Monthly Archives: July 2022

The Best Products for a corrugated box 

A lot of business owners like to use corrugated boxes to help with their shipping. It’s a fiberboard medium that’s study and comes with different folds that are between sheets that are flat. The corrugated boxes are good for a variety of products and is used for a variety of shipping options. 

The Benefits 

There are many different benefits for this, and we’ll go over them here. First, they have the best production, since they can withstand a lot of damaging pressures that other boxes may not be able to, so if you value something and want to ensure that it won’t get damaged, this is good. You can get thinner wall for less fragile items, but also something with thicker walls so that it’s more durable. You can secure this in order to shock absorb, and also keep everything from rattling around. 

The packaging is also very adaptable, so pretty much anything can fit into one of these, and you can even utilize inserts to put more in this. You can stack items in these that already fit well in boxes like this. Toys and shoes are some of the most common, and if you have anything pre-packaged that you’d’ like to make sure is taken care of, this is one way to do so with ease. 

It’s also some of the lightest shipping. This is light, but strong, and is great for items that need to be transported for a long time. the carboard that’s thick and light are also good, since the items within this are even in weight distribution, and it’s easy to handle and transport, which is great for those warehouse workers you’d like to discuss this with. 

Finally, it’s made form materials that are affordable, and is cost effective. Plus, since it’s so easy for you to put this together the transit for this is also really good, and you don’t have to worry about possibly ruining the products within this. 

The best products for cardboard boxes 

Here are some great items that you can put inside cardboard boxes. Clothing and textiles, especially fabrics, are great for cardboard boxes.  You can even include craft and sewing items if you want to use this, since the moisture is kept out and they won’t be marred by debris when transporting this. 

Apparel and shoes also are good with this, since you can put a lot of these in there, and it can definitely go to the customer in a quick fashion to meet their needs. Lots of food retailers will use this for food, as it will protect the products from the air outside and keeps it safe from any marring and damages. 

It’s also eco-friendly, totally recyclable, and is great for food services and subscription food companies. Office supplies also go well in this, including stationery, printer ink, copy paper, and pens, along with other sorts of supplies. They’re lightweight, so everything fits in there, and it also will protect it from being damaged. 

Finally, you’ve got industrial supplies as well, since furniture is really good, and raw materials used for building are great for this. This is great for commercial use, along with personal use, as it’s very easy to utilize cardboard boxes to help you with improving this. 

Sa you can see, pretty much anything can fit inside a cardboard box, and the beauty of this, is that there are a ton of great ways to use a cardboard box, not just so that you get the item to the customer safe, but also so that it does get there in a way that’s beneficial for everyone. 

Why you should Prioritize Sustainability within a Recession 

The uncertainty of our economy is scary, and with many brands cutting down as of late, thinking that the sustainability and ethical parts of this to the side, it can be bad for the planet, and it’s terrible for business. 

Brands need to be committed to the initiatives and the goals that they had during the previous kinds of recessions, and if you focus on sustainability, you bounce back faster. With the tough economy that we’re in, here’s what we should also be looking at. Sustainability is something that will definitely help you have leverage when you’re a brand that’s looking to figure out how to stay afloat. 

The reality of the Current Market 

With over a thousand brands that are at the front of innovation and working to make changes to the environment, having a D2C business model is something that’s good for a lot of people, especially before they get to the top of the charts.  There are many brands that are dealing with sales not hitting the expectations that are there, leaving them with too much product, and not enough certainty about what’s next, and this is something that’s stuck around in the previous year. 

Plus, with these different aspects, there is a lot going on globally: 

  • Inflation hitting a 40-year high 
  • Gas prices over $5 nationally 
  • The sentiment for the consumer is declining 
  • Hiring declining, with high-profile companies laying off more and more. 
  • Most places slashing prices to get rid of inventory 

This is a common problem for many businesses, and the idea of sustainability may not be something they ware ready for, especially with the next year. 

How ethical brands and sustainable ones Fare. 

Brands that are ethical and sustainable tend to actually do better when faced with a recession and economic downturn. 

Let’s look back to the 2008 recession. Some of the most sustainable brands tend to be the ones that were the most successful, those brands that made aggressive, bold investments during these years did a lot better than a lot of traditional brands. That’s because a lot of experts predicted the opposite, and the thinking that people needed to cut the costs in order to possibly be beneficial to the environment, and it’s something that a lot of companies struggled with. 

In a study back in 2014, it was found that a $1 investment for sustainability companies grew to $22.60 in those that were still sustainable by 2010, and this also is a major increase compared to many of the lost sustainability companies. Plus, a lot of companies that have a strong responsibility and repute do have some declines when they were not working in sustainable fields. 

Some of the greener places and companies actually were able to expand, offering more greener options of revenue, and it also improved the competitiveness during the economic downturn. Plus, a lot of B corporations and those that were known for high standards of transparency and performance did have a much stronger chance to fare during the recession of 2008 than more traditional businesses. 

What this taught us is that if you’re looking to have some sort of plan for when those economic downturns happen, sustainability is the way to do this. While nothing is possible to be recession-proof, and almost all businesses of all kinds will feel this, the goal of this is to pull yourself up, and prioritize the sustainability of the product, and by doing this, you’ll be able to become bigger and better, and bounce back once the aftermath of the recession is over. 

Why Small Contract Packaging Costs more 

Did you know that small contract packaging is a lot mor expensive than the bigger contracts? This might seem odd, but it’s the case. You may wonder why it is the case, since it seems like it would be much more expensive if you get a bigger older.  It may be a bit surprising, but there are some variables that go along with this, and it’s important to understand the differences that come with these projects and packaging as well. 

Why it does 

When you look at contract packaging, there are some different factors to look at. The total costs is important, and how long the project will run, along with parts and items that are moving, and as well, the relationship with a copacker that you might have. 

However, the cost per package is something as well. It might seem strange, but if you look at the elements that generate how much your cost per package is will show how the higher costs come to be. 

Variety impacts efficiency 

Yes, it does, and it doesn’t matter what size you are. If you’re changing it up a lot, it’s going to cost more.

If you’re doing small contract packaging, it will cause you to start and stop multiple projects, and you have to do a lot of other variants in a smaller time period. With contract packaging, you also need to look at the downtime going from larger to smaller projects. These different factors also include the changeover of laborers, setting up the equipment for you business, and also the lines along with other kinds of actions that are based on the needs of the packaging project or company. 

This will also cost you more money in a few instances, and it’s why the projects do result in larger price points for each package. 

Every time contract packaging company has to stop, shut down and then switch over, it stops the greener generation, which doesn’t look good for anyone. They need to put together new machinery, tweak and alter as needed, and of course, they need to quality check it to ensure that everything’s running effectively. 

This does take more time, which then causes more costs to pile up, since copackers will need to ensure that a portion of this in place to ensure that contract packaging projects that are smaller are profitable for the packaging company while also reducing the downtime that’s needed to finish these projects. 

It’s like riding a bike 

It’s important to understand too that smaller projects are kind of like riding a bike, since it may not be perfect the first go of this. You may fall, or fail, and then get back up, and then, tweak a few parts of this. 

This goes for anything, including packaging. You fail, hit the right speed, and you’re better at this. This is something that might not be ideal, and for smaller projects, this is something that does play a part in it.  The copacker that you have will need to change it for bigger projects, and they will need to alter. It may not be perfect the first go. They may change metrics, and also small logistics. 

This is something that’s not gotten right immediately, and it can play a big part in getting the rhythm down. For smaller contracting jobs, it takes a little bit of time to hit the rhythm, and you will need to pay up more to ensure that you get the results that are better with time, and if they have to shut it down, it affects you. 

Proper Packaging to Use in Our Current Climate 

There are many challenges in the current world, and even sustaining proper packaging especially with disruptions, it’s been quite the challenge. Plus, managing the materials and packaging has only grown harder than ever. 

The supply Chain issues 

There were already issues with your supply chain before all of this, and with continuous conflicts, it’s something that you definitely will want to look at, and it’s going to only get worse before it gets better. 

Planning this does require an approach to this, and the supply chains will only get worse as more and more unintended incidents and consequences happen as a result of the war, pandemic, and also the ongoing disruptions of the petroleum industry. 

Material shortages 

Most current vendors have certain clients that support them, and when supply chain issues happen, getting it from the vendors is a challenge, and many times, they either don’t have enough, or they have to charge more, and it’s a challenge for plenty of people, in order to serve the clients that are there. 

Many vendors are turning to different vendors as well to help with this, and even inventory is different from what it was even a couple of years back. So how do you calculate all of this, especially with the current climate. 

How to calculate current inventory 

The best thing to do, is to do a little bit of calculating, and math problems to help with this. 

The formula is something that you should keep on hand, in order to keep your business running as you should. 

The formula is as follows: 

The demand daily +the safety Stock x lead time = the packaging minimum materials that are needed, and that inventory level. This formula is something that helps you see just how much you need in order to get ahead, at least for the next 30 days. 

It’s important though, that with the current packaging needs, you also multiply this by 1.5.  for example, taking all of this and say it comes out to 3000 widgets, you want that number to be 4500 instead of an extra buffer. This lets you continue to be in business even if your local suppliers are a little bit slow with those lead times. 

There are other components that you also need to look at too, critical aspects of items that you can’t fully empty your stock of. 

Looking at the critical 

You want to make sure that you know the critical aspects of packaging. That means, if something is ran out, it will shut down everything, and you can’t work. You want to make sure that you have double of these critical components, in the even that there are inventory snags. 

This can cause issues with space at your warehouse, but with all of this, you can get about 2x the time for leads to ensure the abundance of this. 

It’s important to make sure that you do factor in space, which does become an issue, but also think about it, this can make a difference between your business working, and your business having to shut down. 

You also want to add in other waste factors, and also look at continued supply chain and labor issues. You also may find that the goods quality is going down, and you’ll want to factor that into the calculations at hand in order to compensate all of this. 

Keeping ourselves informed of all of this is incredibly important, and with this, you’ll be able to prepare your supplies for any problems that may get in your way as well.