Is packaging worth thinking about during this business disruption?

First of all, I hope that everyone reading this is staying safe during these turbulent times. As a father of three, I can say that the worry at home in addition to the challenges at work have made these past few months extremely stressful. Let’s keep moving forward!

The question I’ve been asked from many people recently - Is it worth your time looking at your packaging during these disruptions? Without a doubt, YES! That’s not just because I have been in the packaging business my entire career, and I live and breathe packaging…just ask my wife, it drives her crazy when we are out shopping and I analyze every different thing on the shelf to see if there is anything I can improve. The reason I believe packaging should be a priority is because it has so many touch points throughout the supply chain in any organization:

• Product and packaging assembly at factory
• Inbound shipping (ocean or air freight)
• Distribution center
• Outbound freight to store/consumer

Those are the main touch points. By conducting a thorough review of your supply chain, we can expand on this and develop a roadmap showing how packaging optimization might benefit your organization and lead to lower total cost.

Let me give you an example of how this might look at your company. You use foam to protect your product, it’s cheap and what you’ve always done. We design a more sustainable insert made from recyclable materials that protects the product equally or better than the foam inserts. The new insert takes up less space, so the overall packaging size is reduced which saves you money on materials. With the product package size reduction, you can now fit more (15%<) product into your master cases and more master cases into shipping containers and in your DC racking. Now you’ve saved money in freight and have more capacity at your DC. The new packaging system has also reduced product damage rates, improved customer experience, while including substantial sustainability benefits.  Win! Win! Win!

If your first thought is “How much is this going to cost?” The answer is nothing…wait, I take that back…it will take a little bit of your time to help us understand your current challenges and goals. It will also require time to gather information about your packaging. There is no charge for us to evaluate your current situation and deliver a business case for improvements and estimated savings.

With the anticipation that we’ll all be asked to find areas to reduce costs, I believe now is the perfect time to look at your packaging.

We have had tremendous success developing programs for our customers that significantly lower total supply chain costs.  While 2020 is not off to the start we all expected or were hoping for, let’s set the table for success in Q3 and Q4 and beyond. 

If you are wondering what this might look like for your company, I’m always available for a call to learn more about you and the challenges you face. And I’ll be working from home for the foreseeable future, so you might hear a child yelling or dog barking in the background!