25 Ways to Improve Packing Economy and Avoid Costly Waste

Substantial saving in packaging costs can usually be made through a systematic analysis of the whole packaging process. In this post, the factor that should be considered from an overall point of view are listed below.

1. Plan the procurement of packing carefully and well in advanced. Procurement
    planning can save a lot of money and improve packaging and material management.
2. Establish clear-cut technical specification for your packages. Specifications
   are the most important tools in economical procurement.
3. Stick to large,reputable suppliers and do not shop around marginal price benefits.
   Large suppliers can usually offer more alternatives and better service than very small ones.
   Marginal advantages in price are often offset by delays in delivery ,inferior inconsistent quality, etc.
4. Known your package supplier and his possibilities / limitations.
5. Use suppliers' standard items.Many types of package manufacturing include fairly
    heavy initial costs for setting up the individual order for production on automatically machinery.
    This is typical for glass,metal and rigid plastics packages and for printing. Substantial savings
    can be achieved by utilizing supplier's standard products, size,shape, etc. The delivery times for
    standard items are shorter, often ex stock, and the quality better due to easier quality control for
    longer production runs.
   
6. Establish joint, standard procurement specifications with your competitors.Standards already work
    within the field of metal cans and wirebound crates, and there is no reason why they could not work
    as well for plastic and glass bottles/jars, corrugated boxes, etc.A lot of the packaging costs in
    developing countries could be save through national, sub regional or regional packaging costs in
   developing countries could be saved through national,sub regional of regional packaging standards
    for fresh fruit and vegetable, fruit juices and preserves, frozen marine products,beverages, etc.,established
   as a result of joint action on the part of all the main procedure in the area.
7. The lowest unit price might not be the least expensive in the overall not be the least
    expensive in the overall operation. The price of packaging should always be projected against
    the overall performance of the package. Even large differences might easily be offset by lower
    productivity and frequent breakdowns of the converting or the packaging equipment, increased
    waste, decreased shelf-life of the product, increase shipping damage, etc.
8. Check the relation between price and quantity. This should always be done for various quantities, e.g. corresponding to an expected consumption of alternatively 3, 6 and 12 months, when asking for a quotation for a certain packaging specification. A higher order quantity almost always gives a lower unit price. This should, of course, be evaluated in the light of higher capital outlay and interest, warehousing costs and availability, etc.
9. Check the requirements of your target market before ordering materials or printing. Costly mistakes in labeling or choice of material can be a voided by getting into contact in advance with the importer in the target market.
10. Know your own, total packaging materials, packages and accessories must have a thorough knowledge of all the requirements of packaging equipment and methods in your own operation.
11. Maximize economical utilization of packaging materials. This means that you should get the maximum number of packages out of a minimum amount of materials.
12. A tightly fitting packages is economical. Most packages are too larger for their contents. In addition to savings in material costs, a tightly fitting package also gives better protection to its contents. It might be somewhat more difficult of inconvenient to pack, however.
13. Standardize within your own house.A reduction of number of different type and sizes of packages in your own production programme will always bring about considerable savings in the form of lower prices for larger quantities of consolidated sizes, easier stocks-keeping etc. The first target for in-house standardization is transport packaging.
14. Try to increase package unit sizes. Usually, it is more economical per product volume or weight to pack in larger units, e.g. 500 grams instead of 350 grams per package, provided that such a size is acceptable in the target market.
15. Interaction between the costs of unit pack-aging and transport packaging. It might be feasible to increase the quality and thereby make it possible to reduce the cost of transport packaging or vice versa.
16. Avoid over-packaging. In addition to being costly, over-packaging of many products is currently the target of server criticism from consumer organizations and fair trade legislators.
17. Reduce the number of printing colors. Multicolor printing in developing countries normally means that the package or label has to be run several time through the printing machine. This generates extra production costs, and waste, which you have to pay for. Use a graphic designer who is familiar with the printing methods and their technical requirements for original artwork. A close cooperation with the printer, right from the planning stage, is essential in order to avoid costly mistakes in the execution of the design.
18. Make products easy to pack. Packaging economy starts with good product design. It is often more economical to change the shape or technical design of the product to fit a package than to order tailor-made packaging for awkwardly shaped products.
19. Search for alternative methods and materials. There are almost always alternative ways of packaging a product. For processed foods there might be a choice between metal cans, glass jars, composite cans or flexible packaging, for fresh fruit and vegetable between wood, corrugated or solid fiberboard packaging, rigid or expanded plastics, etc.
20. Buy versatile equipment which can handle alternative materials and sizes. Check also the possibilities for getting spare parts before ordering equipment.
21. Check all operations for unnecessary scrap. A tight control, possible combined with an incentive bonus system for a reduced percentage of waste, can often result in considerable saving.
22. Keep equipment well maintained for better efficiency. Clean and smoothly running equipment makes better use of packaging materials and also stop unnecessary wastage of the product itself. This is particular valid in heat sealing and glueing operations, where cleanliness is important. 
23. Improve storage conditions, rotation of stock and internal handling of packaging materials. A lot of bad storage conditions and careless handling. Check the requirements for handling and storage of every type of packaging from the supplier. Always utilize stock according to the "First in First Out" principle.
24. Train your packaging staff . A well-trained packaging staff can often make considerable savings in cost simply by not generating unnecessary waste due to inexperienced use of equipment and handling of packaging.
25. Unitized loads can offer economic advantages. The most usual form of unit loads are pallets and freight containers. In industrial countries, the main reason for unitizing is to save on expensive handling time and labour costs. Additional benefits of unitized loads are that they reduce strength requirements and pilferage, so that the costs of packages handled in unit loads can usually be reduced.