“My printer already manages our packaging… for free!”
By Daniela Infante - Client Success Manager My Media Connect
“We don’t need a platform to manage packaging approvals: our printer already takes care of it. And for free.”
It’s an answer we hear from large and mid-sized companies alike. And at first glance it sounds reasonable: if a trusted supplier handles a complex task without charging for it separately, why bring in another solution?
The question, however, shouldn’t stop at price. There’s another one worth asking: who really controls the files, the approvals and the knowledge accumulated about our packaging?
1. No extra cost doesn’t mean no cost
A digital platform requires technology, maintenance, storage and support. The fact that these services aren’t itemised on an invoice doesn’t mean they cost nothing: they are usually built into the overall price or absorbed by the supplier as part of its commercial offer.
There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that. It can be a useful and competitive solution. What matters is knowing what it includes, what its limitations are and what happens when the relationship ends.
Before comparing a “free” platform with a paid one, it’s worth comparing the full service: features, autonomy, access to files and exit conditions.
2. A process that’s efficient for the supplier doesn’t always cover all your needs
The printer’s or prepress house’s tool may be perfectly designed to organise its own production. But a brand’s packaging management starts before printing and involves many more people.
Marketing reviews the brand identity; R&D, the product information; Regulatory and Legal, the copy and applicable requirements; Procurement coordinates suppliers. Agencies, translators and teams in different countries are involved too.
The question is whether everyone works within a process designed for the company, or has to adapt to the system of one particular supplier with different objectives.
Outsourcing tasks can be efficient. Handing over all visibility of the process deserves, at the very least, some thought.
3. The acid test: what happens if you change supplier?
Imagine that tomorrow you decide to work with another printer. Can you retrieve the editable files, the approved final artworks and their versions? The comments and approvals too? In what format, timeframe and conditions?
A final PDF is not the same as the full set of information needed to carry on working independently.
Portability is not a marginal concern. The European Commission lists it among the objectives of the Data Act, which sets out measures to make it easier to switch between providers of data processing services, including cloud services. How it applies in practice must be reviewed for each service and contract.
That’s why recovery and export conditions should be agreed when signing up, not when the need to leave arises.
4. Your innovations need an access policy too
New product projects bring together sensitive information: unreleased designs, formulations, commercial messages and launch schedules.
Rather than automatically pitting an “out-of-control American cloud” against a “European cloud with guarantees”, it’s worth asking where the information is hosted, who can access it, which sub-processors are involved and what contractual guarantees exist.
The same review should apply both to the printer’s tool and to any independent platform.
Trust in a supplier is valuable. Complementing it with clear permissions, traceability and exit conditions is good management practice.
5. MyMediaConnect: organising collaboration around the brand
MyMediaConnect is designed for companies (the brand owners) to centralise files and digital assets, compare versions and coordinate approval workflows across departments. These features make it possible to structure collaboration and provide visibility into how projects are progressing.
The idea is simple: the process should be organised around the company that owns the brands, with its own managers and collaborators, rather than depending exclusively on the operations of a printer or prepress house.
That way, printers and prepress houses keep contributing their technical expertise, while the company retains a centralised view of the work. To make this effective, permissions, responsibilities and file retention and export conditions need to be defined.
This isn’t about distrusting your printer or replacing a relationship that works. It’s about distinguishing between two responsibilities: producing packaging well and governing the brand’s information.
Your printer can be an excellent partner. The question is whether you also need all your packaging management to depend on them, or whether you want to bring control of your brand in-house, as MyMediaConnect allows you to.