Lean working does not stop at the production line; packaging also plays a crucial role. By integrating packaging management into Lean processes, you prevent waste, reduce costs and ensure a smoother flow throughout the entire chain.
Summary of this article
Today, many companies are fully embracing the Lean idea. One of the tenets of Lean, the elimination of avoidable waste (or waste) from processes, is already becoming fully embedded in the corporate culture. Yet at Faes, we still see avoidable waste being overlooked. With each of the 5 Lean principles, much more can be gained if you start from the right starting point.
This first step from the Lean philosophy usually focuses on the products and services themselves: what should they be able to do and do in the eyes of the customer? The packaging of goods also influences the customer’s perception of value. A uniform and professional appearance of the packaging contributes to the perception of quality. Thus, packaging represents an opportunity to increase value for the customer.
Just think about the packaging of today’s smartphones and you can see that the packaging has now become part of the product. Conversely, if products arrive in defective packaging, the customer sees this as a reduction in value of the overall product. Especially if the product arrives late or damaged as a result. Not to mention wrong delivery due to a labeling error on the box. This too often causes a sharp drop in value perception.
Value stream mapping usually reveals only part of the packaging-related wastes. This is first of all because they only look within their own company or warehouse and not outside. Much unnecessary waste in the process occurs when the next link in the chain has a different packaging and/or labeling requirement. Making chain-wide agreements can prevent this.
In addition, (production) activities and operations are often looked at. However, in terms of packaging, there is also a large waste component “in the box. How much air do you send out because your employees don’t know what the best fitting box is? This can add up considerably, just when you consider transportation costs.
Within the Lean management philosophy, the third step seeks to ensure an uninterrupted flow of the product or service through the chain by eliminating waste. What is not always considered is that interruptions in that physical flow are often caused by irregularities in the packaging process.
For example, repackaging is common because suppliers have a different packaging unit than what the customer ultimately requests. They often think that this type of waste is unavoidable. Yet you can easily avoid this waste if you can tell the supplier how to package according to your specification. The technology for this is available today.
According to the fourth Lean principle, you must prevent overproduction. In other words, organizations shift from a push-oriented to a pull-oriented (production) orientation.
What is often overlooked here is that the “just-in-time principle” puts a time constraint on packaging products. If we assume that the packaging activity takes place at the end of production and often immediately prior to shipping, that is where the bottleneck occurs. There is no buffer stock, so everything has to be packed at a pace that allows transportation cut-off times to be met.
This is only possible with correctly defined packaging instructions and a clear packaging range. Otherwise, this time pressure to meet the cut-off time can just lead to incorrect or inadequate packaging of products. Or to missing the cut-off time.
‘Continuous Improvement’ and, linked to it, the creation of conditions for a culture in which these continuous improvements can take place, is an important part of Lean management.
Especially in the field of packaging, this is critical. This playing field is enormously dynamic because the frequency of newly introduced variables (products, suppliers, destinations, customer requirements, etc.) is very high. It is therefore a must to always move with those changes.
The person who first recognizes a possible improvement is usually on the shop floor. Therefore, leverage that information and facilitate solutions to aggregate and deploy all information.
As you can see, packaging is not a separate activity at the end of the production process, but an integral part of Lean management. Packaging choices directly affect perceived customer value, the flow of goods, transport costs, inventory levels and the amount of rework required throughout the supply chain.
When packaging management is not included in a Lean programme, waste such as excessive packaging material, shipping empty space, repacking, product damage and incorrect deliveries often remains unnoticed. By standardising and continuously improving packaging, instructions and processes across the entire supply chain, organisations can create a more stable flow and enable employees to work faster and with fewer errors. This not only helps prevent avoidable waste, but also allows businesses to unlock more of the cost-saving and improvement potential of Lean.
You can achieve even greater benefits by outsourcing your packaging management to a packaging specialist. Just as you can outsource logistics management to a 4PL provider, you can entrust packaging management to a Fourth-Party Packaging provider, or 4PP. Faes is such a 4PP provider. We take full responsibility for your packaging management and help you identify and eliminate avoidable waste throughout your processes, allowing you to unlock the full potential of Lean.
Thijs Canjels is Business Innovation Manager at Faes and specializes in packaging management and supply chain optimization. In his blogs, he shares insights on efficiency improvements, cost savings and the strategic role of packaging in modern supply chains.
More articles by Thijs CanjelsGood packaging doesn’t just happen by chance. Using a tried-and-tested approach, our specialists guide you step by step from the initial idea to the finished product.
