Packaging Workflow Automation

Too much manual work in packaging production?

I help packaging teams automate repetitive Illustrator tasks — so production runs faster, with fewer errors.

Where Is Your Team Losing Time?

Your team may be managing dozens of SKUs, handling last-minute changes, or spending hours on repetitive file preparation.

I look at how the work is actually being done and identify where automation can remove unnecessary manual steps.

The goal isn’t to automate everything. It’s to remove repetitive work that doesn’t need human judgement.

How much time could that save your team? Use the calculator to find out.

Calculate Your Workflow Savings

See how much time and money your team could save with workflow automation

Examples: barcode placement, file prep, colorway updates
💡 Base salary without benefits (typically 250-600 SEK/hour)
💡 Typical overhead: 100-150% of base salary

🔍 What “Overhead” Includes

Overhead represents all the extra costs a company pays in addition to an employee’s gross salary. It typically includes:

  • Employer taxes & social fees
  • Pension contributions
  • Paid vacation & sick leave costs
  • Insurance (health, work injury, unemployment, etc.)
  • Office space (rent, utilities, cleaning)
  • Equipment (computer, monitors, software, tools)
  • Admin & operations (HR, accounting, management, support)
  • General workplace costs (internet, coffee, furniture, supplies)

In short: Overhead = everything it costs the company to employ someone beyond the salary itself.

Your Potential Savings

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hours saved per week
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saved per year
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weeks to ROI
Packaging workflow automation interface showing automated design processes

Tired of Repeating the Same Tasks in Illustrator?

If the same Illustrator task has to be repeated across dozens of files, SKUs or variants, it’s worth asking whether it needs to be manual at all.

That could mean placing barcodes, updating repeated elements, preparing files, creating variants or exporting production files.

Sometimes a simple script is enough. Sometimes several steps need to be connected into a better workflow.

The important part is understanding the process before deciding what to automate.

What Should You Actually Automate?

Not every task should be automated.

The best opportunities are usually tasks that are repetitive, rule-based and happen often enough to justify changing the workflow.

Think about artwork updates repeated across many SKUs, recurring file preparation, barcode placement, exports or other steps where the same actions are repeated again and again.

If a task requires judgement, creativity or changes every time, automation may not be the right answer.

Packaging workflow automation tools with gears, clock and color wheel representing efficient design processes

See Automation in Practice

Every workflow is different, but the problems often have something in common: repetitive production work that takes time and creates opportunities for errors.

Explore examples of how I’ve approached different workflow problems and where automation made a practical difference.