KENYA · GUIDE 0555 · EDITION 4.2
Packaging artwork service in Kenya: Risks and Launch Plan
Set the conditions for a safe commercial test
- Misaligned folds
- missing labels
- wrong dieline
A pack can look correct on screen while assembled flaps hide branding, print crosses glue zones, or the product cannot be inserted without damaging the finished outer surface.
A risk list is useful only when it changes a decision. For each risk, write the observable warning, who checks it and the response before the next commitment. Do not treat a reserve of money as permission to continue unsafe or unauthorized work.
Use a small, measurable pilot
Test a printed mock-up before approving production artwork.
The pilot scope is: Build packaging artwork around the converter's approved dieline, product presentation, opening experience, and required information supplied by the client, identifying which surfaces remain visible after assembly begins.
| Gate | Evidence before continuing |
|---|---|
| Scope agreed | Build packaging artwork around the converter's approved dieline, product presentation, opening experience, and required information supplied by the client, identifying which surfaces remain visible after assembly begins. |
| Output acceptable | Assemble an unprinted or proofed sample, then check panel orientation, folds, glue areas, barcode placement, text visibility, and whether the packed product still matches the intended presentation. |
| Costs recorded | Cost dieline coordination, artwork, prototypes, material samples, print proofs, variant adaptation, and discarded packaging from fit or assembly corrections rather than treating a flat visual as production completion. |
| Buyer response recorded | Record dieline version, product fit notes, panel orientation checks, supplier feedback, assembled sample photographs, client approvals, and changes needed before releasing each packaging variant for production printing. |
Stage the launch around prerequisites
First confirm the buyer specification and activity requirements. Then compare suppliers, establish suitable facilities and prepare the operating record. Run the bounded trial when those prerequisites are in place. Review actual costs, quality failures and cash collected before increasing the commitment.
This sequence is not a promise that the complete business cycle fits into 30 days. Growing periods, qualifications, approvals, seasonal access and customer buying cycles can require longer. Revise the schedule when a prerequisite changes rather than skipping it to meet a launch date.
Choose continue, revise, pause or stop
Continue only when the scoped result is accepted and direct costs and payment timing are workable. Revise one part of the offer if the problem is identifiable and affordable to test again. Pause when required information, permission, skills or resources are missing. Stop the affected work when safety, consent or lawful authority is uncertain.
Keep a maximum test loss and unpaid-balance limit suited to your actual funds. A successful single delivery is useful evidence, but it does not establish year-round demand or justify committing every available resource.
Tie launch milestones to observable checks
| Risk signal | Evidence to inspect | Response to test |
|---|---|---|
| Back panel prints upside down | Compare artboard to folded labelled dummy. | Correct orientation and repeat the fold check. |
| Box will not close around bundle | Check actual-board cavity and bundle thickness. | Ask manufacturer to revise the structure; do not shrink artwork and claim the fit is solved. |
| Barcode fails scan | Check authorised number, proportions and print placement. | Use supplier/GS1-compliant artwork and appropriate verification; a phone scan alone is not full barcode grading. |
Outstanding go / hold conditions
- Actual dieline, board, fit and supplier proof unverified.
- No packaging manufactured or barcode certified.
Assign an owner, evidence reference and review date to each unresolved condition. Do not give every milestone a fixed calendar date when it depends on a crop, production, approval or competence cycle. Run only a suitable limited trial, reconcile accepted output and actual cash, and record whether the evidence supports holding, revising, proceeding within the limit or stopping.