There are many reasons for packaging right-sizing practices. As a pioneer and industry leader in sustainable and eco-friendly packaging, it is always more than a little disheartening when a package arrives to our office resembling the one in the photograph below. For the sake of anonymity and not calling out any specific company, we’ve whited-out the company name, but this particular example is just one of many and not at all unique to this particular product or brand. You’d be surprised by the number of similar packages we receive that are bulky, oversized, and overflowing with void fill to protect a small interior box or product.
We pride ourselves in being industry educators, and as such, examples such as this make us cringe for a variety of reasons. This type of over-packaging is needlessly expensive, ineffective and economically/environmentally wasteful. There is a better solution, and that is to right-size your packaging to your specific needs.
Right-Sizing For Packaging Cost and Materials Savings
As you can see in the photograph, an unnecessarily large box typically means a couple of things in terms of cost of materials. Number one: you are likely buying a larger box than you need, which means you are spending more money than you need. The bigger the box means the higher the amount of corrugated board to manufacture, which means the greater the cost on a per box basis. Reducing box size almost always reduces cost as well. And number two: you are likely spending more money than needed on void fill materials. Consider the amount of void fill needed to protect your product with so much extra, unnecessary space within the box. It’s messy, unattractive, and typically not very effective, especially for fragile products that may require inserts and/or air cells to prevent breakage/damage. Right-sizing not only saves bottom line dollars, it also provides better protection during shipment.
Right-Sizing For Shipping Cost Savings
If you consider the information in the above paragraph, you already know that a smaller box means a lower cost to you in terms of packaging, but it also could mean reducing your overall shipping costs. The savings can be two-fold. The cost of shipping the boxes from our plant to you or your fulfillment center after production are lower if the boxes are smaller and take up less pallet space, or result in a fewer number of pallets. The cost of shipping from you to your customers may also be lower, especially when you consider dimensional weight and USPS shipping tiers. If you’re not familiar with USPS tier pricing, please read about it here. Consider also the storage cost savings. Right-sizing your packaging means less space needed to store it.
Right-Sizing For the Environment
Many companies that contact us are green-minded, but may not realize the waste of over-sizing their packaging. While all of our boxes are recyclable, often times the plastic bubble or Styrofoam void fill used during shipment may not be. Correctly sizing your packaging may not only reduce/eliminate the need for void fill, but also save other environmental resources. Consider that the larger the box, the more board used during production, and therefore more energy, fuel, water and other resources required during manufacturing.
Please Contact Us Today
Do you have questions about right-sizing your packaging? We’re happy to walk you through an initial consultation and find a custom packaging solution that works for you. As always, if you have any questions, one of our branded packaging advisors is standing by to assist, with decades of experience behind them. Want to know more about custom packaging? Please call us today at 630-551-1700 or contact us via email at www.SalazarPackaging.com.
Related Posts:
https://salazarpackaging.com/seriously-amazon-right-sizing-your-boxes-is-the-right-thing-to-do/
https://www.globeguardproducts.com/industry-experts/seven-reasons-right-size-subscription-box/