Golden West boosts Lumi’s online market with custom corrugated printing and carton capabilities
16 Sep 2021 --- Software tech company Lumi is partnering with Golden West Packaging Group to make its custom corrugated printing and folding carton products available on the Lumi online marketplace throughout North America.
Lumi creates tools that simplify the complex workflows, data, and language of packaging, enabling brands and manufacturers to partner more effectively.
Stephan Ango, Lumi’s co-founder and CPO, tells PackagingInsights the partnership will add some of industry’s most advanced printing capabilities to its marketplace, which already holds over 700 members.
“[Golden West’s] state-of-the-art printing equipment enables precise registration for multi-color printing on corrugated and folding cartons,” he says.
In the past, customers could place orders with Golden West through the Lumi purchasing software but had limited visibility on order statuses.
“With Lumi Marketplace, Golden West now uses the Lumi Supplier Platform to offer end-to-end visibility to customers from quote to payment, including every step of the proofing, production and delivery process, and direct messaging capabilities,” continues Ango.
Global reach ambitions
Each manufacturer has strengths, specialties and geographic coverage that makes them uniquely suited to certain types of customers and projects, explains Ango.
Wine packaging sold through Lumi Marketplace.“Lumi has greatly broadened the scope of product categories and geographies supported by our software, which enables more suppliers to start using the Lumi Marketplace. Lumi now allows suppliers in over 150 countries to make their capabilities available online and receive orders and payments directly through our platform.”
The company started with a focus on secondary packaging such as corrugated, mailers and tape but now supports a wide variety of cold chain products, void fill, molded parts, printed collateral and primary packaging, and will continue to expand across more categories.
As for upcoming partnerships, Ango says: “You can expect several announcements over the next few weeks.”
Fiber-based Frenzy
The addition of Golden West to Lumi Marketplace comes amid a mass transition away from fossil fuel-based materials as more stringent plastics regulations come into force.
Innova Market Insights pegged “Fiber-based Frenzy” a top trend for 2021, noting that an increasingly eco-conscious consumer base is driving market demand for paper and cardboard-based packaging solutions.
According to Innova Market Insights’ 2021 survey, half of US consumers (49%) regard packaging’s recyclability as its most important sustainability credential, followed by reusability (44%) and recycled material use (35%). Meanwhile, 72 percent of global consumers and 62 percent of US consumers recognize paper’s exceptional recyclability.
Faxing down COVID-19 challenges
Since the launch of Lumi Marketplace in January 2021, the company has seen order volumes and customer growth doubling every two months, shares Ango. 
Innova Market Insights notes an uptick in cardboard-based packaging solutions.
“For many brands and retailers that are struggling with supply chain disruptions due to COVID-19, Lumi has helped provide instant redundancy, and reduce bottlenecks,” he remarks.
“Suppliers who have traditionally focused on in-person sales can now make their capabilities easier to find online in Lumi’s new Supplier Search engine by editing their profile.”
He adds that packaging buyers submit their quote requests to hundreds of suppliers in one click, making it easier for both sides to build new relationships with digitally native tools.
Sustainability tools
Last year, Lumi launched a digital identification tool that provides instant, localized and accurate answers to packaging questions. By printing a QR code on a myriad of packaging formats, manufacturers can inform end-consumers about how their packaging is sourced, made and end-of-life disposal.
The company states that Lumi IDs can be printed on any packaging, including boxes, envelopes, jars, bottles, cans, tubes, publications, labels and collateral.
Collaborating companies can detail any range of information via the app, such as material specifications, manufacturing details, disposal instructions and sustainability properties.
, with additional reporting by Anni Schleicher
By Louis Gore-Langton
