newsworthy

Staples implements customized packaging for its orders

Office products giant Staples Inc. has begun using a special type of packaging technology that creates a custom-sized delivery box to fit each order’s unique dimensions.

The product, called Staples “Smart-size” Packaging, was developed by Packsize International, a Salt Lake City-based company that offers packaging solutions as an alternative to standard corrugated boxes. The system uses specialized packaging machines to cut and crease box materials into the correct carton size.

The product is designed to eliminate a major hurdle to cost-effective online shipping, namely being able to ship an order in a box that’s comparable in size to its contents. For a company like Framingham, Mass.-based Staples—which is the nation’s second-largest Internet retailer— keeping enough different box types on hand to match the dimensions of every order has been a complex and expensive proposition.

By having boxes that are custom built for each order, Staples said it can fit more shipments on each line-haul movement and more orders in each delivery truck. The technology will also slash by 60 percent the use of air “pillows” traditionally used to cushion shipments packed in oversized boxes, and will allow Staples to cut the size of its average cardboard box by 20 percent. Both advancements will reduce Staples’ annual carbon footprint by more than 30,000 tons, the company said. ;

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Study: DCs lose nearly
3,000 hours a year to
inefficient workflows

Warehouses and distribution centers lose thousands of worker-hours of productivity each year due to inefficient processes that could be identified and corrected with appropriate high-tech workflow solutions, according to a survey of warehouse and DC managers released in late November.

The survey of 250 managers, commissioned by Everett, Wash.-based automatic ID equipment maker Intermec and conducted by research firm Vanson Bourne, found that in a typical eight-hour shift, each worker loses an average of 15 minutes of productivity because of process inefficiencies. For a small- to mid-sized warehouse staffed with 50 workers, that translates into 2,899 worker-hours a year in lost productivity.

Nearly 80 percent of the respondents said they had been asked to cut warehousing and DC costs—by 19 percent, on average. Most managers know where their workflow inefficiencies lie, citing “ inventory control” and “picking” as prime opportunities for boosting productivity.

Despite the mounting cost pressures and their awareness of the problem areas, nearly one in three managers said they had not conducted a review of DC workflow processes in the past year. The survey also found companies were not proactive in ferreting out waste and inefficiency; of the managers that had not conducted a review, 71 percent said they would only do so if they were forced by compliance policies, poor performance reports, or a customer complaint.

Nearly 90 percent of managers surveyed said investment in new technology would allow them to improve worker productivity. About 60 percent of respondents said they could attain major time and cost savings just by shaving seconds off their workflows.

Examples of how to achieve this include having workers take fewer steps, investing in faster label printing and bar-code label scanning technologies, and eliminating battery changes in mid-shift, the survey said. ;