When business is slow and companies are looking everywhere to save money, packaging materials are a common target. Though packaging materials are sometimes viewed as a commodity, quality varies widely. Corrugated boxes, protective packaging items, stretch films, and other items are engineered for specific applications and are not necessarily interchangeable. While switching to a lower price packaging item produces some immediate cost reduction, it can also lead to significant cost increases in other areas. Here are a few examples.
Stretch Wrap Film. Low grade films provide considerably less stretch and load retention than high performance stretch wrap films. Switching to a general purpose film can compromise load integrity, causing items to be damaged while handling or in transit. The cost of damage claims, replacement of items, and lost customer good will far exceed film savings.
Carton Sealing Tape. Package weight, shipping container size, shipping, storage, and handling conditions, and environmental impact must all be considered when selecting a carton sealing tape. Using lower priced alternatives with inferior adhesives and inconsistent quality can result in product contamination, pilferage, lost product, and customer rejects. The cost of these outcomes outweighs the savings in carton sealing tape.
Shrink Wrap Films. Switching to an economy shrink film can cause many types of performance problems, including sealing failures, under and over shrinking, puncturing, and substandard optics. Most of these defects necessitate repackaging – an extremely costly outcome. Some defects – such as poor optics – affect shelf sales and cannot be corrected by repackaging.
In upcoming posts, we will discuss how true cost savings is achieved by upgrading, not downgrading, packaging materials. In the meantime, if you are in search of sustainable, significant cost saving improvements in your packaging operation, please contact us for a review of your application.
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Packaging Materials, Packaging Equipment, Packaging Solutions
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