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We’re excited to introduce you to our first Lumi Experts. Lumi Experts is a partnership program for packaging experts (agencies and individuals) that also know their way around the Lumi Platform. Brands can work with experts in-platform for a more streamlined packaging supply chain from end-to-end.
Some of our launch partners include agencies such as Ferroconcrete, Doris Dev, Fuzzco, Atlason, Guacamole Airplane, The Office of Ordinary Things and Ludlow Kingsley who are behind some of the most innovative and sustainable packaging in the world.
Lumi members can work with Lumi Experts on any of the following types of projects:
To start working with a Lumi Expert:
Big day! We're so excited to share with you one of our biggest releases to date.
Lumi Search
With Lumi Search finding the right suppliers and products is now easier than ever, and we've made it free for anyone to use!
If you're a paying member, you can also access these extra features:
Lumi Platform Beta
We're opening up the new version of Lumi to beta users — sign up here. If you are an existing customer and would like to join the beta, contact us. We'll be making these new features available to all users over the next few months.
Lumi Experts Directory
Lumi Experts are agencies and professionals with the expertise to help you develop packaging using the Lumi Platform.
You can now explore and request help from Experts across a broad range of budgets and capabilities including branding, graphic design, packaging engineering, supply chain, logistics, sustainability consulting and industrial design.
Operating Manual
To help you learn how to use these new features we've created the Operating Manual, searchable guides on how to use the Lumi Platform to source sustainable packaging and manage your supply chain. We'll be adding to it frequently, so let us know if you see anything missing!
Meet the Packaging Styles library — a new way to navigate packaging vocabulary through a visual dictionary of Styles, Details, and Standards.
With Styles, you can explore the tradeoffs between different options and better communicate what you're looking for when working with packaging Experts. We started by focusing on the most popular styles of boxes.
You can find styles in the Packaging Styles Library or by browsing product pages such as these:
Lumi is now part of the Amazon Packaging Support and Supplier Network (APASS). Lumi Membership gives you access to Experts that can help you engineer packaging that meets Amazon's packaging standards.
Amazon launched their Frustration-Free Packaging Program (FFP) in 2008 to cut down on packaging waste and shipping cost. In 2019, they started enforcing these guidelines with third-party sellers. Now, packages larger than 18" x 14" x 8" or heavier than 20 lbs are required to meet Amazon's FFP guidelines, otherwise companies are fined $1.99 per shipment.
To get your packaging Amazon Certified, Lumi can help you access ISTA 6-certified labs to test and certify your packaging under any of Amazon's three packaging tiers:
Lumi members can request Amazon certification through Expert Services.
The "reference" field on orders can now be edited after order submission. Previously you could only add it during the order creation flow, but now you can also leave it blank and edit it later. This is useful if you are creating your order in Lumi and want to match it to a PO in your ERP or other software.
The reference field can be used to identify an order by an internal number or naming convention that differs from the order number created by Lumi and will appear on invoices related to this order.
Additionally, we've fixed a bug that was causing some spec information to be missing from the Items page.
Meet the new factory scorecards on Lumi! Three key features are now available when you receive quotes:
Our goal with these new features wast to give you more insight into each factory, so you can make informed decisions when you source packaging on Lumi. Read more on our blog.
Other improvements and bug fixes
More and more Lumi members are exploring plastic-free packaging alternatives. That's why we're excited to add three new plastic-free products to the catalog.
The first is Honeycomb Paper Wrap, a paper-based void fill alternative to bubble wrap or foam rolls, which you may also know as Geami. When pulled, the paper expands to open up honeycomb-like cells that hold space around a product.
Two new paper-based padded mailers were also added. Honeycomb Paper Padded Mailers are lined with honeycomb paper, and Fluted Paper Padded Mailers are lined with a layer of corrugated board. These new mailer options are plastic-free alternatives to other padded mailers that use plastic bubble lining such as Poly Bubble Mailers.
These products are also made from recycled content and are curbside recyclable.
Thermal insulation has been added the Lumi Catalog. Four types of insulation can now be quoted with manufacturers in the network.
Thermal insulation keeps temperature-sensitive products, like food and medicine, stable in transit. All the new insulation types can be cut to custom sizes and comes covered in a sleeve or liner that can be custom printed.
All four insulation options are more sustainable alternatives to styrofoam with comparable performance characteristics. Where they vary most is in weight and recovery options (recyclability, compostability).
Previously, invoices were paid manually in your Billing section. Now we've automated the process to streamline your workflow.
You can continue to pay invoices manually through Lumi anytime before the invoice is automatically paid.
The proofing workflow has been changed to take place after order submission. Up until now, proofs needed to be approved prior to order submission. We've changed the workflow to more accurately reflect the manufacturing process and reduce the time it takes to go from quote to order submission.
On Earth Day 2019, we launched the Lumi Sustainability Framework. Each property in the framework defines attributes for your packaging with supporting data and research. Companies use the framework to prioritize their sustainability efforts and help their teams make sustainable choices more rapidly. You can read more about these new properties on the blog.
This year, we added seven new properties, giving you a total of 20 ways to measurably reduce the environmental impact of your packaging. Here's what's new:
See how companies are using these new properties on the blog.
Thanks to all your feedback on the new Quote Comparison features, we've been hard at work on a set of improvements that are now available in Lumi:
Stay up to date on COVID-19 impacts with improvements to the Network Status tracker. You can now see a map displaying uptime across factory locations in the United States, as well as trends across the US and China.
Meet Lumi ID, the fastest and most accurate way to help people understand how your packaging is made, and how to dispose of it responsibly. Read more about this exciting new feature on our blog.
With Lumi ID you can now:
This week's release includes new email notification preferences to keep you updated during the production and shipping of your items, and new settings that allow you to control the notifications you receive from Lumi.
You can now receive a weekly production digest with information about all your active orders and shipments. In addition, new email notification settings are available that alert you automatically when any of the following changes occur:
The new settings allow you to toggle on and off the email notifications for activities happening across your company’s account, such as proofing, ordering, and invoicing. To subscribe to the weekly digest and production emails, head to your Settings page.
The latest update to Lumi includes a set of features we're particularly excited about: an all-new way to manage your quoting process and choose the best option for every packaging component you need.
With this release, we’re giving your team the tools to better understand costs, compare across manufacturers, and respond directly in the Lumi interface. You can read more about this release on our blog.
We've created some resources so you can learn more about how costs are broken up, how to use filters, and accepting and rejecting quotes.
Simplified order deposits are here. With this release we made it faster to get your orders into production.
Instead submitting the order and payment for upfront costs separately, all the upfront costs indicated in the billing schedule of your order will be automatically debited as soon as your order is accepted. You can set the default payment method in your settings.
When you submit an order, it will be reviewed to verify that all details are correct. If everything is good to go, your upfront costs will be automatically debited from the payment method of your choice. At this point, you will receive an invoice for your records as well as confirmation of the payment. If your order requires any changes before we can accept it, we will be in touch with you and no payment will occur.
Subsequent invoices for your order will continue to work as they did before.
Lumi has a brand new way of ordering! The new process is designed to provide more flexibility around item and shipping details as well as increase visibility into costs and lead times. Read more on our blog.
What's new:
To help your team get up to speed on the new workflow, we've also published an in-depth guide on how to create orders.
Analytics are now available in Lumi! Analytics provides more quantifiable, measurable insights about your packaging supply chain. You can read more about this release on our blog.
We're starting with three report types:
Features:
Poly Mailers are one of the most popular packaging products, yet they are notoriously challenging to recycle and are made from non-renewable materials. Today we’re announcing our new array of Compostable Poly Mailers that help move the ecommerce industry towards more sustainable options.
A few months ago Vox published a fantastic article titled “No online shopping company can figure out how to quit this one plastic bag”, explaining why poly mailers continue to be so prevalent and difficult to eliminate from supply chains. In summary, no other product provides the same combination of properties: a great printing surface, water-repellent, low cost per unit, and lightweight to reduce shipping costs and emissions.
We set out to find a better way to make poly mailers that meet the needs of businesses but also move the industry towards more sustainable options. We’ve worked with factories in the Lumi Network to provide compostable PLA and PBAT Poly Mailers, while maintaining similar printing quality, costs and lead times.
Pura Vida is one of the first Lumi customers to use the new Compostable Poly Mailers
Today we’re announcing the Standardized Quality release — a set of features that raises the bar for quality standards across every factory in the Lumi Network. This release gives you the tools to identify and report quality issues.
Your reports contribute directly to our quality monitoring systems, which helps improve manufacturer selection tools and overall reliability for all members of the Lumi platform! We're really excited about it and have written more in depth on the blog.
What's new:
Plus, our guide on how to run a quality inspection using the Acceptable Quality Limit (AQL) procedure
A big new feature went live: production tracking! Read more about this update on our blog.
Production tracking gives you a single place to view activity related to any item you produce in any of the 20,000+ factories available through Lumi. Production statuses are available for any item ordered after April 1, 2019.
Here's the new data you can see in your Production view:
Proof Management
The proof approval workflow can now be managed entirely in your Lumi Dashboard. Here are some of the new features we launched today:
Publications
We're also excited to launch Publications! Multi-page printing and binding capabilities help you create magazines, catalogs, booklets, and newspapers to bring your content offline.
We've found a lot of inspiration from Lumi users designing publications to provide product information, share new products, or just engage folks in their community.
Options span the gamut from full color digital printing, or with lithography for more accurate Pantone color-matching. From newsprint to glossy cover stock, the paper options are nearly endless.
Collateral is here! We're talking about paper — flat, folded, glued, in just about any size, construction style, and paper stock you can dream up. Use collateral to welcome customers to your community, promote a new product, or provide product instructions.
Print your collateral digitally in full color, or with lithography using Pantone matching. For a special touch, consider spot coatings, lamination, emboss, deboss, or foil stamping.
We've beta tested this collection for over a year, and now it's available in your Lumi supply chain across all geographic regions. Here are eight new collateral products to get your juices flowing.
We're crossing off a big feature request today! You can now invite your team to Lumi and collaborate together in the Dashboard. Learn more on the blog.
New Updates page. You're looking at it, friend! This is where our log of changes big and small can be found. Includes new features, products, bug fixes and improvements.
Fixed "No such token" bug causing payment methods to occasionally become unlinked from accounts.
Improved Delivery Schedule page with search and lead times across all products.
Estimated delivery dates are now also visible on each product in the Catalog, along with estimated delivery window in weeks.
Invoice PDFs are now attached to invoice notification emails so you can save it without having to log into your account.
New page for step-by-step guides with a new guide for How to Use a Lumi Dieline.
A few big changes are coming to the Product Catalog and Dashboard. Learn more on the blog.
Updated Product Catalog with better search and faster navigation. Improved product pages with recommended alternatives, videos, detailed specifications and better descriptions.
Consolidated billing is here! A host of new features that will make your accounting team happy. Learn more on the blog.
A few improvements and fixes to Items in your Dashboard:
