Artwork Operations: 7 Signs Your Process Grew by Accident

Most artwork operations do not become complicated overnight. They grow gradually as teams add new markets, stakeholders, systems and workarounds to keep projects moving.

The result can be a process that works, but is difficult to manage, measure or scale. A clear packaging operating model helps bring structure back by defining roles, handoffs, decision points and KPIs. This article looks at the signs that your artwork process has outgrown its original setup—and where to start fixing it.

Key takeaways

• Most artwork operations were never designed. They grew step by step, one workaround at a time.
• A packaging operating model defines roles, handoffs, decision points and KPIs for the whole artwork process.
• The right order is process first, then operating model, then automation. Automating a messy process makes the mess faster.
• Four simple KPIs show whether your artwork operations work: cycle time, revisions per artwork, right-first-time rate and on-time launch rate.
• You can start small: map one real project from brief to print and see where time is lost.

What are artwork operations?

Artwork operations are all the people, steps and rules needed to take packaging from a brief to a print-ready file. This includes briefing, design adaptation, artwork production, content review, approvals, proofing and handover to the printer.

In many companies, nobody owns artwork operations as a whole. Brand owns the brief, regulatory owns the text, the artwork studio owns the files and supply chain owns the printer. Each part works on its own, but the full process has no clear design.

At Collabra, we have worked with packaging for FMCG brands for more than 20 years and across 600+ artwork programs. We rarely find artwork operations that were planned from the start. Most of them grew over time, as teams solved one problem after another.

How do artwork operations grow by accident?

Artwork operations grow by accident when teams fix problems one at a time without looking at the whole process. Each fix makes sense on its own. Together, they create a process that is slow, hard to follow and dependent on a few key people.

It usually happens like this:

1. A file gets lost, so someone starts a shared spreadsheet to track jobs.
2. An error reaches print, so an extra review round is added for every job.
3. A key approver is always busy, so people start sending files through a colleague instead.
4. A new market is added, so the local team builds its own way of working.

After a few years, the process works, but only because experienced people know how to get around it. When one of them goes on holiday or leaves the company, everything slows down.

7 signs your artwork process runs on workarounds

If several of these sound familiar, your artwork operations were probably not designed:

1. Status lives in people's heads. To find out where a job is, you have to ask someone.
2. Tracking happens in spreadsheets and email. The official tool shows one thing, while the real status is in someone's inbox.
3. Every job follows a slightly different path. Two similar projects can go through completely different steps.
4. Extra review rounds are added "to be safe". Nobody remembers why a step exists, but nobody dares to remove it.
5. Handoffs depend on personal relationships. Things move fast when the right people know each other, and slow down when they don't.
6. Errors are fixed but not traced. The same type of mistake returns because nobody looks at where it started.
7. Nobody measures the process. You know projects feel slow, but you cannot say how slow, or where time goes.

We describe the most common errors this kind of process creates in how to eliminate common packaging mistakes.

What is a packaging operating model?

A packaging operating model is a clear description of how artwork work should flow through your organisation. It defines who does what, when work moves from one team to the next, who makes each decision and how you measure the results.

An operating model is not an org chart. An org chart shows who reports to whom. An operating model shows how work actually moves.

A packaging operating model usually has five parts:

When these five parts are clear, people stop guessing. They know what to do, who to hand work to and what "done" means at each step.

Clear decision points are closely linked to clear ownership. If you want to go deeper on that, see our guide to building a packaging approval RACI.

Why should you fix the process before you automate it?

You should fix the process before you automate it because automation copies the process exactly as it is. If the process has unclear steps, extra review rounds and missing owners, automation will run those problems faster and at larger scale.

The right order is:

1. Process redesign. Map how work really flows today and rebuild it around a clear, repeatable path.
2. Operating model. Define roles, handoffs and decision points for that process.
3. Automation. Automate routing, reminders and approvals only when the process is stable.

This is also how we work at Collabra. We do not start with software. We start by understanding how work moves today. Technology comes after the process holds, whether that is Cway or the artwork management system a company already uses.

If you are planning to invest in automation, our article on packaging automation readiness explains what to check first.

Which KPIs show that artwork operations work?

Four KPIs give a clear picture of artwork operations performance. They are simple to measure and easy to understand for everyone involved:

• Cycle time: the number of working days from approved brief to print-ready file.
• Revisions per artwork: the average number of correction rounds per job.
• Right-first-time rate: the share of artworks approved without major corrections.
• On-time launch rate: the share of packaging projects delivered by the planned date.

Measure these before you change anything. Without a baseline, you cannot show that the new operating model is working.

In our work with Santa Maria, which covered more than 600 artworks across markets, suppliers and printers, Collabra designed the artwork architecture and planning logic before production started. The project reached an average of 1.5 revisions per artwork, with predictable timelines. You can read more about this and other projects on our work page.

How do you start an artwork process redesign?

You start an artwork process redesign by looking at how work really happens today, not how it is supposed to happen. A simple way to begin:

1. Pick one recent project. Choose a typical packaging job, not the easiest or the hardest.
2. Map every step from brief to print. Include emails, side conversations and unofficial checks.
3. Mark where time was lost. Look for waiting time, repeated reviews and unclear handoffs.
4. Find the root cause of each delay. Ask where the problem started, not only where it was noticed.
5. Measure your four KPIs. Use them as your baseline before making changes.

This exercise often shows that most delays come from a small number of steps. Those are the places to fix first.

How Collabra helps brands transform artwork operations

Collabra is a packaging agency based in Gothenburg, Sweden. We help brand owners with packaging strategy, design and production, including artwork production, proofing and print management.

Because we work inside packaging operations every day, we see where processes break down in practice. We use that experience to help brands transform artwork operations: we map the current process, redesign it, define a packaging operating model and set up KPIs to track the results. Automation comes last, when the process is ready for it.

A good first step is a Packaging Operations Health Check. It shows where your artwork operations lose the most time and which changes will have the biggest impact.