Part of the cost of any product must include the costs of packaging and because of this, it is important to take a variety of factors into consideration. Everything from materials used to product positioning plays a part in the final cost of packaging. Like any other part of product delivery, packaging can make a difference to the final profit margin. Here are some factors to consider when packaging your products.
The choice of packing materials must be arrived at through careful considerations. Study every step of the supply chain and identify things that could damage the products. These could be environmental factors or mechanical ones, both during transportation or storage. Durable materials tend to be expensive, so you need to weigh the risk of damaged packages against the cost of higher-quality packaging.
Space costs money and wasted space is wasted money. Make sure that packaging is compact, so you can reduce your logistics spending. Fewer gaps also reduce the chances of damage in transit, since the contents can’t bounce around.
Packaging your shipments efficiently can reduce unused box space and save you money on shipping. Carriers have various methods of calculating shipping charges and often use dimensional weight for bags or boxes above a certain size. This is based on the volume of the shipment, rather than the actual weight.
There are many choices for packaging material, so you need to make sure you make the right choice. It’s a good idea to test your packaging solutions and evaluate performance under mechanical strains by simulating the forces the packages will be exposed to, e.g. applying pressure to the top and sides to test compression/stacking. Based on the modes of shipping, your packages should undergo vibration and shock tests as well.
Taking these extra steps before ordering packaging material and following through on a good packaging design can save you a ton of money and as we know, that means more profits.