Packaging 101

Tag: flexible packaging

Shipping Trends Favor Parcels, Not Pallets (And Here’s Why That Matters)

Posted on by Brendan Ploen

As e-commerce continues to grow, the fulfillment process gets more complex. 

Manufacturers that are comfortable with palletized shipping may struggle with efficiency when dealing with individual parcels. Parcel shipping may be the key to keeping online consumers happy, but individual product shipments create different kinds of damage risk and cost impact than traditional bulk shipments on pallets.  

It’s essential for manufacturers to have optimized, efficient fulfillment plans in place now — or risk being left further behind. Whether you need to ship automotive parts, faucets, or electronics direct to consumers, if you’re looking to stay competitive and ahead of these new, e-commerce-fueled consumer trends, you may need to rethink your fulfillment strategy. That means taking a closer look at every step of the process, from package design and material selection to efficient ways for handling increased parcel volume and last-mile delivery.  

Here are four signs it’s time your fulfillment operation should be optimized for efficient parcel shipping.

1. Your Damage Rates Have Increased

Parcels can’t be treated like pallets. When manufacturers don’t evaluate their packaging processes for parcel shipments, product integrity can suffer and damage rates can skyrocket. Ultimately, no matter what you ship, there are many factors that contribute to high damage rates, including too little (or too much!) packaging material, incorrect packaging material, and inexperienced or rushed packers. 

The good news is that many of these factors are within your control. Sealed Air’s packaging engineers can test, design, and certify your packaging to meet ISTA and Amazon frustration-free packaging standards — while minimizing or even eliminating damage. 

2. Your Freight Costs are Rising

Changes in the way carriers determine freight costs (based on dimensional weight and not actual weight) mean that in order to minimize freight costs, your packaging processes and sometimes also materials need to change. 

Don’t assume the packaging solutions that work for palletized shipments or previous freight cost calculations will continue to work when your fulfillment center needs to add the ability to package individual parcels. Packaging experts can help make sure you’re using the right packaging solution — which isn’t always a box — and even test it to certify its performance.

3. Customer Feedback Is Flat — or Complaints Are Coming More Frequently

For today’s consumer, the bare minimum is an expectation that an order will arrive on time and in perfect condition. But consumer expectations are steadily growing. To remain competitive, table stakes are things like order trackability, quick delivery, a look and amount of packaging that delights the consumer, sustainable packaging materials, and easy returns. 

If your fulfillment practices and packaging materials aren’t meeting these criteria, you’re already behind. Fulfillment experts can help you speed up throughput and even custom printpackaging to deliver an experience that thrills your customers.

4. Your Fulfillment Center Struggles to Keep Pace With Demand

Adding or updating your processes and equipment can be a big undertaking, but it’s likely that your operation can be optimized for parcel shipments with minimal downtime. Packaging experts can help add parcel packaging to your existing fulfillment operation with solutions that can easily integrate with your existing lines for minimal disruption — no matter your setup. Your operation may just need adjustments or reconfigurations to maximize efficiency. 

Paper Remains Top Pick for Recyclable Packaging

Posted on by Brendan Ploen

Rising consumer demands call for fast, easy, reliable — and recyclable — packaging. As more consumers seek ways to become environmentally responsible, paper is a good choice for companies that ship goods to boost sustainability practices. 

Our paper solutions help reduce environmental impacts before and after they’ve reached the consumer. Sealed Air brand paper packaging is made from 100% recycled content, manufactured in our paper mills that are certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, and is easy for consumers to recycle. 

Implementing Responsible Practices With Paper

According to the University of Minnesota, the U.S. benchmark for water use within pulp and paper mills is approximately 17,000 gallons/ton of paper. That equates to 213 average-size bathtubs. Sealed Air has more responsible practices and operates two state-of-the-art paper facilities in Pennsylvania. Both plants are rich in paper-making history and tradition yet outfitted with the latest technological advancements. These plants produce less than 1% waste material, and our Modena facility operates one of the few completely closed-loop water systems in the country. This means all the water used to manufacture the paper is re-circulated through the mill and not discharged to a municipal wastewater treatment center. 

Paper With a Purpose

Paper is a sturdy, ecological packaging material. When used as void fill, paper is a recyclable replacement for foam packing peanuts. When used as a cushioning agent, paper can provide blocking and bracing protection similar to expanded polystyrene foam, which is not recyclable.  

Paper is stronger than you might think. Employing the engineering of Sealed Air’s systems, which crimp and create multi-ply solutions, paper has the power to protect heavy-duty products such as mechanical parts during transit. Our new, comprehensive range of paper packaging systems help you integrate sustainable solutions into your operation during critical times without incurring higher shipping costs or damage.

Pyramid Packaging offers an array of sustainable packaging solutions — but paper remains the top pick for recyclable packaging. If you’re looking to add paper to your operation, pick the most environmentally responsible packaging partner who can help you do it right and who will be there as your business grows.

Tackle Dimensional Weight by Rethinking the Box

Posted on by Brendan Ploen

While we haven’t moved into the futuristic territory of The Jetsons, major retailers like Walmart are starting to roll out drone deliveries across several U.S. states. Just because companies are being granted patents for drones and airborne fulfillment centers doesn’t necessarily mean the use of these delivery technologies is readily available. Today, tomorrow, and for quite a while, trucks will be used to transport e-commerce packages to consumers’ homes.

Courtesy: Sealed Air. Truck on the road with load of boxes. 3D Rendering

The trouble with trucks, and a big reason why drones are under consideration, is there’s not enough space inside of trailers to keep up with the increased demand of e-commerce shipments. The trucks, however, are not going to get any bigger because larger trucks require more gas, face more regulations, and need more drivers.

This challenge has forced carriers to fit more on each truck or increase the delivery fee for each shipment. Most carriers, like FedEx, have opted for the latter and now charge for space rather than weight. Dimensional weight is a pricing technique assigned to a shipment based on volume versus the actual weight of the package.

To combat these increases in shipping fees, brands must reconsider packaging materials and delivery methods to make changes that will result in smarter, smaller parcels. Thinking about three specific variables is a good place to start.

1. Be clear about damage goals. Understand what solutions offer the best protection for your needs then decide the appropriate amount of packaging material that will meet those needs while minimizing the total size of the parcel.

2. Understand throughput requirements. How many SKUs do you want to manage? You will spend more money running a slower operation than you will recover from freight savings. Be thoughtful about the packaging requirements of each SKU and how that will affect your operation.

3. Optimize the packaging operation. Retailers often overthink the process for creating shipment-ready parcels when a single packaging material can accomplish multiple jobs. The combination of resource management and operational throughput requires a delicate balance, so a little homework will go a long way to increase profits.

These variables differ across each industry or sometimes just day to day. By asking the right questions, retailers can reach an optimal balance of a fully optimized package with a lower operational burden. Reliable and cost-effective protection can be accomplished with some of our most popular packaging solutions.

Shipping mailers: These oldies but goodies are quick, affordable, and easy to use. Historically, only smaller, lighter items could be placed inside a mailer but with years of innovation and improvements, mailers can now withstand the rigors of delivery as well as traditional corrugate. They are also available in two material formats to suit your needs — paper and poly.

Durable carton wrap: This opaque film eliminates the need for a secondary corrugated box by wrapping the primary packaging to make it strong enough for solo delivery. It offers the convenience of easy-open tabs to enhance the consumer experience, while providing tear-resistant strength to maintain parcel integrity. Plus, it’s store drop-off recyclable at thousands of locations across the U.S.

Fulfillment automation: Oversized boxes are one of the leading culprits of dimensional weight charges. Our automated cartoning systems can produce corrugate packages to fit the specific size of each shipment, and our automated mailer systems use flexible film to encase products in a ready-to-ship protective parcel.

Don’t be the next company that crumbles underneath freight costs. To avoid being surprised by your next freight bill, conduct frequent operational audits to identify opportunities to reduce costs and increase efficiency. By harnessing the power of packaging and technology, you can use smaller parcels to provide superior protection all while maintaining a consistent experience.

AUTOBAG 850S Mail Order Fulfillment Case Study

Posted on by Brendan Ploen

This customer case study example comes from one of our suppliers, Sealed Air.

Improving Operational Efficiency for Online Retailer, Fanatics

The Challenge:

Delivering to over 180 countries, Fanatics is a global supplier of sports fan merchandise including football shirts, shorts, socks, baseball caps, mugs, and other souvenirs. The online retail giant supplies consumers worldwide with official merchandise from some of sports’ biggest names, including Manchester United, Dallas Cowboys, and England Rugby. 

From its warehouse in North Manchester, an average of 7,500 packs are shipped every day to meet demand from its hugely popular website. During the holiday peak season, order volumes increase to four times the average amount. The majority of Fanatics packaging operation was handled manually, putting a strain on labor resources and slowing down order fulfillment. Packers worked at eight pack stations manually filling and sealing bags by hand and printing labels and invoices on two printers.  

Fanatics needed a bagging and printing packaging system that would optimize existing resources, like labor and warehouse space, and streamline its complex, high-volume e-commerce order fulfillment processes.

The Solution:

The AUTOBAG® brand 850S is a high-speed bagging and printing system uniquely designed to provide enhanced packaging productivity for mail order fulfillment and e-commerce applications. “The main reason for installing the machines was to save space while allowing us to meet some fairly ambitious growth targets,” said Andrew Crozier, Fanatics Operations Manager. 

With the help of four AUTOBAG brand high-speed bagging and printing systems, Fanatics has increased its capacity to keep pace with fulfillment demands. The company was able to eliminate most of its manual pack stations and can now process five times the number of orders per hour with the same amount of resources. In addition to optimizing labor and warehouse space, the AUTOBAG brand 850S improves the packing process with its built-in printer that allows the label to be printed directly on the bag for better labeling of soft goods or oddly shaped items.

Results:

  • Increased efficiency and throughput velocity by 5X
  • Reduced the number of manual pack stations
  • Optimized existing labor and warehouse space
  • Ability to scale fulfillment operations to accommodate peak season and changes in demand

Evolving Automation For E-Commerce Fulfillment

To continue advancing automation for e-commerce, Sealed Air launched the AUTOBAG brand 850S paper high-speed bagging and printing system. This sustainable solution runs all-paper bags that are curbside recyclable while continuing to deliver efficiency and throughput for fulfillment operations.

To learn more about the AUTOBAG 850S Bagging System, click here.

The Benefits of Flexible Packaging

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Flexible packaging options are becoming more prominent each year, as traditional methods are being replaced with more eco-friendly options in the food, pharmaceutical, and healthcare fields. Increased awareness of sustainability is fueling the growth.

The cost of producing flexible packaging is lower than standard packaging, as it takes fewer materials to produce. The more film layers are added to a package, the more secure and tamper-proof it becomes. As a result, zip locks and resealable seals are now common features on packages, such as stand-up pouch bags, which makes it convenient for the consumer for opening the product. The strong, durable film protects the package from tearing at retail stores or in the supply chain.

After it is produced, the materials can be reused and recycled. It generates less greenhouse gas emissions through its distribution than traditional packaging methods.

Other common features of flexible packaging include a lightweight product that is easy to transport and takes up less space during shipping. Flexible packaging is customizable as it can be molded into an array of shapes and sizes.

As the packaging industry continues to get more creative with flexible packaging, innovations, and advancements in packaging design, concepts and marketing plans are helping propel the movement forward.

Here are 4 reasons to switch from rigid to flexible packaging:

1. Flexible Packaging Maximizes Valuable Space

Whether you’re a food processor or food service operator, you don’t have an endless amount of space to dedicate to packaging equipment or materials. A simple way to maximize the space you have is through flexible pouch packaging for liquid food products like sauces, condiments, soups or even ground meat. Flexible packaging occupies 40% less space than metal cans, which helps optimize warehouse space and back-of-house storage. That means easier inventory management so food processors and restaurants can keep more product on hand. 

2. Flexible Packaging Reduces Costs

Food processors and restaurants can decrease their total cost of operations by switching from rigid to flexible formats. You know that flexible packaging takes up 40% less space versus metal tins – but that doesn’t only translate to increased inventory. Because it takes up less space in shipments and weighs one-tenth as much as traditional metal cans, both processors and restaurants can take advantage of significant cost savings. By investing in this format, food processors will support the process efficiency needs of their customers and maximize their own return on investment. 

Whether it’s a tin of tomato sauce or a jar of guacamole, restaurant employees spend time scraping the inside of the container, careful not to throw out valuable product. Flexible pouch packaging, on the other hand, has a structure that enables up to 20% more product yield. Less product thrown out means less money wasted. 

3. Flexible Packaging Increases Safety

In a restaurant environment, employee safety is always top of mind. Whereas the evacuation of product from number 10 cans creates a safety hazard for restaurant employees due to sharp edges on the tin and lid, flexible packaging is a much safer option. Employees commonly use tin openers, knives and scissors to open a rigid container and scrape the remaining product from the bottom of the can, jar or jug – this creates both a messy kitchen and an unnecessarily dangerous situation. Flexible packaging is a much safer option, especially with options like easy-open tabs. 

Requiring tools doesn’t only impact employee safety, though. The use of scissors and knives for rigid containers also present a risk of cross-contamination. Flexible packaging solutions, on the other hand, keep food safer by reducing cross-contamination and increasing durability throughout the journey.

4. Flexible Packaging Is More Sustainable

Think about what you’ve read in this article so far. Almost everything we’ve mentioned helps improve your sustainability profile – improved yield, increased food safety and space savings. Each of these benefits plays a factor in truly sustainable practices. But there’s even more to this sustainability story.

When consumers see dented cans on grocery store shelves, they avoid them. And for good reason! The same happens with food service operators – due to fear of contamination and loss of confidence in the product, restaurants frequently throw out dented tins and jugs. Because flexible packaging solutions are, well… flexible, restaurants can avoid this problem and have peace of mind that their products aren’t going to waste.

Flexible packaging produces 1/10 the amount of CO2 compared to metal tins.

Flexible packaging also consumes 75% less energy and produces one-tenth of the amount of CO2 emissions compared to metal tins. Additionally, a higher product-to-package ratio means flexible packaging uses less water and energy to both manufacture and transport – which results in fewer materials in a landfill.

End-of-life recovery is an important aspect of sustainability. At Sealed Air, we’ve certified many of our vertical form-fill-seal films as compatible with LDPE RIC4 recycling streams*.

From maximized space to improved sustainability, there are countless reasons to switch from rigid containers to flexible packaging. Are you convinced yet? 

Autobag PS 125 OneStep Case Study

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The Autobag PaceSetter PS 125 OneStep is a compact, tabletop bagger ideal for mid-volume fulfillment operations.

In this application, the built-in imprinter is used to interface with a database for printing order information, address, and barcodes directly onto the mailbag.

This semi-automatic system replaces the need for separate printing and hand-affixing labels and produces up to 15 packages per minute. The costs for materials and postage are reduced.

The company saves an average of $0.17 postage per package because the mailbags weigh less than padded envelopes. At 5,000 packages per day, this equates to $850 per day in postage savings alone.

Case Study Findings:

Annual Savings: $212,500
Payback Period: 6 months
Product Shipped: Nutraceuticals
Previous Method: Handloading into padded envelopes
Previous Labor: Up to 10 employees
New Method: Autobag PS125 OneStep
New Labor: 1 employee
Postage Savings: $0.17 per package

Wide baggers for apparel fulfillment

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Apparel mail-order packaging is expanding due to the growth of internet shopping. The speed of getting the package out the door after it’s been ordered is critical.  It’s also important for the mail order package to arrive without any damage. Autobag’s new Autobag 600 and Autobag 650 Wide Bagging Systems are ideal for apparel fulfillment packaging. These bagging machines will accommodate a range of Autobag bags-on-a-roll and bags-in-a-box material up to 16 inches wide by 27 inches long.

The Autobag 650 Bagging System

The Autobag 650 is the same wide bagging system with a fully-integrated next-bag-out printer that eliminates the need for a separate labeling operation, increasing speed and accuracy in mail order e-commerce, prescription-by-mail, catalog order fulfillment, and frequent changeover, variable data applications.

The Autobag 650 prints and packs at speeds up to 40 bags per minute. These baggers include an AutoTouch Control Screen that provides quick and easy access to job storage and recall, on-board diagnostics, and productivity monitoring. The Autobag 600 and Autobag 650 can also be networked for full pack station integration and central monitoring. Both baggers feature an open design with fewer moving parts for longer life and ease of maintenance.

The Autobag 600 Wide Bagging System

The Autobag 600 is a semi-automatic filling and sealing machine designed for packaging large products at speeds up to 65 bags per minute. An innovative engineering design has eliminated the need for light curtains or double palm switches, while the adjustable six-inch pass-through enables faster, more efficient cycle times.

To learn about both, please visit our Bagging Systems selection today.

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