“Check, please,” she said, betraying her age. “The what now?” The young waiter was confused. “Sorry. How much do I owe you?”

The waiter looked at his arm where he’d scribbled the woman’s order. He added it up on a calculator then gestured for the woman to hold out her arm, where he penned $24.79 in red ink, with a blank line below it for the tip. “You can pay at the counter,” he said and walked away, leaving behind the pen.

Property owners and managers face continued uncertainty about the commercial property market and must grapple with tenants’ post-pandemic demands. With some essential supplies on backorder and a restricted labor pool, the current environment makes keeping buildings clean a challenge.

Safe and sanitized workplaces are top of mind for people returning to the office, and this makes the facility professional’s job even harder.

In the past 18 months, supply chains across the globe were tested like never before. The packaging industry was tested, too, by increased consumer and industrial demand, strained supply chains, extended lead times for both raw materials and finished packaging and crippling labor shortages.

For those who make packaging, it’s been rough. And for those who rely on packaging, even rougher.

If you’re responsible for purchasing packaging supplies (boxes, bags, mailers, tape, etc.), you care about getting the best value for your money.

Scoring a fair price is essential. So is keeping an eye on your buying practices and the vendor partners you rely on.

Here are three best practices to incorporate into your purchasing processes to get a better return on your packaging material investments.

Ordering packaging for your business can become a set-it-and-forget-it activity. You use the same packaging month-in and month-out. You order the same quantity each time—the same box sizes, too.

What you might not realize is that while it may save time and mental energy, putting your packaging material orders on autopilot can end up costing you more.

Why you need to care about operating rates and how we can help you get what you want, when you want it.

The ongoing pandemic coupled with a sharp economic recovery, soaring freight costs and labor shortage has created a lot of challenges in the paper supply chain. As a result, you’ve likely noticed low product availability and higher costs. We’ll explain what it all means so that you can take a stronger position when it comes to getting what you need, when you need it.

So, let’s talk about operating rates.

World events have put stress on everything in the paper business––from manufacturing to logistics to delivery. One major result is an inability to access paper that has many businesses caught in a boat without a paddle.

Word to the wise: having a strategic distribution partner can help you keep business churning while avoiding many of the headaches that come along with today’s new normal.

A mix and match play of both print and digital is likely your go-to approach for marketing your business. But as of late—due to the pandemic and economic lockdown—digital has taken the lead. Flooding inboxes, increasing “Unread” counts and causing a lot of e-waste.

Having an abundance of packaging supplies in inventory may sound like a smart business strategy—but the carrying costs for doing so are higher than you would guess, unnecessary and avoidable.

Today, more and more companies identify inventory management as a top priority, but they aren’t computing inventory carrying costs. Instead, they’re using rough estimates.

Touchless or touch-free restrooms have been around for years. But with the COVID-19 pandemic fueling increased demand for touchless solutions, more high-traffic organizations, including government offices and educational institutions, are moving swiftly to fully touchless restrooms.

No surprise—consumers prefer touchless, too. Studies show that now more than ever, people are more cautious about using public areas when away from the safety of their homes. They notice and value the hygienic and convenient aspects of facilities that help them avoid or minimize touching surfaces.