Commercial packaging, like materials handling, may be said to add only cost to the packaged product but that does not mean considerable costs cannot be taken out of the supply chain by rethinking current set-ups, especially those that have not moved with the times to make their e-fulfilment centres more compatible with the remorseless rise in online shopping and how that affects packaging/handling techniques.
In terms of meeting environmental pressures on packaging the best form of packaging is one that does not exist and the second best is the returnable/reusable type that involves no disposal costs and has a very long service life. The third best is using 100% recycled, biodegradable packaging which is cleaner and more effective than plastic airbags, for example.
But how can you have packaging that does not exist, you might well ask? Well, it’s more a case of packaging that did once exist but owing to a rethink has been eliminated without any harm to the products handled, and, moreover, cuts down packaging handling times and waste. A good example is in the food delivery business between food producer and retail outlets. Instead of using forklifts to decant pallets of stretch-wrapped outer cartons at retail premises it makes better sense to use roll containers fitted with slots to carry plastic food trays for direct delivery to shop shelves. This avoids pallets and labour spent on unwrapping cardboard outer cartons and disposing of them.
Sometimes a change in packaging techniques can save considerable sums for an insignificant outlay. One mail order firm, for example, used polystyrene infill chips to protect its products inside cartons. By changing to a plastic bag spotglued to the base of the carton and tied off when filled with the products it provided adequate protection and an annual saving of £50,000 in polystyrene chips. It also appealed to the customers because they no longer had to dispose of the chips.
An inordinate amount of cardboard packaging is unnecessarily used because of inappropriate carton sizes that waste so much space inside boxes/cartons and therefore push up transport costs. One solution to this, if product runs are high enough involving many different product sizes and shapes, is to install a small box-making machine which produces ondemand packaging to create the right size boxes.
Materials handling and packaging go hand in hand because the latter can affect handling times and transport costs, especially so in the intralogistics field, i.e. from core manufacturer to distributor and retail outlets. A sensible rethink on packaging, therefore, should take a holistic view of the entire supply chain.
The subject is so huge in terms of cost-saving solutions that large companies, in particular, should consider the consultative approach to those packaging specialists who will not only be able to advise on packaging changes but also, like Samuel Grant Packaging, help customers to design out materials and reduce the amount of packaging they use. It may even be possible to avoid capital expenditure in packaging machines like stretch wrappers by using specialists like Grant who would charge a price per pallet wrapped when using the Samson Nano pallet wrapping system. if, however, taking a more holistic view it might be wiser to engage an independent supply chain consultancy like Davies & Robson because, among other reasons, they can see how multi channel distribution is affecting packaging techniques and costs throughout the supply chain and re-engineer processes on discrete sites to look at alternatives and design them accordingly. Failing to move with the times over multi-channel distribution could mean failure to meet customer delivery times and risk permanent loss of business.
A rethink on your packaging processes, therefore, could help you future-proof your business and be less of a drain on your cash resources.
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