SCDigest Editorial Staff

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Adalis found that for one telecommunications industry company, a package redesign was able to increase the units that could fit on the pallet from 120 to 300. What do you say? Click Here to Send Us Your Comments Click Here to See Reader Feedback

All of sudden, product packaging has become one of the hottest areas of supply chain management.

It started with soaring fuel and transportation costs a few years ago, as companies realized that “over packaging” and packaging redesigns offered significant opportunities to reduce the dimensions of products for shipping – allowing companies to ship more products in the same carton, pallet or trailer. That directly lowered transportation costs.

Perhaps the most notable example of this were the redesigned milk cartons put into use at several warehouse clubs and other retailers – the more rectangular design allowed palletization of the milk and twice as many cartons to be shipped in a full truck load. (See New Milk Jug Design Shows Promise of Improved Packaging to Reduce Transportation Spend.)

Then, even as transportation costs moderated, Green Supply Chain considerations started to rise, where packaging again is seen as playing a critical role, both in reducing waste and eliminating energy use – and with that also reducing transportation expense.

“Packaging for many products has been over-engineered,” said Tom Blanck, a packaging manager at Adalis, a global provider of packaging solutions headquartered in Minneapolis, in a recent Videocast from Supply Chain Digest and The Supply Chain Television Channel. He said that can mean substantial opportunities to take costs out of packaging materials – and supply chain and logistics processes. (To view an on-demand version of that Videocast, go to: Thinking Inside the Box: Role of Packaging in Supply Chain Optimization.)

For example, Adalis found that for one telecommunications industry company, a package redesign was able to increase the units that could fit on the pallet from 120 to 300 – a dramatic increase that directly reduces transportation costs for that product. (See graphic below).

(Transportation Management Article - Continued Below)