respectively: packaging machinery, packaging decoration, food packaging, packaging and printing, packaging CAD, etc. Due to different emphasis, students cultivated appear to the situation that the guide direction is disordered in the filed of employment, resulting in some students at school have confusion and misunderstanding on the profession, and even start to "mud along". The research of our colleges and universities to the course system of integrated packaging design has not been reported. Only Jiangnan University has opened the course of packaging system design, and made a preliminary study of the direction. C. Study and requirements of packaging enterprises at home In terms of the enterprise, currently, a great majority of packaging enterprises are the processing factory of packing and printing in China. In generally, according to the needs of customers, they manufacture directly the regularly packaging and printing products. The so-called work that the design and development department needs to do is essentially "copying". Basically there are not comprehensive designs to characteristics of products. Currently, only two or three companies, such as Nefab (NEFAB) Packaging Engineering Co., LTD, Tokyo holdings Co., LTD and so on, have implemented the research about the complete packaging solutions. Although enterprises hope that colleges can cultivate a group of compound design talents with high comprehensive quality, our graduates are difficult to bear the burden of finishing the complete package solution. Hence, for the characteristics of professional marginal and cross-discipline of packaging engineering, the personal training should be clear about the location of the output talents in the packaging area based on satisfying the requirements of the job market and social industry. In addition, it’s necessary to raise the student’s comprehensive ability of engaging in packaging system design and performing the complete package solutions. III. TEACHING CHARACTERISTICS AND EXISTING PROBLEMS OF PACKAGING ENGINEERING In China packaging engineering is an emerging interdisciplinary and comprehensive profession. Although its development speed is quick and has made great progress, many courses still use directly the theory system of the related subject because of the short time of running school and the relatively weak foundation. This is why packaging professional students have a heavy burden of course, the weak theoretical knowledge and general professional features. At present, the teaching content of packaging engineering mainly has the following characteristics in China [5]: First, although it involves more than the subject system, the mina core is packaging design. Second, there are lots of course, and time is tight. The support that some professional class, or basic course and leading class provide is insufficient. To achieve the purpose of teaching, professional classes have to give consideration to the foundation and related interdisciplinary subjects. Meanwhile, the new technology is developing very quickly and needs to be reflected to the course in time. Besides, a contradiction of class tight is more outstanding. Third, these involved problems are in a wide range with strong practicality. This is accepted by public in the industry. The former reflects interdisciplinary characteristics, while the latter incarnates the characteristics of modern packaging industry. From the point of view of curriculum system, there are the following problems [6]: 1) The curriculum system of packaging engineering is lack of integrity. The consistency of arrangements between a course and another related course is inadequate. Furthermore, there is a repeated phenomenon in part of the course content. 2) There are more prominent contradictions between the reduction of professional class hours and the large capacity of packaging engineering courses; 3) We are lack of case analysis teaching materials of packaging engineering design with strong comprehensive performance. 4) The practical teaching links don’t continue to keep up with because of equipment, supplies and another reason; 5) The traditional teaching method can stimulate the students' autonomous learning. Students' innovative consciousness and ability can’t be developed. IV. BASICS IDEA OF THE PROFESSION CONSTRUCTION A. Establish the central link of the specialty construction and reform of packaging engineering According to demands of packing industry and market for the integrated design talents of packaging engineering, it’s time to adjust the course system. We should restructure the course structure, optimize the teaching plan integrally the core curriculum and the corresponding teaching outline, and determine the practical teaching requirements and the teaching outline of practical course on account of the needed knowledge, ability and quality structure. Moreover, we would research the training target and plan of creative realization for packaging engineering professional comprehensive design talents based on the complete packaging solutions, and reform the existing teaching methods and means. It is also necessary to organize to write and public the supporting professional teaching materials or handouts. B. The core ideas of teaching reform 1) Establishing thoughts of the complete packaging solutions in the course system. 2) To perfect teaching system and curriculum system. Through the teacher's teaching reform and practice, the teaching system of packaging engineering course should be revised and perfect in order to let it suit the education law better. At the same time we ought to make it satisfy the demand of enterprises and times. Besides, the course relating to the complete packaging design should be optimized and integrated. The course system could be further improved. And students' comprehensive engineering design ability and the basic skill training need to be strengthened. 3) Deepening and perfecting the joint training of universities and companies Through the strengthening of the combination of production, study and research, the students' participation could be cultivated so that students can have an opportunity to participate the development of products packaging in enterprises, and finish project design systematically and independently which is closely with the market. So we can cultivate compound design talents for enterprises, and improve the employment rate of graduates; meanwhile we will further deepen and perfect the joint training of universities and companies based on the all-round teaching reform about the complete packaging solutions. V. KEY PROBLEMS OF PROFESSIONAL CONSTRUCTION AND EDUCATION REFORM A. Clear about the core content of packaging system design and complete packaging solutions Packaging system thinking mode comes from the way of modern system thinking. For the sake of making up for shortcomings of a single discipline and profession, we usually carry out the integrated design which is active, interdisciplinary and cross-major by systematic thinking methodology[7]. Generally speaking, the packaging system consists of elemental composition, structure components and function constitute (as the following figure). Fig.2. Composition of packaging system The complete package solutions applies the marketing idea to the packaging industry, and is a set of system services which packing suppliers (manufacturers) provide from the selection of packaging materials and suppliers, to the packaging design and production, to logistics and distribution until the end-user[8]. This is the more widely consideration category of packaging system design. Fig.3. Basics workflow of the complete packaging solutions In the process of the teaching reform, first of all thoughts of complete packaging solutions should be established clearly. Then teachers should guide students to change traditional and inherent concept in packaging design, and train students’ design thinking mode in view of system design and the great engineering design. It ought to be treated as a key point to train students’ practical ability. And the classroom learning should be combined with practical problems as far as possible. We should train students' practical ability; at the same time it is necessary to strengthen their independent creative realization. On the basis of understanding the basic production mode of packaging industry, it should be done to constantly develop students' creative thinking, put forward own views and the feasibility creative design from multiple angles such as packing structure and modeling, protection, logistics and distribution, sale mode, market management, etc, [9] and cultivated students’ adaptability for change in the market or the design process. B. The optimization and integration of courses In accordance with requirements of packing system design and the coverage of complete packaging solutions, the main professional course will be optimized and integrated (as the following picture)[10]. The teaching status is able to be established about a series of courses of packaging system design and complete packaging solutions. And students' interest to learn and participate should be improved. We expect to be able to finally improve the teaching result through the flexible and various teaching methods [11]. The main means include: 1) The comparison and analysis of excellent cases Through showing the videos of excellent design cases at home and abroad for students, we should guide students to participate in the discussion on the basis of analyzing the integrated design process. All kinds of basics design theory will be combined with design practice in the interactive classroom atmosphere. And let students feel that the comprehensive engineering design is not far away from him. 2) Deepening practice operation further The teachers should understand all kinds of information in time. According to the existing condition, teachers can also set some actual or virtual packaging design topic for students, and encourage them to practice and apply all sorts of design knowledge that has been learned to the subject. Meanwhile they are able to weave together the content involved in every link of the whole package together, guide the students to become familiar with the actual operational program of packaging production. There’s no doubt that it will make students leisurely as they need to deal with practical issues of production which may be encountered in future work. Fig.4. Course system satisfying the packaging system design and overall solutions C. Broadening the students' horizons It can be done to introduce the education mode of the international advanced packaging design, such as paying attention to train students' comprehensive ability, attaching importance to the application of the humanities in packaging design, emphasizing to train the practical skills and management knowledge, ect. VI. CONCLUSION During cultivating students’ ability of designing comprehensive system and finishing the complete packaging solutions, the key is that students should set up the awareness of the great project design and system design. In addition, it is also very important that we are involved in the practical base as much as possible. We can use all effective ways, such as practice, practice base projects, enterprises’ production videos’ analysis, classroom cases’ discussion, course design, graduation design and so on, to gradually strengthen and train the students' practical ability step by step. Under the guidance though of the complete packaging solutions we should formulate the talent training scheme, meet the need of the market and enterprises; According to these needs, the students should be trained as enterprise-order-form. These not only make students’ professional comprehensive design ability used maximum efficiently by enterprises and market, but also promote the rapid development of packaging industry and provide the helpful reference for the national education reform. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The work was Supported by Education Reform & Research Project of Hunan Provincial Education Department (Xiangjiaotong[2010]Number 243-258). REFERENCES [1] Wu Ruomei, Liang Jun, Liu Yusheng. Research green circulation system of packaging engineering based on the circular economical mode[J]. China Packaging, 2006 (3):50-52. [2] Wang Hongjiang, Li Yan, Hu Yaguang. Primary Investigation of Complete Packaging Solutions[J], Packaging and Food Machinery, 2010 (1): 39-42 [3] Song Baofeng, Cheng Hong, Xiang Hong, etc. Talents’ training characteristics and inspiring in The United States Institute of Packaging[J]. Packaging Engineering, 2002(6): 107-111. 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