What is Packaging Navigator?
Packaging Navigator, also called PackNavi, is my web-based project for structuring industrial packaging requirements. It brings product knowledge, logistics conditions and purchasing requirements into a shared brief before teams choose a packaging material, design or supplier.
Packaging projects draw on several disciplines: engineering knows the sensitive surfaces, logistics knows the transport route, and procurement knows the required volumes. PackNavi connects these inputs rather than starting with a box from a catalogue. The result is a clearer basis for a request for quotation (RFQ) and the subsequent supplier discussion.
Which problem does the project address?
A product’s dimensions alone do not define suitable packaging. Weight, permitted contact points, moisture, electrostatic sensitivity, storage periods and handling operations can all influence the requirements. When these facts are scattered across documents or conversations, important questions can remain unresolved. PackNavi gives confirmed facts, assumptions and missing information a common structure.
Good packaging decisions start with a clear understanding of the product and its journey. PackNavi makes that knowledge reviewable before it becomes a supplier brief.
Moritz Mergenthaler
PackNavi Project Owner
How does the packaging requirements workflow work?
- Describe the product: Capture dimensions, mass, surfaces, sensitivities and handling constraints, supported by product images where available.
- Trace the route: Record transport, storage, transfers and climatic exposure, including waiting periods between stages.
- Add operating requirements: Bring quantities, packing processes, protection decisions and market requirements into the same assessment.
- Review and document: Check incomplete or critical points, add the project name and description, and generate the qualification PDF as a basis for supplier enquiries.
What does this change for engineering, logistics and procurement?
The platform provides a shared requirements baseline. Teams can distinguish verified inputs from estimates and open decisions, and discuss packaging proposals against the same product and route assumptions. This supports more focused clarification without presenting a preliminary brief as a finished packaging design.
The approach remains technology-neutral: required protection and operating conditions come before the choice of cardboard, inserts, reusable load carriers or other solutions. Public guides explain packaging requirements, RFQ preparation, logistics, standards and regulatory considerations alongside the application workflow.
How is the application built?
The technical foundation combines a Nuxt.js frontend with Vue.js and a Laravel backend built on PHP. Together, they support a multilingual web interface, server-side application logic and document workflows. The project connects these technologies with a focused requirements process rather than a generic collection of forms.
What does this project demonstrate?
PackNavi illustrates how domain knowledge can become a guided digital process: structured inputs, context-dependent technical questions, a review of missing information and a consistent document output. A multilingual public knowledge area explains the process before users start their assessment.
Explore the live Packaging Navigator or read how the assessment works. For a similar requirements or document workflow, discuss your project with me.
Questions about Packaging Navigator
Who is PackNavi designed for?
PackNavi supports professional teams in engineering, logistics and procurement that need to define industrial, transport, export or reusable packaging requirements before approaching suppliers.
Can an assessment start with incomplete product information?
Yes. Teams can begin with known facts and identify information that still needs checking. An unknown requirement should remain an open question rather than being treated as a confirmed absence of risk.
What does the qualification PDF contain?
It brings captured product and logistics requirements, quantities, protection decisions, technical considerations and remaining clarification points into a structured supplier brief. A project name and description are needed before generation.
Does PackNavi select suppliers or certify packaging?
No. PackNavi structures requirements and supports RFQ preparation. Supplier selection, product-specific engineering, testing and regulatory verification remain with the responsible qualified parties.