HOME
SITE MAPCONTACTCLIENTSASSOCIATIONSARTICLES
Chicago ConsultingSupply Chain Consultants8 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 3600Chicago, IL 60603 (312) 346-5080emailus@chicago-consulting.com
 |
|
|
|
OPTIMAL PACKAGING
By Terry Harris, Managing Partner, Chicago Consulting An objective of packaging is to contain and protect products. A key measure of effectiveness of a package is the volume it encloses. On the other hand the cost of a package is dependent on the amount of material it requires. Packages can enclose more or less volume and use more or less material. Efficient packaging uses less material or encloses more volume. Optimal packaging uses the least possible material or encloses the most volume possible. A common packaging shape is made from paper-based products—corrugated material, liner board and so on. This shape is made by folding flat sheets into three-dimensional packages—cartons, boxes and so on. There is a relationship between the amount of material used and the volume the carton encloses. Tall skinny and short fat shapes use lots of material for the volume they enclose. Specifically, there is a natural limit, a maximum, to the volume able to be enclosed by a given amount of material. Similarly there is limit, a minimum, to the amount of material required to enclose a given volume. These optimal relationships for cartons are illustrated as follows:  Shapes other than cartons can be optimized as well. Of all shapes a sphere is itself an optimal shape. While not a common packaging shape a sphere has no flexibility in that it is defined by its radius alone, not three dimensions in the case of cartons. Cans in the shape of cylinders are another common package shape. Cans can be optimized because they are defined by two dimensions—their height and diameter. Optimal cans and spheres are illustrated along with optimal cartons as follows:  An example of sub-optimal consumer packaging is the well-known breakfast cereal Wheaties. A 15.6 ounce consumer package of Wheaties measures 7 and 11/16” by 2 and 11/16” by 11 and 3/4” and has a volume of 242.8 cubic inches. An optimally shaped container with that volume would save 7.2% of the material consumed by this package. The same idea applies to the carton that contained the 14 Wheaties consumer packs shipped to the Grocer. It measures 15.4” by 11.8” by 18.8”. Designed optimally, it would save 23% of that corrugated material. Use a different case-count and the savings go up to 35%! Optimal packaging has a strong environmental contribution as well. Reducing packaging material decreases greenhouse gases emitted in the production of that material, decreases land-fill requirements and so on. |