2024 – Here we are starting another new year, with a new list of goals and resolutions.  Or upon closer look, maybe it’s not really such a new list after all. Perhaps it’s that perennial list that always starts at the top with  – find cost savings!

Let’s start the new year off right and tackle this top priority with an exercise sure to bring to light some new opportunities.

Take a walk 

Grab your packaging partner and let’s take a walk through your operations. With your knowledge of your business and your packaging team’s expertise in equipment and design solutions, this could be a very productive exercise. Here are some of the things we look for when we walk with our customers:

On your production lines

Is the equipment pacing the operators adequately?  Or is there too much liberty for them to set the pace and thus work at inefficient speeds.

Is the pace even throughout the line, or are there bottlenecks as evidenced by folks waiting for their product.

Are the operators unevenly tasked – some hustling at constant speeds, while down the line others are waiting for their task to arrive.

Perhaps part of the line is under-performing or has too many issues like long  film change overs, or excessive scrap issues, or intermittent machine performance.

Have the folks created spaces for rework to attend to later in the shift. What’s this about?  Is a piece of equipment or a material design issue contributing to this non-conforming product?

When we monetize these findings you’d be surprised how the pennies add up to a significant cost saving opportunity. Enough to justify additional or new automation of a production packaging line.

Looking at the packaging

Does it require assembly before use? How much time and effort is going into pre-assembly? How many SKU’s are involved? Can the process be streamlined, the SKU count reduced? Is there a better design to overcome these issues?

At the end of the line where inserts or other stabilizing or cushioning materials are in use, look carefully at these areas. Are there excess SKU’s in use? Is there a lot of labor at this step in the process and can we redesign the packaging to reduce labor and costs?

Have you been “doing things this way forever”? There are many new materials and methods in the market as well as more environmentally conscious solutions. Are you taking full advantage of the latest technologies and most sustainable materials?

Walk through your warehouse

To the space allotted to packaging inventory.  Is it overflowing into other areas?  Are you sitting on inventory dated over 3 months?  Or is even older or obsolete inventory taking up valuable space and tying up hard earned cash. A customized JIT solution could deliver significant logistic benefits and additional cost savings.

Take a Walk with our team

At Heritage Paper, our packaging consultants have expertise in both packaging materials and equipment. Our team is experienced in a diverse range of paper and plastic materials, and in semi to fully automatic, integrated packaging systems.

Working together, we could develop a plan to address your total cost of operations and the opportunities we uncover. To introduce automation into your lines, we’ll help you justify the capital spends with thorough data analyses.  Our design team is unequaled in resolving the most difficult packaging challenges. And, we can implement the solutions with the best, most responsive team in this industry.

So let’s start the year off on the right foot. Let’s take a walk with you and see what we can discover together to help you check the top priority off your list. Contact us today