How to increase production space and accommodate social distancing
We know that many businesses are looking at ways to adapt their production space to accommodate social distancing. How do you find the space you need in order to remain operational?
We’ve created a list of 5 areas of focus that may help you to reduce the amount of warehouse storage you need and provide a bit more workspace to play with.
1 Bulky foam or EPS packs
There may be an opportunity to replace these products with an alternative which has a much smaller storage footprint. Inflatable air cushion packaging, like Airsac, uses minimum material and can be inflated on demand. Often pallets of EPS or foam can be replaced with a single box of inflatable packaging.
For heavy-duty high-value goods, Instapak produces moulded and engineered cushions on demand. It is fast, offers maximum protection and takes up minimal storage space.
2 Loosefill
Loosefill can be incredibly bulky and messy to store. One option is to think about a switch to a paper filler system, a compact block of paper can fill as much void as 6 packs of loosefill – it’s smaller, easier to store and doesn’t spill all over the warehouse floor. It is also much easier for the end-user to dispose of responsibly as it can be recycled easily.
3 Timber crates
If you are using timber crates to ship heavy-duty or fragile products, it may be a good time to look for a solution that’s less bulky, easier to store, made of a lighter material and could save money on final shipping costs too. If you’d like to explore this further, you may be interested in our article “Are you struggling with timber crates?”
4 Bubble Wrap
If you are buying bulky bubble, there may be an opportunity to switch to a 200-metre length “tight wound” bubble, this means you can decrease the storage space of the material by 38%. The longer length also allows you to make fewer roll changes at the packing station, therefore, increasing productivity. There are also “on-demand” systems which allow you to inflate the bubble as and when required, eliminating the need for bubble storage completely.
5 Buying high volumes from manufacturers
If you are purchasing directly from a manufacturer and tied into high MOQs, there may be an opportunity to switch to a packaging distributor who can store your packaging off-site and deliver “Just in time”. This means that packaging doesn’t need to sit unused in your racking for months, tying up warehouse space and cash-flow. You only purchase stock when it’s needed.
If you would like advice on how to increase your warehouse space for social distancing contact Macfarlane Packaging today. We sell the widest range of packaging and work with customers to reduce operational costs every day with our Significant Six approach. Contact us today to find out how we can support your business.
