Packing & packaging tend to be a forgotten element of companies that pack and ship goods in high volumes.
It's a topic that lingers in the background, but packing choices cast a substantial impact on a business's bottom line.
For many companies, inefficient packaging translates to paying 5 - 15 % too much on transport and packaging – squandering hundreds and thousands of euros annually.
Have you ever considered how the materials, dimensions, and weight of the packaging surrounding your products directly affect your expenses for shipping, warehousing, and fulfillment?
At warehouse packing stations, typically human decision plays the role in selecting the most fitting box for each order.
Unfortunately, this reliance on gut feeling can give rise to two types of errors, both of which can have consequences for your operations.
Error Nr. 1 - Choosing a box that is too small
At packing stations, when items are being packed, ideally, the smallest possible box is chosen.
However, when relying on gut feeling, a box that is too small to physically fit all the items in is often chosen.
As a result, the packer will have to perform a re-stack in a bigger box. This leads to longer handling times since a re-packing is necessary resulting in decreased productivity.
In time, the packer will try to avoid this error of choosing a smaller box and switching to packing items in a bigger box.
Error Nr. 2 - Choosing a box that is too big
When there is doubt between two carton box sizes, workers often pick the largest one to speed up their operations.
Unlike Error #1, this blunder doesn't require repacking, as all items fit within the bigger box, with only void-fill materials being necessary.
However, in doing so this leads to wasted carton, and an increase in shipping costs, not to mention the additional packing materials to avoid damage to the product.
The performance of a warehouse is often measured in the number of orders shipped daily.
The more orders shipped, the greater the warehouse's productivity. However, in many cases it comes at the expense of higher shipping costs.
This is where solutions such as cartonization or re-evaluating your box assortment can come in handy. You can assess the perfect dimensions required to pack items and ship them accordingly.
Some carriers offer pricing models that make splitting an order more cost-efficient. Quite tricky, right?
Continue reading on to learn why cost optimal packing can be counterintuitive.