Companies who need to package products for storing and shipping know how expensive it can be, and how important it is to manage their packaging spend to get the best returns on the goods they sell. The packaging they use needs to be fit for purpose, allowing them to ship goods safely, and cost-effective.
Even knowing this, many companies still rely on traditional packaging methods which are neither cost-effective or fit for purpose. They use boxes that aren’t strong enough or aren’t the right size for the products they are looking to store or transport, meaning they end up using excessive (and expensive) packaging materials – bubble wrap, for example – or find themselves shipping ‘empty space’, increasing their transport costs.
So, what should businesses do to alleviate these problems? The answer lies in good packaging.
How are brands reducing packaging spend?
While the answer to this question may vary slightly depending on the industry, in general, reducing packaging spend is done by using good packaging solutions. Packaging should be sized to fit the product, reducing storage requirements and minimising transport costs as a result.
It should be lightweight, making it easy to move, while, at the same time, being strong and sturdy enough to protect its contents. And, it should be easy to assemble when you need it and breakdown when you don’t.
Standardisation
Many businesses believe that to keep their packaging spend low, they need to purchase boxes in bulk and that these boxes should be of standard sizes. However, this can lead to small items being packaged in boxes that are much too big, reducing or eliminating any potential savings through the use of additional packing material or the creation of empty space.
Empty space, which is created when packaging that’s too large for its content is used, can cost companies a lot of money, increasing their packaging spend significantly: recent research estimates empty space costs businesses around £35 billion a year (worldwide) and that up to 40% of most packaging is empty.
How Right Size Solutions reduces packaging spend
Right Size offers an alternative to the idea that standardised boxes are the best way for businesses to reduce packaging spend. Created by Panotec and available in the UK through Ribble Packaging, Right Size allows companies to produce a single box or a batch of boxes to the exact size and shape of the products they’re shipping, reducing packaging spend.
It helps businesses manage their packaging spend by allowing them to produce boxes as and when they need them, meaning they no longer have to order supplies in advance, ‘guestimating’ how many of each size and type of box they need and potentially being left with excess – and unwanted – stock once their products have been shipped. Plus, because they no longer need to order large numbers of boxes in advance, businesses can cut their warehouse costs as less storage space is required for packaging.
By producing boxes that are the exact size needed for the products they contain, the amount of empty space is significantly reduced, if not done away with entirely. This reduces the amount of space necessary to both store packages in a warehouse and to transport them as more can be fitted into each delivery vehicle which, in turn, reduces warehouse and transportation costs. With boxes being made to the right size and eliminating empty space, companies can also reduce the costs of additional packaging materials such as bubble wrap and the cost of shipping the packages themselves (if they aren’t being delivered by van) because they will be smaller and lighter.
Added value
Not only does Right Size help businesses manage their packaging spend, but it also helps them keep operating costs low by:
- Reducing the risk of products being damaged in transit because their boxes are the exact size needed.
- Improving productivity by reducing turnaround times as staff no longer have to decide what box to use and then fill up the empty space with additional packaging.
Alongside the benefit of reducing the cost of packaging, there are environmental benefits to Right Size. Less packaging means less raw materials are used in their manufacture and less waste is created through unwanted products being ordered.
This is in addition to a company’s reduced carbon footprint as there are fewer delivery vans on the road, meaning fewer fossil fuels are being used. All of this matters to today’s consumer, who wants to see the companies they buy from not only offer excellent value for money but are environmentally responsible as well, meaning Right Size offers not only ways to reduce packaging spend but adds value to the consumer too.