Global Products in a Common Package

By Kyle Ous - Chainalytics
Products across the globe generally have unique qualities that create the need to be packaged for protection and/or containment. This concept helps deliver products to the end user so an “out of the box experience” takes place once received by the customer. The satisfaction your customers engage in combined with the lasting experience your package provides will create the ultimate appetite for repeat business!

Although there are many viewpoints when it comes to packaging, the one thing most companies have in common are brown shipping boxes, made out of corrugated fiberboard. From the mid 19th century to present day, this corrugated box application has been providing protection to products and is continuously showing signs of industry growth. Corrugated provides strength and versatility in any mode of transportation, but understanding the amount of strength for your product becomes the underlying concern.   While corrugated has been the work horse of the packaging industry for about 150 years, is it the right material for your products?

Standard Corrugated Shipper

All too often, justing throwing your product in a brown box is the default easy way out.  A few challenges that Chainalytics Packaging Experts look for: (1) Has the appropriate material been selected to protect the product throughout distribution? (2) Are desired package aesthetics being explored? (3) Can the size and chosen material design impact the total supply chain cost?

What packaging engineers tend to find is that thinking about the products distribution cycle to the end user can help address the known challenges and prevent unnecesary engineering changes and costs down the road.

Chainalytics has the breadth of knowledge to lead  projects ranging from package redesign to supply chain cost reductions. Whether the goal is to become more competitive by reducing package cost, getting control over the amount of damage in the supply chain, or simply changing designs to generate revenue, Chainalytics Packaging Practice can provide leadership in these areas and help with your companies bottom line!

Pizza ECO BOX a good example of Sustainability

by Rich Lindgren, CPP - Chainalytics

Several months ago Pizza Hut, at least in the Minneapolis market, made a subtle change to its delivery and takeout pizza boxes.  On the large pizza corrugated box, they reduced the front rolled edge of their box by about half of the total box height.  It seems to have little to no effect on performance of the box and its delivery of your pizza, and unless you are a packaging nerd like me (yes, pizza boxes are a form of packaging), you probably would have never noticed.  On their medium pizza, they did a similar design change; also the medium is a thinner board (F instead of B Flute) than the large, not sure if it has always been that way.

Old Version

New Eco Box

However, this small and subtle change is the kind of thing many companies could and should be doing to make reductions in theirsustainability footprint and to save money.  By reducing the front rolled edge of their pizza box, they reduced the flat footprint of their box by 4.1%. 

Flat blank comparison

Now 4% does not seem like a huge number, but at Pizza Hut USA volumes (estimated 675,000 boxes per day), that is an annual reduction of over 46 million square feet of corrugated board.  To put that in perspective, that would be an NFL Football Field w/o end zones over 128 feet high.  Now that is a serious pile of corrugated eliminated from our waste stream every single year.

Solid Model of how much corruaged was save, notice how small the goal posts look!

On a per pizza box basis, the cost savings is approximated at just over a ½ cent per pizza, so don’t look for a big discount on your favorite stuffed crust pizza, but at their annual volumes the cost savings could easily be around 1-2 million dollars.

While we didn’t have anything do to with this change, this is a shining of example of the kind of cost reduction opportunities that are available to many companies and the type of thing that Chainalytics Packaging Optimization Practice helps their clients implement on a regular basis.

New Webinar: Leveraging Packaging to Create Sustainability & Cost Reductions Throughout the Supply Chain

Supply chain enhancement has become an essential strategy for success. The Institute of Packaging Professionals and the Contract Packaging Association are collaborating to present a knowledgeable speaker and unique perspective in a webinar on this important topic.

Presentation Details:
Consumer goods companies and their vendors are talking a lot about “supply chain optimization,” but typically, the discussion and tactics focus mainly on areas such as air freight reduction, increased container utilization and traffic route enhancement. Too often, packaging is far down the list of considerations—even though the potential for savings there is significant. Supply chain optimization know-how is critical for those who have responsibility for maximizing the value of packaging in the supply chain, as well as for anyone who qualifies, uses or manages contract packaging services.

“A Chain Reaction: Leveraging Packaging to Create Sustainability and Cost Reductions Throughout the Supply Chain.” 

Tom Blanck Principal and Practice Leader
Packaging Optimization Practice, Chainalytics Inc.

Where:
Online
Click here to register.

When:
June 7, 2012
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. CST

Co-hosted by: