Until you’re two weeks from start-up and someone asks a question that lands like a weight:

“Do we actually have packaging we can print and ship?”

Because artwork doesn’t move like a task.

It moves like a chain:

Briefs → Specs → Copy → Regulatory items → Proofs → Reviews → Approvals → Corrections → Re-proofs.

And when that chain intersects multiple initiatives, it gets longer.

Not because people are slow.

Because the work is interconnected.

In 2019, I led the artwork transition workstream supporting P&G’s Surface Care production move from Canada to the United States.

More than 150 packaging and pack-material artwork items were impacted across three initiatives, with export markets increasing sensitivity around key copy decisions.

I didn’t own the entire relocation program.

I owned the part that could quietly become the start-up constraint if you don’t treat it with respect: packaging readiness.

The moment I knew we had a problem: the partner couldn’t absorb the volume—and nobody could answer how the second partner would get paid. Here’s the fix we used to protect start-up readiness.

A real-world transition where the long pole stayed under control.

The problem

The relocation itself was a major operational transition: production moving from Canada to the U.S., with manufacturing start-up at a new site.

My workstream sat underneath it: make sure packaging and pack-material artwork was ready—across 150+ impacted items.

But this wasn’t a single “refresh.”

The artwork intersected three separate initiatives, each with specific copy and regulatory items that needed to be correctly woven into the artwork.

In other words… the work wasn’t just volume.

It was volume plus change complexity.

And that’s where timelines get optimistic.

Because most plans treat artwork like it can compress.

It rarely compresses cleanly.

It either moves steadily with discipline…

or it turns into a late scramble with rework.

What made it hard

There were three constraints at the same time:

• Cycle time reality: Artwork takes longer than teams expect—especially once initiative copy and regulatory items are in the mix.
• Capacity: The primary external artwork partner team couldn’t absorb the workload at the pace manufacturing start-up required.
• Change load: Multiple initiatives meant overlapping requirements and reviews, increasing the risk of late-stage rework.

And then there was the risk nobody wrote down:

If we bring in a second partner team, do we have the mechanism to pay them?

It sounds basic.

That’s why it matters.

Capacity that can’t get paid can’t move.

What I did

I approached the workstream the way I’ve learned to approach artwork-heavy programs:

Assume it’s the long pole.

Then build what it needs—capacity, cadence, decisions, and clean visibility.

1) I built a capacity plan when the primary partner hit a ceiling.

Once it was clear the Surface Care external artwork partner team couldn’t handle the volume at the required pace, I explored options and worked with Surface Care leadership to engage a second external partner team that was already proven within the company (supporting the Baby Care business).

This wasn’t “move work and hope.”

It required coordination, clear expectations, and disciplined handoffs.

But it gave us the throughput we needed without lowering standards.

2) I surfaced — and solved — the funding path before it became a stoppage.

Early in that shift, I asked a simple question:

“How are they going to be paid?”

No one had a clear answer.

Which meant we had a predictable failure mode sitting in the background: the team starts, the paperwork lags, the work slows… and deadlines don’t care.

I enlisted additional resources and pushed through the purchase order path quickly so the new external partner team could stay funded and focused on delivery.

It wasn’t the glamorous part of the program.

It was the part that made the program executable.

3) I ran a cadence that matched the real pace of artwork.

I managed an on-site project team of three with nine additional off-site team members supporting execution.

We ran weekly project team meetings with daily pulse checks to keep work moving and surface blockers early.

I maintained a detailed project plan, delivered timely status reports, created and updated metrics, and monitored daily activity to protect the timeline.

The intent wasn’t “more meetings.”

The intent was faster clarity.

4) I integrated initiative copy/regulatory items as schedule work — not margin work.

Because the artwork intersected multiple initiatives, copy and regulatory items weren’t a late-stage detail.

They were part of the work.

I proactively collaborated with Packaging, Commercial, and Initiative Teams to land the right country-of-origin copy and initiative-specific requirements based on real start-up timing.

That reduced avoidable churn and kept rework from expanding late in the process.

5) I used the system to keep progress factual.

To track work honestly, I used Enovia—P&G’s specification and standards system—to monitor artwork status, identify where it was stuck, and accelerate completion across the portfolio.

When pressure rises, optimism becomes a status update.

Systems keep everyone grounded.

Why this mattered

We pulled delivery forward by about six months.

But the real win wasn’t speed for speed’s sake.

It was protection.

In a plant transition, the supply chain doesn’t usually break with fireworks.

It breaks because one enabling workstream shows up late and forces the whole system to improvise.

By scaling partner capacity, solving the funding path, and integrating initiative copy/regulatory items early enough to avoid late loops, we kept artwork from becoming the constraint that disrupted start-up readiness.

That’s the work I’m proud of.

Not because it was flashy.

Because it kept the broader transition steady—without last-minute scrambling.

If you’re leading a plant transition or launch with packaging involved, here’s my advice:

Assume artwork takes longer than the plan says.

Build capacity before you’re desperate.

And put copy/regulatory items on the schedule—not in the margins.

If you’ve lived the “we added capacity, then it stalled anyway” moment, I’d love to compare notes — what was your invisible blocker?