Packaging pain points

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.

Stop buying in bulk and storing extra on-site
Bulk-buying sounds like a smart strategy, but you often have to buy more than you need to save any money. What happens if your product specs happen to change down the road and you’re stuck with extra packaging that never gets used? Those bulk-buying benefits disappear.

A better approach is to order only what you need. Take advantage of just-in-time deliveries by choosing a provider with locations nearby.

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Right-size your packaging
When’s the last time you took an objective look at your packaging to ensure it supports your current product line?

Here are a few critical questions to ask yourself—then answer:

• Are we using boxes when padded envelopes or poly mailers would work?
• Are we using unnecessary inserts?
• Are we using larger boxes than we need just because we have them on hand?
• Is there a lot of wasted space inside our packaging?
• Is our packaging negatively affecting DIM weight?

Make time to review each packaging material type to ensure you’re not overpackaging and wasting money—or underpackaging and risking damage.

Optimize shipping space to reduce transportation costs
When you evaluate packaging costs, remember to think beyond the box. Your total costs include storage and labor and whatever else it takes to move a package from point A to point B.

Much like right-sizing your packaging, the first step to optimizing shipping space is evaluating your packaging materials' size, shape and design. The end goal? See if you can make changes that allow you to fit more boxes in a case, more cases on a pallet or more pallets on a truck.

Whatever you can do to cut packaging costs—whether it’s to say goodbye to bulk buying, use better-fit packaging or cut transportation costs—should yield a great ROI for taking the time to review your packaging needs.

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