In shipping, cartonization considers all the items in an order to determine the most optimal number and size of each box needed to ship an order.
Unlike traditional packing (manual packing), where packers manually choose the boxes, cartonization eliminates the risk of suboptimal choices.
Cartonization helps avoid empty spaces in boxes, which means goods are packed more tightly and shipped more safely. This also lowers shipping costs by making packaging more efficient, smaller & lighter.
Use cases of cartonization
- Outbound packing
- Picking, pick-to-box or pick-to-pallet
- Shipment cost indication during sales order creation
The Need for a Better Cartonization Solution
SAP EWM (Extended Warehouse Management) is SAP's software solution for optimizing and managing warehouse operations, including packing.
SAP EWM is a powerful tool for comprehensive supply chain management. However, its cartonization feature, based on a basic Advanced Business Application Programming (ABAP) method using liquid cubing or simple 3D cartonization solutions, does come with certain constraints.
In this article, our aim is to offer a more efficient and optimized cartonization solution – 3D cost-efficient cartonization – that easily integrates with SAP EWM systems.
Limitations of Existing Solutions
- Manual cubing
- Box selection & packing rely on gut feeling leading to longer handling times.
- Shipping rates & surcharges are not considered.
- Liquid cubing.
- 3D shapes are not considered. Proposes infeasible combinations.
- Sometimes liquid cubing indicates an order can fit in a box, while it is impossible, leading to restacking and time loss.
- Sometimes liquid cubing indicates an order does not fit in a box, while it is possible, leading to too much air being packed + higher transport costs.
- Transport cost structures are not considered. The different rates and surcharges amongst carriers have the side-effect that optimal packing differs per carrier, or even per carrier zone. (See image below)
- 3D cartonization
- Consider 3D shapes to pack items in boxes however transport rates are neglected.
Human decisions & outdated cubing systems, such as liquid cubing or simple 3D cartonization, do not always consider transport rates in their packing decision.
Liquid or 3D cartonization software aims at optimizing the best box(es) for your orders, with a high fill rate as the main objective function. However, transport rates and surcharges are not considered.
This way, you incur extra transport cost surcharges (e.g., volumetric, max. weight, max. item dimension, max. volume).
The current cartonization solutions in SAP EWM fall short in optimizing for these variables, leading to suboptimal space utilization and reduced cost savings.
The Better Alternative
Optioryx 3D Cost-Efficient Cartonization
Optioryx offers an alternative – 3D Cost-Efficient Cartonization software – considering 3D shapes and transport rates to pack items in boxes.
3D cost-efficient cartonization focuses on choosing the right carton sizes based on specific objectives.
The user specifies the optimization objectives which can include maximizing fill-rate, minimizing the number of boxes used, or reducing shipping costs by aligning the packaging to your carrier network. It can also involve finding a balance among all these factors.
3D cost-efficient cartonization also supports features like nesting (items within items), envelopes and sequence constraints.
Packers are only human, and it is human to not always find the optimal combination, especially when transport rate complexity comes into play.
This valuable operator time can be better utilized by giving first-time-right instructions, accompanied by 3D visualizations on how the items should be rotated and stacked.
Integrating Optioryx with SAP EWM
If you are looking for instant savings, especially transport costs, packaging, and handling time, then Optioryx is one of the safest 3D cost-efficient cartonization software options to try.
Integrate the Optioryx stacking API into your existing order management processes and provide packers with 3D visualizations that are embeddable within external WMS and ERP systems.
Smarter packing of items in boxes, boxes on pallets, and pallets in trucks.
Benefits of Our Customers
For our customers, 3D cost-efficient cartonization increases the fill rate by at least 14% compared to manual or liquid cubing.
Such increases are extremely significant, especially given the fact that the average fill rates of e-tailers are typically somewhere between 40 - 50%.
Try the solution with your own data! Grab your API key today and start testing.