Today's packaging solutions offer a vast selection of choices that will not only protect your products but, at the same time, fill the empty space in your carton.  But, like everything else, too many choices create more questions than answers on what will work best and at what cost.

Although the owner of One Pack has been selling a whole host of void fill and protective packaging products for the past twenty years and has been trained by the manufacturers, we still find that our greatest assets and best teachers are you, our customer.

One customer

that comes to mind is a young packaging engineer that ships household goods all over the country in both bulk and dot.com type of packages.  Spending time with this very knowledgeable individual not only confirmed much of the advice offered by One Pack but, also offered a fresh perspective on how to find the best packaging at an acceptable cost. 

The goal, of course, is to minimize or eliminate breakage.   Looking at all your SKU's and determining the vast differences helps to develop the package. Who is receiving your package is equally important.  Today many retailers are actually charging for to much dunnage.  This makes the option of increasing the carton size to add protective packaging unacceptable. Those receiving your package at their home may find foam chips to be annoying to dispose of as compared to a biodegradable chip which that will dissolve in water. Also, using products that are considered "green" 

will only enhance your company's image.

Material costs will always be the primary importance of any packaging project, but labor costs are equally important.  Other questions also need to be addressed, such as does your package create unsafe conditions such as dust or toxic fumes and will the repetitiveness of what your worker does create undue strain on their body?

Lastly, what type of equipment will be needed to create the packaging?  With crumpled paper or air pillows most companies will either give or rent you the equipment.  Rentals can actually save you money because the price of the material needed is reduced enough to not only offset the monthly rental, but to actually show a considerable savings over the course of a year.  We have also seen equipment that you can purchase outright.  This option only makes sense if you can use any type of generic product with the equipment and it pays for itself within three years. It has always been the opinion of One Pack that you should not have to be forced to buy from a vendor because of a proprietary situation.  We are proud to say that our customers buy from us because they want to, not because they are forced to.

We will continue with this subject next month, discussing the pros and cons of the different type of protective packaging systems.