Reduce Packaging Costs

The cost of packaging is not only the value you paid. It is a combination resulting from the sum of your usage values. This is why companies try their best to reduce packaging costs. In the industry in general, most packaging engineering processes focus on three major fields:

1. Development of new packaging designs.
2. Redesign and update of packaging with a particular time in the market.
3. Projects to reduce costs and sustainability of packaging.

But it is in this last field where the engineers of the packaging sector can show their professional capacity. This situation is due to companies being interested mainly in reducing costs and increasing their sales.

Only when you know all the variables and packaging processes in your company can you identify the areas where you can reduce costs. Then you can critically analyse and find alternatives with your material and machinery suppliers. Hence, you can find ways to cut costs without disparaging quality or performance.

When you use the right material for your product this will have a shelf life sufficient to be sold without incurring expirations or deterioration due to lack of quality. Remember that the right material for your product means safety to your consumer and safety from any point of view.

It will always be advantageous to review all variables in production, storage and handling department to find the sources of unnecessary losses. A rigorous control, focused on reducing waste, can result in considerable savings.

In addition to the mechanical damage and contamination that packaging materials may suffer during storage, there are two potential areas of loss in packaging operations: losses during start-up of the machinery, the start of the work shift, after a production interruption or due to a change in the shape or roll of material.

Losses related to problems in machinery, when there are production runs of containers outside the standard specification, which result in having to discard packaging. The total cost of these losses can be significant by accumulating them for a year and, therefore, should be reduced by appropriate staff training and by rigorous control of production.

Packing specifications are an essential strategic tool for the professional management of packaging materials. Careful planning in advance of packaging minimises risk. Hence, we reduce costly mistakes in purchases. Also, this reduces waste through more efficient quality control while facilitating better.

The cost of a packaging should always be estimated with the overall performance of the packaging function. Even large differences can be offset by low productivity and frequent stoppages of conversion.