Suppliers, manufacturers and consumers of packaging products must speak the same technical language

As you know, the study of any subject begins with the study of terminology. This is especially true for the packaging business and packaging science, which is rapidly developing in Russia, in a market economy. The fact is that without knowledge of the technical language of the packaging industry, customers of packaging materials, technologies, products, machinery and equipment do not always understand the developers and manufacturers of packaging products. Moreover, the packaging industry, both in the Soviet period and at present in our country, was largely import-dependent.

With the transition to a market economy, in the country, in the field of packaging, many new terms have appeared (and continue to appear), which, unfortunately, specialists working in the field of supply, production and consumption of packaging products interpret differently.

For the first time, the terminological "Technical Dictionary of Containers and Packaging", in the form of a small brochure, with a circulation of 1000 copies. - was published by the Central Research Institute of Packaging (TsNIITU - later VNIEKITU, Kaluga) more than half a century ago - in 1964. It included the following sections: "General concepts" - 49 terms; "External (transport) packaging" -30; "Consumer packaging" - 20; "Locks" - 20; "Auxiliary packaging means" - 13; "Machinery and equipment" - 14; "Tests" - 14; "Containers" - 8 and "Pallets - pallets" - 6 terms. There are just over 200 terms in total!

In the preface to this dictionary, the staff of TsNIITU wrote: “With the modern development of science and technology, the issues of terminology and classification become very important. Their role is especially great in new branches of industry, science and technology, to which the developing container branch of the economy of our country can be attributed ...

... The "Technical Dictionary" in January 1964 was considered and approved by the Standing Working Group on Containers and Packaging of the CMEA Standing Commission on the Food Industry and approved by this Commission in May 1964 ".

In the same 1964, the publishing house "Food Industry" was translated from English and published in a circulation of 1400 copies. - the book "Containers and Packaging in England". In the preface to this book, the scientific editor of the Russian-language edition G. M. Karneev, in particular, wrote: “The rapid development of the packaging industry in a number of foreign countries is accompanied by a wide dissemination of information about modern achievements in the production of packaging materials, new types of packaging, packaging, printing methods and the design of packaging for display-counters, exhibitions of the equipment used, reference information about companies and their products, as well as advertising.

Therefore, since 1946 in the USA, England and Germany, at intervals of 2 years or more, the release of encyclopedias on the novelties of the packaging industry and statistical information has been organized.

The book brought to the attention of the Soviet reader is an abbreviated authorized translation of the FIFTH (!) Edition of the English encyclopedia on the packaging industry and product design "...

“Some of the materials,” says the scientific editor of the book, “are given without significant abbreviations, the rest is in an abstract presentation”. He further reports that several sections of this "encyclopedia" are completely excluded, and the section "Advertising of products packed in consumer containers" is given with significant abbreviations. “Soviet advertising differs in principle from capitalist advertising in its tasks. To this section, - he concludes, - as well as to the whole book, there should be a critical (!) Approach; nevertheless, our reader will find a lot of interesting and useful things in it. "

In conclusion about this edition, which has long become a bibliographic rarity, it should be noted that at its end is a terminological dictionary containing and explaining more than 400 terms used in the 60s of the XX century in the production and consumption of packaging products in Europe, Asia and America.

However, back to the terminology. In 1990, the publication of the magazine "Packaging and Packaging" was resumed (it was published for 3 years in 1930, 1931 and 1932, and later, occasionally, in the form of a small-circulation bulletin or abstract information). And in 1992, the editors of the journal, together with the Central Scientific Research Institute of Information and Technical and Economic Research on Technical Supply (TsNIITEIMS) of the USSR GOSSNAB, prepared and published in the form of a small brochure in a circulation of 2000 copies of the four-language Dictionary of Terms for Containers and Packaging. In the conditions of "perestroika" it quickly became a bibliographic rarity.

It should be noted that in the 90s of the XX century terminological dictionaries on various segments of the packaging industry were periodically published in the Tara and Packaging magazine. The result of this work was the joint publication (of the Tara and Upakovka magazine and the Kolos publishing house) in 1998 the terminological Russian-English dictionary-reference book “Packing Lexicon” (author - editor-in-chief of the magazine IN Smireny).

This book, with a circulation of 3000 copies, already included 810 terms and their interpretations. And although, over the past 22 years, a huge variety of new terms have appeared in the field of packaging around the world and in Russia, this book has never been reprinted (!).

It should be noted back in 1957 in Germany, a working group "Terminology in the field of packaging" was created in the Association for rationalization in the field of packaging of the Administrative Council for the rationalization of the German economy, which was engaged in cooperation on terminology issues within the European Packaging Federation ( EPF).

The first publication of a special dictionary on packaging in three languages took place in 1968. The second - an improved edition of this dictionary took place in 1971. Since then, "thanks to technical progress" in the field of packaging, the number of technical terms has increased several hundred times! Therefore, experts from Austria, Switzerland and Poland joined the work of the German Committee for Standardization (DIN) and the aforementioned Working Group. As a result, the European standard “Packaging technology. Definitions "(DIN 55 405).

The end result of this work was the publication (by the publishing house "Huthig") in Germany in 1990 of a six-language (German, English, French, Italian, Spanish and Russian) dictionary of packaging terms. Subsequently, this dictionary, due to the huge demand, was reprinted several times. Its latest edition, available in the editorial office of the Tara and Packaging magazine, contains more than 4.5 thousand terms! Unfortunately, this dictionary is practically not known to Russian specialists working in the packaging industry.

This book, with a circulation of 3000 copies, already included 810 terms and their interpretations. And although, over the past 22 years, a huge variety of new terms have appeared in the field of packaging around the world and in Russia, this book has never been reprinted (!).

It should be noted back in 1957 in Germany, a working group "Terminology in the field of packaging" was created in the Association for rationalization in the field of packaging of the Administrative Council for the rationalization of the German economy, which was engaged in cooperation on terminology issues within the European Packaging Federation ( EPF).

The first publication of a special dictionary on packaging in three languages took place in 1968. The second - an improved edition of this dictionary took place in 1971. Since then, "thanks to technical progress" in the field of packaging, the number of technical terms has increased several hundred times! Therefore, experts from Austria, Switzerland and Poland joined the work of the German Committee for Standardization (DIN) and the aforementioned Working Group. As a result, the European standard “Packaging technology. Definitions "(DIN 55 405).

The end result of this work was the publication (by the publishing house "Huthig") in Germany in 1990 of a six-language (German, English, French, Italian, Spanish and Russian) dictionary of packaging terms. Subsequently, this dictionary, due to the huge demand, was reprinted several times. Its latest edition, available in the editorial office of the Tara and Packaging magazine, contains more than 4.5 thousand terms! Unfortunately, this dictionary is practically not known to Russian specialists working in the packaging industry.

True, in 2008, a four-language (Russian, English, German and Italian) dictionary on packaging machines and equipment was published in several issues of the Tara and Packaging magazine ...

Interstate standard GOST 17527-2014 (ISO 21067: 2007) Packaging. Terms and definitions (Reissue) - entered into force in 2015 and contains 110 terms ...

On the website of the magazine "Packaging and Packaging" (www.magpack.ru), in the section "News", interested experts can find short explanatory dictionaries of advertising terms and terms for perfumery and cosmetic packaging.

In 2018, the Moscow Publishing and Printing College (MIPK) named after I. Ivan Fedorov's edition of 300 (!!!) copies was published "Dictionary-reference book on packaging design." It was prepared by the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Packaging and Packaging" I.N.Smireny, director of the Scientific-Educational and Exhibition Center "Technologies and Packaging Design" V.V., Kukharsky and MIPK teacher - N.N. Orekhov and contained about 1000 terms on packaging design and printing on packaging.

In conclusion, we should express the hope that the work on the preparation and publication of terminological dictionaries will nevertheless be included in the work of the specialized departments of Russian universities and colleges and research institutes. And the interdisciplinary magazine "Packaging and Packaging" is ready to support and, as far as possible, coordinate this work.

We recommend that specialists working in the field of production, supply, consumption and circulation of packaging products subscribe to the printed or electronic version of the only specialized magazine of the packaging industry in Russia and the CIS "Packaging and Packaging".

Chief editor of the magazine "Container and packaging"

Igor the Smirny