Sustainable Packaging - Another Perspective
A lot is being said and written about Sustainable and "Green" Packaging these days, and with good reason.
We generate enough trash every year to build a new state, and it is having serious effects on the environment.
For some businesses, there is a great alternative that not only can improve their packaging costs, but also the economies of manufacturing and distribution, and thus their overall "green" performance.
Consider that corrugated packaging is typically made from paper, and much of that paper is made from "virgin" fibers, although a good amount of recycled and reclaimed fiber is also included.
The use of virgin material is actually a good thing, because it keeps the paper companies in the business of providing trees that are the source of this virgin fiber.
Keeping the forests producing trees for paper means that they are not being sold off to developers and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), who turn these valuable natural and renewable resources into shopping centers and golf courses - exactly the opposite of what is desired! The paper and forestry companies know how to manage the forests and keep them healthy and productive, which means that while they are harvesting trees they are also replanting trees, not turning the land into a housing development.
This is healthy for the environment and results in a renewable and sustainable source of "Green" packaging materials.
The next step is to insure that these materials are used wisely, and that the packaging "fits" the product so that shipping cube and material usage are at their most efficient level to insure manufacturing economies are preserved.
For companies who have an ever-changing mix of products and package sizes this can be a difficult task, and they usually resort to using multiple components, fillers, and misfit packaging materials in order to ship their product.
The resulting effects on their "Green" initiatives are important and not always obvious: they use more material than is necessary, the package uses a larger cube in transit than is necessary, and both of these factors are obvious and increase cost.
What is not so obvious is that this practice usually results in higher damages due to misfit packaging, since the better the package fits the product, the better protection the product will receive (kind of like the way good quality, good fitting shoes protect your feet much better than poor fitting ones).
When damages occur, the impacts are widespread.
First and most important is the dissatisfaction of the customer.
In addition there are the impacts to your Green initiatives - the product must be remade, repackaged, and reshipped - all of which costs money, but also uses additional resources that could have been saved if the package had done its job! Sometimes this is unavoidable due to an extreme or unusual occurrence, but for the most part there is an answer - On-demand corrugated packaging! What is on-demand corrugated packaging? Simply put, you place a piece of equipment in your plant that actually makes your packaging components as you need them, in the exact size and shape, and only as many as you need.
This means you do not need to carry expensive inventories of boxes that you may never use and components that could become obsolete when your size mix changes.
Plus, these are the items your box supplier has a hard time making (small quantity and/or complex) and thus charges you a lot for.
In high mix, high variability environments, on demand packaging can save time, save money, and greatly improve your Green performance.
It also fits well into your Lean Manufacturing process, since you are minimizing waste and maximizing protection.
On demand is not for you if you make thousands of the same item in the same size box all day long, but if you are in an ever-changing packaging environment, it would greatly benefit you to look at an on-demand system.
One of the leading manufacturers in this industry will actually put an on demand machine sized for your particular needs in your facility with no capital investment (just a delivery and setup charge), train your people, provide 24/7 engineering support, maintain the equipment, and guarantee your satisfaction or they will come and remove the machine! Or they and other manufacturers will sell you the equipment.
Either way the upside reward potential is enormous.
It would be well worth your time to check this out and see for yourself how a system that makes a perfectly-fitting package every time could improve your packaging effectiveness and your bottom line, and also your Sustainable, Green, and Lean initiatives.
We generate enough trash every year to build a new state, and it is having serious effects on the environment.
For some businesses, there is a great alternative that not only can improve their packaging costs, but also the economies of manufacturing and distribution, and thus their overall "green" performance.
Consider that corrugated packaging is typically made from paper, and much of that paper is made from "virgin" fibers, although a good amount of recycled and reclaimed fiber is also included.
The use of virgin material is actually a good thing, because it keeps the paper companies in the business of providing trees that are the source of this virgin fiber.
Keeping the forests producing trees for paper means that they are not being sold off to developers and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), who turn these valuable natural and renewable resources into shopping centers and golf courses - exactly the opposite of what is desired! The paper and forestry companies know how to manage the forests and keep them healthy and productive, which means that while they are harvesting trees they are also replanting trees, not turning the land into a housing development.
This is healthy for the environment and results in a renewable and sustainable source of "Green" packaging materials.
The next step is to insure that these materials are used wisely, and that the packaging "fits" the product so that shipping cube and material usage are at their most efficient level to insure manufacturing economies are preserved.
For companies who have an ever-changing mix of products and package sizes this can be a difficult task, and they usually resort to using multiple components, fillers, and misfit packaging materials in order to ship their product.
The resulting effects on their "Green" initiatives are important and not always obvious: they use more material than is necessary, the package uses a larger cube in transit than is necessary, and both of these factors are obvious and increase cost.
What is not so obvious is that this practice usually results in higher damages due to misfit packaging, since the better the package fits the product, the better protection the product will receive (kind of like the way good quality, good fitting shoes protect your feet much better than poor fitting ones).
When damages occur, the impacts are widespread.
First and most important is the dissatisfaction of the customer.
In addition there are the impacts to your Green initiatives - the product must be remade, repackaged, and reshipped - all of which costs money, but also uses additional resources that could have been saved if the package had done its job! Sometimes this is unavoidable due to an extreme or unusual occurrence, but for the most part there is an answer - On-demand corrugated packaging! What is on-demand corrugated packaging? Simply put, you place a piece of equipment in your plant that actually makes your packaging components as you need them, in the exact size and shape, and only as many as you need.
This means you do not need to carry expensive inventories of boxes that you may never use and components that could become obsolete when your size mix changes.
Plus, these are the items your box supplier has a hard time making (small quantity and/or complex) and thus charges you a lot for.
In high mix, high variability environments, on demand packaging can save time, save money, and greatly improve your Green performance.
It also fits well into your Lean Manufacturing process, since you are minimizing waste and maximizing protection.
On demand is not for you if you make thousands of the same item in the same size box all day long, but if you are in an ever-changing packaging environment, it would greatly benefit you to look at an on-demand system.
One of the leading manufacturers in this industry will actually put an on demand machine sized for your particular needs in your facility with no capital investment (just a delivery and setup charge), train your people, provide 24/7 engineering support, maintain the equipment, and guarantee your satisfaction or they will come and remove the machine! Or they and other manufacturers will sell you the equipment.
Either way the upside reward potential is enormous.
It would be well worth your time to check this out and see for yourself how a system that makes a perfectly-fitting package every time could improve your packaging effectiveness and your bottom line, and also your Sustainable, Green, and Lean initiatives.
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