A Top Canadian Retailer Cut Packaging From 16 Weeks to 6

The retailer's packaging team, spread across Brand, Product, and Merchandising, is set to reclaim roughly 6,908 hours a year and pull revenue forward on all 4,000 SKUs it ships.

16→6 wks

Cut per-SKU packaging cycle (proj)

Implementation Time

Aanikh Kler

Lazer Technologies | Co-Founder Surf (acquired) | Canada's Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2023

Lazer Technologies

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The Challenge

At one of Canada's largest retailers, the packaging function sits at the intersection of Brand, Product Development, and Merchandising: a workflow with enormous cross-functional surface area. Getting a single SKU's packaging from brief to shelf took 16 weeks, and the retailer pushes roughly 4,000 SKUs through that pipeline every year. Every week of cycle time is revenue sitting in a queue instead of on a shelf. The teams had strong appetite for AI-assisted execution but no map of where agents could actually compress the work.

What They Built

Lazer ran a structured discovery phase on-site, mapping the full packaging process end to end and aligning stakeholders across Brand, Product Development, Merchandising, and the company's Transformation Office. The pivotal moment was a "What-If" co-creation workshop that turned cross-functional stakeholders from observers into co-designers of the target workflow. A documented baseline-and-measurement plan was agreed with the Transformation Office so impact claims would be measured, not asserted.

On the back of discovery, Lazer is building a multi-agent workflow that compresses the packaging cycle from 16 weeks to 6. The readout was developed in the open with the client team rather than delivered as a surprise, which kept strategic alignment intact as the build began. Based on discovery findings, the projected impact across 4,000 annual SKUs is approximately 6,908 hours saved per year and 17.3 net days saved per product launch.

Lazer began on-site, mapping the packaging process end to end across the three functions that own it: Brand, Product Development, and Merchandising. Rather than model the workflow in isolation, the team pulled the company's Transformation Office in early, treating measurement as a design constraint from the start. The pivotal step was a "What-If" co-creation workshop that reframed stakeholders from observers into co-designers of the target workflow, surfacing the handoffs and approval loops where cycle time actually accumulated. From that shared map, Lazer and the Transformation Office agreed a documented baseline-and-measurement plan so later impact claims could be measured rather than asserted. The readout was developed in the open with the client team instead of presented as a finished verdict, which kept strategic alignment intact as the build began. On the strength of that discovery, Lazer is now building a multi-agent workflow that takes on the coordination-heavy drafting, routing, and reconciling between departments, while human teams keep creative and commercial judgment. Model and framework selection is underway in the build phase.

AI Role

A multi-agent workflow takes on the coordination-heavy work between Brand, Product Development, and Merchandising: drafting, routing, and reconciling packaging assets and approvals that previously moved through manual handoffs. Humans stay on creative and commercial judgment; agents absorb the queue time between them.

AI Model

To be confirmed

Infrastructure

In development following discovery • Baseline measurement plan agreed with the client's Transformation Office

Integration Points

Brand, Product Development, and Merchandising workflows • Transformation Office measurement baseline

Impact

16 Weeks to 6 (Projected)

The target workflow compresses the packaging cycle by 10 weeks per SKU. Every SKU that reaches the shelf 10 weeks earlier is direct revenue pulled forward.

~6,908 Hours Saved Annually (Projected)

Across 4,000 SKUs a year, discovery findings project nearly 7,000 hours of cross-functional working time recovered, with 17.3 net days saved per launch.

Stakeholder Alignment Secured in Week One

A "What-If" co-creation workshop won support across all affected teams and the Transformation Office before a line of code was written, the step most automation projects skip and later regret.

Technology Utilized

Implementation Complexity

Time Savings

Revenue Growth

Best Fit For

Large retailers and consumer goods companies with high-SKU-count, multi-department creative or packaging pipelines where cycle time directly delays revenue.

Aanikh Kler

Lazer Technologies | Co-Founder Surf (acquired) | Canada's Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2023

Lazer Technologies

Award-winning entrepreneur and tech leader helping startups and global brands like Netflix and Amazon drive growth by ethically harnessing consumer data and AI-driven innovation.

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Industry:

Retail & E-Commerce

Consumer Goods & CPG

Business Function:

Operations

Marketing

Supply Chain & Procurement

Company Size:

5,001+

Project Cost:

Cost not disclosed

Ownership:

Organization Type:

AI Pattern:

Process Automation (RPA + AI)

AI-Accelerated Custom Software

Value Type:

Time Savings

Revenue Growth

AI Model:

Frequently Asked Questions

How did a Canadian retailer cut its packaging cycle from 16 weeks to 6?

Lazer ran an on-site discovery mapping the packaging process across Brand, Product Development, and Merchandising, then designed a multi-agent workflow to absorb the manual handoffs between them. The target workflow is projected to compress the cycle from 16 weeks to 6 per SKU.

What AI approach was used for the packaging workflow?

Lazer built a multi-agent workflow that drafts, routes, and reconciles packaging assets and approvals across departments, with humans keeping creative and commercial judgment. The specific models and agent framework were still being selected during the build phase.

What results did the retailer's packaging project deliver?

Discovery findings project about 6,908 hours of cross-functional time saved each year across 4,000 SKUs, with 17.3 net days saved per launch. A "What-If" co-creation workshop also secured stakeholder alignment across every affected team before the build started.

How long did the packaging workflow take to implement?

The engagement began with a structured on-site discovery phase, and the multi-agent build was still in progress. A baseline-and-measurement plan was agreed with the client's Transformation Office to track impact as the workflow rolls out.

Who is a multi-agent packaging workflow best suited for?

It fits large retailers and consumer goods companies with high-SKU-count, multi-department creative or packaging pipelines, where cycle time directly delays revenue.