Have you ever purchased an item at full price only to go back to the store days later just to find that the item you purchased is now on sale? It's the worst. And even if it isn't your personal money, like in the case of buying something for your company, resenting the fact that you didn’t get to take advantage of the lower price is not a good feeling.
How a simple packaging process improvement can save you in the long run
At IPS Packaging, we assess your packaging process and work on ways to help you restructure and improve it: making it more productive and profitable. Making even one simple packaging process improvement can lead to huge gains in production, reductions in labor cost and material usage, as well as the stress headaches that go with managing a more complex process. And how can you go wrong when you don't have to worry that you're spending a small fortune on something with little to no return on investment.
Here's just one example of how we helped a large manufacturer of medical supplies.
They were using three semi-automatic strapping stations to package their supplies. The products were then re-packed into master packs: RSC boxes with void fill and taped shut, all using additional manual labor. The master packs were then strapped together, resulting in awkward bundles that used an average of 65ft of polypropylene strapping. Then, the packages were processed through several FedEX distribution centers across the country.
Believing that there might be simpler (and less expensive!) ways to package their products, the medical supply manufacturer contacted IPS Packaging. After looking at their operation, their IPS Account Specialist suggested a semi-automatic shrink wrapper and shrink tunnel. By implementing these simple packaging process changes, the company simplified their packaging and reduced their waste. The result was a cleaner packaging process and a more professional-looking package.
The return on investment for this new equipment was expected to be fully realized within 120 days, but the amount of cost savings they realized was astounding, surprising them and their Account Specialist. Their estimated annual material savings was between $135,000 and $150,000; an additional $130,000 was saved annually from damage and labor cost reductions.
Using one simple packaging process improvement, the company was able to realize close to a quarter million dollars in annual savings. Maybe their results aren't typical, but maybe it's time for you to see how an IPS Account Specialist could use the same knowledge for making packaging process improvements in your facility.
Packaging Process Improvement Overview
The Problem: A medical manufacturing company's packaging process was resulting in awkward bundles using an average of 65ft of polypropylene strapping per package.
- Wasting resources and packaging supplies
- Losing mass amounts of money
The Solution: Once the medical supply manufacturer contacted us, one of our experienced Account Managers suggested a semi-automatic shrink wrapper and a shrink tunnel.
- Astounding amount of cost savings
- $100,000 saved in damage reduction
- $30,000 saved in labor
Maybe it's time to consider your own potential for a packaging process improvement.
