As Fulfilment Complexity Mounts, a Little Air Goes a Long Way

16 October 2018

Customers sure are hard to please. Not only do they want things delivered faster and cheaper, they also want a greater variety: More products, more variations on existing products, more accessories and add-ons. More, more, more.

A recent survey by Logistics Management found that order velocity remains high – and a wide assortment of SKUs are needed to satisfy demand. The average number of SKUs increased by 855 in 2018.

With every new SKU comes additional complexity. Where will it be stored? How should it be packed? How much will it cost to ship?

Many companies employ a force of full-time packaging engineers to design and implement packaging strategies to minimise damage and keep shipping costs under control. However, the ability to ensure consistency and mitigate risk across the product spectrum is reduced by high turnover. Having the perfect packaging process is moot if the person doing the packing isn’t going to be there tomorrow.

Regularly bringing in new hires requires a consistent investment in training, and businesses have to accept that during the first few weeks or months, those untrained new employees will be more prone to overpacking (and sending boxes out the door at a higher shipping cost) or underpacking (and increasing the risk of damage).

More SKUs can also trigger companies to stock up on excess packaging materials to address the specifics of a single product. Having more packaging to choose from can tack on costly seconds to the time it takes to get an order out the door – and compounds the labour training and compliance challenges already present in many operations.

All those new products and all those additional packaging supplies also take up a hefty amount of square footage inside fulfilment facilities, which are growing more valuable and more scarce by the day with warehouse availability rates at historic lows and demand outpacing supply two to one.

Not enough space, not enough labour, too many packaging options, too many product SKUs: What can businesses do to get some breathing room?

Most companies we work with start by trying to streamline packaging options (simplifying carton mix, trying to find a one-size-fits-all box) and adding labour resources to cover the churn of turnover rates and keep production levels steady.

What most don’t realise is that one-size-fits-all boxes are an enormous source of excess waste (too much void-fill material), increased damage (not enough protection for the item inside) and a drain on productivity (each box can take up to 60 seconds on average to assemble, fill and seal).

What businesses need instead are multi-use products that are simple to use and can tackle everything from void fill to heavy-duty cushioning as well as reduce packaging SKUs. Even better if you can do all this in a compact footprint with solutions that don’t require rows and rows of shelving and don't take up floor space in the packing area.

Inflatable packaging materials that can be stored flat and inflated when needed can:

Reduce warehouse storage space by as much as 75 percent
Reduce the amount of material needed in each box by 50 percent without increasing the risk of damage
Flex to fit and protect an infinite variety of orders, reducing the need for additional packaging materials

A little air goes a long way toward opening up valuable warehouse space and helping operations leaders breathe a sigh of relief that they can keep labour processes efficient and easy to execute, no matter how many SKUs they have to manage.