The 6 significant costs in your packaging operation
Not all the costs in your packaging operation are visible to the naked eye. In fact, as much as 90% of them are hidden. Do you know where they are hiding?
Read on to find out about the six significant costs in your packaging operation and how to identify them.
Storage Costs
Take a good look around your warehouse. If you see nothing but piles of cardboard boxes everywhere perhaps it is time to review your warehouse management strategy.
Consider switching packaging solutions to ones that are less bulky to store yet offer maximum product protection in transit. Good examples are air and paper cushioning.
You can also free up some of your valuable storage space and save on rent and insurance by storing your packaging and products with a stock and drip feed provider.
Transport Costs
Optimising the size and weight of your packages is a great way to cut courier tariffs and increase transport yields. Ensure you only use as much packaging material as is necessary and try not to overfill your parcels with superfluous cushioning.
Additionally, sending products in boxes that are clearly too big for their content can be extremely annoying for customers (especially if the parcel would have fitted through the letterbox if less packaging was used!).
Damage and returns
Packaging that is unfit for purpose will not offer adequate product protection in transit and can result in costly returns. There is also another hidden cost involved – your reputation. Once lost, customer trust can be difficult to rebuild, so make sure you always use packaging that offers the best fit and maximised protection for your items.
Administration Costs
Do you spend too much time on the administration of your packaging orders, stocks and suppliers?
Packaging specific online purchasing solutions will help you to ensure that you have all the information that you need to manage your packaging operation quickly and effectively. This will help you reduce your inventory costs and ensure you always have the right products exactly when and where they are needed.
Productivity Costs
Alternative pack designs such as boxes with a crash-lock base will help you increase the speed of your packing and improve the look of your parcels. Semi or fully-automated packaging systems such as Boxsizer and auto bagging machines will also save you time while generating less packaging waste.
Customer Experience
In the world of online shopping, packaging plays a key role in ensuring optimum customer experience with the brand. We all know how very important first impressions are, and packaging provides the first “live” interaction with your brand.
Ensuring that your parcels are visually appealing and easy to open will help to delight your customers and offer a pleasant unboxing experience they will remember.
If you would like to find out more about the hidden costs in your packaging operation and learn how to best manage them, contact us today: https://macfarlanepackaging.com/contact/