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While this has been in the works for quite some time, it is now official, all the authors of this blog will now only be publishing new content on the Packaging Section of the Chainalytics Blog.  Follow this link for all our latest packaging and supply chain industry content you have enjoyed here.

Sincere thanks to all of our subscribers and readers here over the years!  We hope you will continue with us on our new and improved platform.  Don't worry, all this content will remain posted here as an archive.

Small Changes Can Bring Big Supply Chain Savings

by Rich Lindgren, CPP
Chainalytics


In the world of Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) there is an eternal struggle between the demands of marketing, operations and optimizing your packaging for the supply chain.  As an everyday consumer, you probably see packages all over the grocery store where you wonder why there is so much air around the product or food in the packages you purchase.  For the most part, air is waste and below you will read why!

There are a few reasons for this air.  The first is driven by operations and that is the functional air space so they can run their automated filling equipment at speeds which maximize efficiency and profitability.  For the most part this is a good thing, this ultimately contributes to you getting the products you want at your local stores at a fair price.  Secondly and usually the larger driver for the size of the packaging is due to marketing billboard space.  When you walk down the aisle at Target or Walmart, almost every package is a mini billboard of sorts trying to call your attention much like driving down the interstate in your car.

Aisle of "Packaging Billboards"

The bigger the packaging face the larger the product image or area that can be used by marketing and graphics teams to inform you and entice you to put it in your cart.  Packaging size also has an inherit suggestion to the amount of product inside said package.  Consciously or subconsciously if you see two pizza boxes next to each other for the same price, you may select the larger one without actually reading the ounces labeled in small print at the bottom of the carton, thinking you are getting a better value. Sadly, not very often is a larger package an indication of amount of product or food inside and even can be consider non-functional slack fill, which can lead to fines on companies.

Typically the process works as follows, a leading brand owner will launch a product into the market with a large billboard area so they can "be heard" on the shelf to tell you what is new and great about the new product.  If the product is successful, it is natural for competing brands to launch their "me too" versions into the market to grab a share of the new market.  When those "me too" products launch they often copy the size of the current market leader for that product category whether they need the space or not, so they can look the same size wise on the shelf.

As a packaging engineer the trick is to balance the concerns of marketing and operations while delivering an optimized packaging system that will serve the company's bottom line.  Below I will outline a case study for a project our team delivered for a past frozen foods customer.  This particular frozen pizza item was the follower or the "me too" in the market.  Even though the product was a different shape and size then competitor, they launched product in a paperboard carton the exact dimension of the competitor.

We proposed a sensitivity analysis showcasing the range in cost savings, while maintaining a similar size graphic facing. The key was finding the sweet spot for this packaging system while meeting the needs of the marketing team.  Even though there were other options with larger supply chain savings, marketing would not support the billboard reduction.  The selected option is what we labeled as "Visual Indifference".  Basically it was the smallest change I could find that would still make a big impact.  Such a small change, that it would be impossible to perceive it in a freezer case.

Small changes to the retail carton leading to big savings!

By reducing the length and width of the carton by just an 1/8" in each direction and reducing height or riser panel by a 1/16" we made a huge impact.  The 1/8" reduction allowed us to add a whole row of cases along a 53" Dry Van trailer as well as one additional row at the back of the trailers.  The 1/16" reduction allowed for pack out ratio change on the freezer shelf.  Getting more pizzas in a freezer leading to less out of stock.  This also helped propel a change going to 14 count shipping case from 12 count.  In the end, this also allowed one additional row of pizza cases along the top of the trailer as well, in the end the customer got an additional 6,848 pizzas on each truck shipped.

Click Images to Enlarge

In the end, with an annualized savings of $600K, the time to payback was only 7 days.  Adding on top of that, there was a great sustainable story to tell as well.  On top of the hard savings, the reduced out of stocks, reduced touches and many other soft benefits throughout the supply chain.

Total Supply Chain Impacts

Does it make you wonder what products in your company's portfolio could have a similar opportunity for greater efficiency and supply chain savings?

The packaging team at Chainalytics focuses on packaging cost reduction efforts that lead to a chain reaction of savings across the entire supply chain for their customers.

Combating Driver Shortage Through Packaging

by Rich Lindgren, CPP
Chainalytics

If you pay attention to transportation and long haul trucking rates, you know that the current driver shortage is a real problem and is causing increased rates and reduced load acceptance ratios.  For more details on the driver shortage and how it effects transportation costs, check out this article by Michael Kilgore.

The most widely accepted solution to the driver shortage is to increase compensation for over the road truck drivers so that the profession remains competitive against other appealing semi-skilled construction jobs that are on the rise.  That will definitely help with the supply end of the equation and probably deserved for quality drivers, but at the same time those wage increases will just transfer through to your company in the way of rate increases across lanes.

Here is an alternative way of thinking about this problem from the the demand side of the equation.  Shipping less product is obviously not a solution to reduce demand and unless you own your fleet, you can't really hire or pay drivers more, you rely on your carriers for that.  So lets look at something you do have control of.  Believe it or not, it starts with your packaging, specifically your distribution and unit load packaging.

Do the Back of your Trailers resemble this?

By optimizing your packaging and increasing the density of your unit loads and thus leading to more goods shipped per trailer, you reduce your demand on your carriers and the over all system.  Kind of like adjusting your thermostat in the heat of the summer when you are not home, you are reducing impact on the grid and waste.  Empty cube space in trailer is probably the worst and most expensive kind of waste there is.

Many customers we help achieve 5-15% improvements in full truck load densities, which usually translates 10-15% less truck load shipments.  This improvement obviously generates immediate transportation savings but also reduces the demand on their carriers and improved load acceptance ratios.  Now while one company reducing a few truck load shipments a week is not going to solve the driver shortage by itself, but a small percentage shift across the market would.  Not to mention, this would result in significant savings for companies and a large reduction in truck emissions from a sustainability standpoint.

To learn more about Packaging Optimization, follow the link.

2015 Pack Expo Las Vegas Recap

by Rich Lindgren, CPP
Chainalytics

Recently Chainalytics' packaging engineering team attended the PACK EXPO trade show in Las Vegas.  This year's show featured more than 1,800 exhibitors and 30,000+ attendees. Our team of packaging consultants canvased the floor for the better part of three days to find all things new and cutting edge in packaging industry.

While I've attend several Pack Expo shows in Chicago, this was actually my first year attending the packaging industry’s west coast version.  General impressions on Las Vegas vs. Chicago are the following:

1. Still a huge show, but much more manageable then Chicago, you can cover in 2 full days without sprinting the aisles.
2. Vegas is definitely a little less equipment and machinery intensive.  You get a better mix of materials, new technologies and material handling supplies.  So if Chicago turned you off in the past because of being overwhelmed with giants exhibits of fillers, wrappers, and conveyors, give Las Vegas a try.
3.  In my opinion, September in Las Vegas is so much nicer weather wise then the Windy City in October or November!


Lastly I leave you with our three top finds from this year's expo:

1. CogitoCan - One of the few short comings of the long-standing aluminum can is the lack of resealability.  Seeing the CogitoCan at the show was very unique and an exciting proposition for the beverage markets, especially if it as cost effective as they claim it to be.

New Resealable Aluminum Can Technology

2.  Easy Fold Fixtures - In our line of work as packaging consultants, we see tons of labor and time spent folding up two sided rollover corrugated cartons, a.k.a. Pizza Boxes.  Walking down one of the last aisles of the show for me, this immediately caught my attention.  Based on a few minutes in the booth, this seems like a great and affordable way to reduce labor and repetitive motion injuries as well asimprove productivity and tact time for many companies.  To see how it works, check out this 20 second video.

EZ fold fixtures

3.  WestRock Meta E - The newly formed WestRock had very large and impressive exhibit showing off their newest auto case and tray erecting Meta series.  For me the coolest offering they had was their Meta E which is focused on the E-commerce sector.  They have a unique system that auto erects an RSC corrugated case that is lined with cohesive paper.  You load the box upside down and place your product inside the top sealed lid of the case.  An operator then folds over the cohesive paper onto itself that creates a false bottom of sorts that cradles the product and holds firm to top of box.  When the consumer receives their shipment and opens the top, the product is justified to the top and creates a clean out of box experience with no loose fill, air pillows or shipping dunnage.  While this technology does nothing to solve for shipping air or reducing dimensional weight, it does potential reduce labor and packaging materials used.

Example of the customer "Out of Box Experience" with Meta E

Hopefully you have found this info helpful and you feel inspired to check out a future Pack Expo show.  If you have questions about something you want to know more about or something you found at Pack Expo, leave a comment below!

What’s New with Dimensional Weight?

by Rich Lindgren, CPP
Chainalytics

We are about half way into 2015 and the new Dimensional Weight pricing model issued by UPS and FedEx earlier this year. Fortunately, many shippers and 3PLs have been able to avoid the price increases taking immediate effect thanks to negotiation or multi-year contracts that haven't yet expired.  

(If dimension weight charge is news to you, check back on this previous blog entry.)

Rumblings and rumors from the packaging and supply chain industries suggest that the carriers are forming contractual partnerships with companies like Pack Size not only to secure business for each other, but ultimately appear to relieve the sting felt by shippers with the price increase. Naturally, the details of these dealings have been kept hush-hush. 

There would have to be a pretty compelling financial savings for a company to lock into long term exclusivity for both packaging and single parcel carrier arrangements. In my opinion,  if you already have a relationship with one or the other, why would you want to bring another company into the mix? Sounds messy. 

How much air are you shipping from you distribution centers?

If your company was not so fortunate at the negotiation table, and your plan A was to wait and see if the changes affected your ground pricing, now would be a good time to start reviewing your FedEx and UPS invoices against past quarters to see what the ultimate cost impact has been to your business and profit margins. Chances are after seeing the delta you will have to go to Plan B, and try and salvage some money to not blow this year's budget.  

Admittedly, sometimes Plan B's can be better than Plan A's in the long run. An exceptional Plan B in my opinion is to redesign the packaging for your high volume products, or implement a simple box sizing optimization exercise for your distribution centers.

Shipping air is almost like using dollar bills as void fill!

Either way, with dim weights in the mix, there is a lot of jockeying for market share by both carriers or packaging suppliers in the parcel game as "grace periods" expire for companies currently phasing in the dim weight pricing changes immediately. And frankly, there's a lot of money to be made (or lost) depending on the packing strategy you take. It's important to be aware of this the next time your contracts are up. Go line by line and review them carefully.

Get Your Millions Back!

by Rich Lindgren, CPP
Chainalytics


You may remember a few months back that H&R Block wanted to help all us Tax Payers get our Billion dollars back from mistakes made by doing our own federal tax returns.  Well, that got me thinking about all the money that will be left on the table by companies and individuals that will keep making the same mistakes they have been making come January 1, 2015 as it pertains to shipping single parcel.

For those of you that have not heard, UPS & FedEx will both be applying dimensional weight to all ground shipments, not just those over 3 cubic feet and air shipments.  So what does that mean to you?  Bloomberg and others estimate that the cost to the industry will be $350 million or more.  When you head out to the shipping department at your company, if you see anything that resembles the picture collage below, there is a good chance your company will be one of the ones effected with this multi-million dollar cost increase.

If your company has a single parcel shipping area like this, you probably are at risk!

H&R Block estimates that there about 11 million returns divvying up that Billion, which only comes out to around $460 per incorrect return, which is nice for an individual, but for a company, that is pocket change for most.  When it comes to single parcel charges, there are more like a few thousand companies that will burden the brunt of this $350 million dollar industry hit. For some companies, this will cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars if they don't do something about it.  Regardless, it's your money, Chainalytics wants you to get it back!

Traditionally, companies have erred on the side of operation efficiency and reducing the number of boxes to inventory for their single parcel fulfillment packing lines.  That strategy will prove to be quite costly going forward.  Currently you would be often sacrificing a few pennies of corrugated box costs to make things go fast and easy, now those decisions will add up to dollars in a hurry with dimensional freight charges.  Not to mention the dissatisfied and irritated customers that are tired of receiving over sized boxes with little product and lots of air pillows.

This example of office supplies of a box that dimensions 14"x10"x5" that weighed 1lb will now bill out  at 5lbs under new rules.  Likely cost impact on this shipment is 50 cents or more, times hundreds of shipments like this every day and you have a big problem!

If you want to run some scenarios on your own shipments, feel free to use our free dimensional weight calculator from a previous blog entry.

That being said, this doesn't have to be all doom and gloom, there is a way out or to at least minimize this cost increase.  It all starts with right sizing and/or optimizing your packaging and over packaging strategies for single parcel and e-commerce shipments.  

Not sure how to do that, feel free to reach out to our Packaging Consultants at Chainalytics - Packaging@Chainalytics.com

We can help you reduce your shipping costs and at the same time reduce your sustainability foot print.

2014 ISTA TransPack Forum Recap

by Rich Lindgren, CPP
Chainalytics
With more than 60 years in the package test method arena, International Safe Transit Association successfully hosted another Transport Packaging Forum in Orlando, FL. Again this year, the event brought insightful benefits ranging from success stories and networking to discovering alternative ways to design, test, and simulate field to lab testing.

Truly an international association, bringing attendees together from several companies representing 4 continents that share common bonds between packaging and supply chain challenges, insightful industry presentations and entertaining networking opportunities creates a remarkably powerful forum.

Eric Carlson co-presenting with Jeff Tronnes of Stratasys

New this year, the forum had a Sustainability track, which was a series of speakers with sustainable packaging themed presentations culminating in Sustainability Panel with leaders from AMERIPEN, INCPEN, Sustainable Packaging Coalition and others.

Another common theme was the need for more focus from packaging engineers on their stretch wrap materials and unit load design strategies.  Looking beyond the price per roll or pound of your stretch film, the focus should be on the cost per unit load and its performance.

It is clear that ISTA is continuing to try new wrinkles to bring the attendees something and new and different.  On top of the Sustainable emphasis on day one, the second day also had a discussion panel focused on future trends which created a lot of great discussion from the audience and the panel.  It was an honor to have Eric Carlson from our team at Chainalytics chosen to participate in this panel and he represented us well.

Future Trends Panel

One thing you for sure will want to watch for in 2015 are updates to ASTM D-4169 Random Truck Vibration profiles that should better simulate real world to the lab.  There is a lot of great work out there continuing to evolve and improve testing standards.

If you were not able to attend would like to see Eric's presentation "Story of the Mojo Packaging Development", view it here.

See you at the Transport Packaging Forum in 2015!

The Story of Mojo: Building a Packaging Focus into Product Design | ISTA TransPack 2014 from Chainalytics

No Time Like the Present to Start Right Sizing Your Packaging

Late last week, FedEx announced pricing changes for its FedEx Ground and Freight offerings.

For FedEx Ground, the company said that effective January 1, 2015, it will apply dimensional weight (aka: dim weight) pricing to all shipments moved via FedEx Ground, as opposed to its current method of applying dimensional weight pricing to oversized packages that measure three cubic feet or more. FedEx defines dimensional weight pricing as “a common industry practice that sets the transportation price based on package volume–the amount of space a package occupies in relation to its actual weight.”  FedEx officials said that this change will align the FedEx Ground dimensional weight pricing with FedEx Express by applying it to all packages.

What is dimensional weight, you ask? Dimensional weight is the volume of your package = (L x W x D) / 166. If the dimensional weight is greater than the actual weight of the package, you get charged for the dimensional weight. This formula applies to both UPS & FedEx.

This is going to be a major change for many online retailers, omni-channel shippers and companies that utilize single parcel for moving goods intra-company or business to business.  No need to worry if your company specializes in heavy good like replacement auto parts or gold bricks, but for many companies this could cause a substantial increase in logistics costs.  Based on initial research by WSJ, many companies could see price increase between 6%-30%+ on the majority of their single parcel shipments.

If you think you are protected because UPS is your carrier of choice, most experts agree that UPS will follow suit within a similar timeline.  There would be just too much money on the table for them to pass up.  Not sure if your packages will be subjected to dimensional weight, use our free online dimensional weight calculator below or find additional examples on dim weight in this previous blog post.

Domestic Single Parcel Freight Dimensional Weight Calculator

    

No longer will companies be able to afford ground shipments that look like the picture below.  Before, all this air space would often cost them a few extra dimes in extra corrugated box material and air pillows, but going forward they may be paying extra dollars for that extra air they are shipping in this under-utilized secondary package.

Starting Jan 1, 2015 shipments like this will be costly for online retailers

That being said, this doesn't have to be all doom and gloom, there is a way out or to at least minimize this cost increase.  It all starts with right sizing and/or optimizing your packaging and over packaging strategies, and finding the balance between how many box sizes your fulfillment line should carry, what size they should be, and what's the balance between box size and dimensional weight impact.  Not sure how to do that, feel free to reach out to our Packaging Experts at Chainalytics - Packaging@Chainalytics.com

by Rich Lindgren, CPP
Chainalytics

Considering Product and Packaging Shipability

by Rich Lindgren, CPP
Chainalytics

I recently came across  “The real impact of high transportation costs” from CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly. I found their three main drivers on how high transportation costs are affecting supply chain strategies were very accurate, with one critical packaging element absent.

The gist of the article suggests rising and volatile costs of fuel are causing U.S. companies to shift operations in the following key ways:

• A shift from offshoring to nearshoring
• A shift from product design for marketability and production to design for "shipability"
• A shift from lean inventory policies to hybrid lean transport/inventory policies

In my day-to-day work on Packaging Optimization for our customers, the first two drivers challenge our clients with increasing frequency and intensity. There is a trend towards less overseas manufacturing or at least postponed assembly.  There is also clearly a conscious effort for almost all companies to make their product and packaging more dense. This has a ripple effect of savings in their supply chain and logistics specifically in efficiency gained through packaging materials, handling and warehousing.

What stood out to me as missing from the article’s “Shipability point,” and what I often see overlooked by some of our clients, is that shipability goes beyond on the size and shape of packaging.  Shipability should also include the product’s ability to survive the supply chain.  No matter how dense a product packs and ships as it fills out the perfect cube for your pallet or trailer load, if it is damage during the final mile before your customer gets it, the process failed.

Your product and package must work in concert to survive the rigors of your ever-changing supply chain.  Here is a simple equation demonstrating this point. 

 “Product + Packaging = Distribution”

If your product plus the packaging are greater than the rigors of your supply chain you are probably over spending on your packaging. If less, then you are going to see higher than normal damage rates.  It is evident there is a shift towards more single parcel shipments to end customers, which is causing many companies’ supply chain equations to fall out of balance.

Most packaging is designed for palletized shipment and is being asked to survive single parcel challenges. You can change any of the three variables in the equation (product, package or environment), but the distribution piece is often the most difficult and costly to change.  Companies that rely solely on supplemental packaging as the solution to this problem overlook the possibility of simple improvements to make their products more robust that can be more cost effective than adding packaging.

We recently completed a project that is a classic example of this. A customer with a domestically sourced product shifted from palletized delivery to a single parcel environment.  The team created a solution that incorporated small product improvements with engineered packaging designs to meet all out-of-box customer requirements while reducing packaging and damage costs.   

Chainalytics will co-present this “Story of the Mojo” with Stratsys at the upcoming 2014 ISTA TransPack forum on April 23rd. Check back here for more details and follow up to this story after the conference concludes.

Corrugated out of the Box Designs

by Rich Lindgren, CPP
Chainalytics





I recently came across this article on Fast Company about an entrepreneur who has a kickstarter campaign going for his new "Cardboard" standing desk.  Before we go too much further, let's just clarify, this is desk is made of corrugated board, not cardboard.  Not sure on the difference, check out one of earlier blogs here.

Interestingly enough, Zach Rotholz, the designer behind this standing desk actually has a retail store in New Haven, CT called Chairigami where he designs and sells all sorts of furniture from corrugated.  Chairigami produces everything from beds to chaise lounges and now has expanded to manufacture both office furniture and trade show booths for a national audience.   All of the pieces are hand-made and produced in his small cardboard carpentry style store.

Corrugated Standing Desk

 The paper based furniture ends up being relatively inexpensive, very light to transport and move, plus completely recyclable when you are finished with it.  The featured standing desk is said to weigh less then 15lbs, strong enough to support 300 lbs on the top surface, assembled by customer in a matter of minutes without any tools, fastener or adhesives and last 4 years in a normal working environment and all that at a price point of $65.

One of the main pitches is why would you spend several hundred dollars on a new standing desk only to find out that you really don't like it.  Ironically, the other most cost effective option for "trying" the standing desk out would be just to find some old corrugated boxes and set them on your current desk.

Distribution Packaging for Standing Desk

I think one of the best advantages of this design is his actual distribution or shipping package, which is a single parcel ready flat pack, very similar to stuff you get at IKEA, but much lighter making it fairly economical to ship and expand his market reach. It's pretty amazing to think of all the cool furniture I could have made with some of the secondary packaging shipper boxes I regularly get from Amazon.com

The other fun advantage is that these are fully customizable with simple box knives or markers and if you don't like it, pretty easy to replace or fix.  Just keep these desks away from water, corrugated and moisture don't get along, kind of like the Movie Gremlins from the 80's.  Not sure if this is take over home furnishings for the majority of households, but I could see a nice niche for small apartments or student housing.  But I think the biggest market might be for trade shows.

Don't be surprised if you see our Chainalytics design team working on some new corrugated furniture designs for our upcoming trade shows!

Olympic Size Supply Chain Challenges

by Rich Lindgren, CPP
Chainalytics

We all love gathering around our television every few years to watch our home country Olympians compete in the crafts to which they have dedicated much of their lives.

But, have you ever spent any time thinking about how some Olympians get themselves and their gear to the host country and ready for these events?  Sure, if you are Justin Gatlin or Allyson Felix, throwing a few pairs of shoes and some running outfits into your carry-on and getting on a plane for London is a walk in the park.  I am sure Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Missy Franklin had no issues getting their spare swim caps and goggles in their back packs.

What really got me thinking was seeing a news story leading up to Olympic coverage of one of our U.S. pole vaulters trying to get through an airport with his poles on his way to London.  I also read this article from NY Times as a follow up.

Photo from Mary Saxer via NY Times

You may be wondering, "Why don't athletes ship their gear ahead of time?" As it turns out, most poles are about seventeen feet in length.  Some athletes could travel with up to seven poles, each of which would cost around $8,000 to ship in travel tubes.  Can you imagine the potential horror stories about the Olympian who went to pick up their pole after UPS, DHS or FedEx?  For the most part, long, thin, and flexible items do not fair well in parcel systems, since they are not set up for that.  Also, you can imagine the oversize and dimensional weight penalties you would get charged on something that size?

Assuming you can get your poles on the plane and the carry-on fees are not too excessive, then how do you get to the Olympic village?  I'm guessing most airport shuttles and rental cars are not setup for this special request...

Who else may have challenges?  Kayakers, rowers, javelin throwers?  I am sure there are special requirements for our archers and shooting competitors post-September 11.  How about the sailing team?  Do they all just leave a few weeks early and drive the boat to London?  And don't forget about our Equestrian athletes faithful steeds...  Leave a comment if I am missing other athlete's logistical challenges!

As a packaging and supply chain professional, it is easy to empathize with our Olympians who face similar challenges that I face every day, only on a slightly different scale.  Maybe now, you, too, will see some of these athletes in a different light.

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.

Can Technology Make Our Packaging Smaller?

by Rich Lindgren, CPP - Chainalytics

Recently, there has been a growing amount of mobile barcodes published everywhere people are looking for information. From magazines articles and store shelves to transportation signs, these Mobile Barcodes, which are often referred to as QR (Quick Response) Codes or Electronic Tags, are popping up all over. These barcodes are gaining popularity quickly because they allow print and visual media to connect with digital media easily with an embedded URL that links to a video, website, or any other online media.

Here are a few advantages:

•Call-to-action: Use Mobile Barcodes as a direct response marketing tool for print campaigns; Mobile Barcodes automatically integrate print advertising with mobile devices.

•Manage the customer experience: Use Mobile Barcodes to link to a mobile website or video, on a business card to instantly add someone to your address book, dial a phone number, or display a free message.

•Advanced analytics: Measure campaign effectiveness with enhanced reporting, such as the number of scans of a particular Mobile Barcode over time and by geographic location.

•Adaptable size: Mobile Barcode’s small size allows you to maximize the information delivered to customers without taking up a lot of real estate in your printed materials and packaging.

•Sustainability: Using Mobile Barcodes for product information and marketing collateral eliminates the need for physical handouts and multiple copies. Now customers can scan these Mobile Barcodes and access the information virtually.

Curious how it works? Simply download the FREE applications or “Apps” for QR Codes and Microsoft® Tag from your appropriate App Store or website. Then use the QR Code Reader to scan the black and white barcode on the top or use the Microsoft Tag Reader to scan the multicolored barcode on the bottom.

Here at Chainalytics Packaging Optimization Practice, our packaging engineers are excited about this new technology because it could mean an end to inflated packaging. Many companies often inflate the size of their consumer packaging to create a larger billboard space to attract customers and provide additional product information. As these mobile barcodes become more accepted, consumers will be able to scan these small barcodes off the package, download all the product information instead of reading it on the package. Therefore allowing companies to cut down on their packaging size, save money and have a positive impact on their sustainable footprint, leaving a better planet for everyone!

For fun, here is a link to a video that demonstrates using a smartphone to read an electronic tag in a periodical to access a website and a video on a product.