Those who own or work for a company that has to package and ship their products throughout the country should always be looking for new ways to lower their costs, increase productivity, and increase profits. One of the best ways to start lowering costs is to find cheaper and more efficient methods of packaging your products. There have been a lot of advancements in the packaging industry, and ever since Walmart implemented its “packaging scorecard” program, many more “green” methods of packaging have begun to be developed. It may be that you have become content with the packaging methods you currently employ, but you might be falling behind and not making the most of the new technologies and strategies available to you.

If you package your own products, you know how important it is for your packaging equipment to be working correctly and efficiently. If the machinery ever breaks down or requires a lot of maintenance, this can severely cut into your productivity, thus begin decreasing your profit margins. Obviously this is something you will want to avoid. You can begin ensuring that downtime will be cut to a minimum by implementing a preventative maintenance program for all of your packaging machines. An effective preventative maintenance program includes the following components. First, you need to make sure your equipment operators are properly trained and become familiar with the equipment, both inside and out. The more they understand the machinery, the sooner potential problems can be identified and fixed. Second, establish an inspection and maintenance schedule for all of your equipment. Create a schedule that has your employees inspect the various parts of the machinery every day, week, and month and report any potential problems quickly. Third, incorporate an effective tracking system that will document the inspection and maintenance schedule to make sure it is being done. Finally, you should invest in an adequate inventory of spare parts. Make note of which parts wear quickly and need to be replaced more often, which parts are key to the operation of the equipment, and which parts can not be obtained in a timely manner. Purchase an inventory of parts based on this knowledge.

Another strategy to start increasing production and decreasing your downtime is to rebuild older equipment. Over time packaging machines will deteriorate and begin to function at a less than optimum performance. Using inefficient equipment will increase downtime, lower labor productivity, possibly cause missed shipments, and can create unsafe operating conditions. You can obviously buy new machinery, but many times you can simply have your equipment rebuilt for much cheaper and return the equipment to its original efficiency. Moreover, it will eliminate any downtime for training employees on new equipment.

If you use shrink wrap on your products, you may be missing out on some new technologies that can save you a lot of money. There has been some significant advancement in new film technologies which decrease the gauge of the shrink film. This thinner film will create up to 25% savings in film costs, reduce downtime due to fewer roll changes, and it will increase your on the Walmart sustainability scorecard.

One final strategy you may want to consider for decreasing your packaging costs is to outsource your packaging. You should consider outsourcing your product packaging if the job is too big for your own packaging operations, if your packaging capabilities far surpass your actual requirements, or in the case of emergency situations. Outsourcing packaging can help you free up valuable space, open up more flexible packaging options, and ensure quality performance and experience. It can also help solve any labor issues including training, hiring & firing, and overhead costs.

Although some of these strategies may take some time and effort to implement, your company can greatly benefit from the changes you start making. You will be able to increase your packaging productivity, decrease downtime for repairs or replacements, reduce costs, and altogether increase your company’s profits.