You might think you’ve got your packaging costs under control, but the biggest expenses often remain hidden. What you don’t factor in ends up costing you the most. Find out where your hidden costs lie and how you can reduce them in the long term.
Summary of this article
Many organisations feel they have their packaging costs under control. Material prices are known, transport costs are transparent and damage is recorded. On paper, the picture seems complete.
Yet this is often a misleading picture. In practice, a large proportion of the actual costs remain hidden. Not because they do not exist, but because they manifest themselves differently. Not as a clear invoice, but as disruptions to processes, extra steps or delays that ripple through the supply chain.
This gives rise to a fundamental problem in packaging management. You manage based on what is visible, whilst a significant proportion of the impact remains implicit. As a result, decisions are made on the basis of an incomplete picture. What seems logical in the short term may, in the longer term, actually prove to be inefficient.
And that is precisely where things often go wrong.
Packaging is still seen in many organisations as an operational detail – something that ‘needs to be sorted’ so that products travel safely from A to B. But in reality, packaging choices affect much more than just protection.
They have a direct impact on:
And perhaps even more importantly: on everything that can go wrong.
When a product arrives damaged, it’s obvious. But what’s less obvious are the knock-on effects. Extra work, rescheduling, express deliveries, internal coordination. Costs that cannot be directly attributed to packaging, but which do stem directly from it.
Together, these hidden effects form a pattern that is rarely fully recognised.
And as long as that pattern remains invisible, control feels logical, but in reality it is limited.
If the impact of packaging is so significant, why do so many organisations lack a clear picture of it?
The answer rarely lies in a lack of data. The data is often there. It’s just scattered.
Cost information is held by finance. Damage is tracked by operations. Customer reports come in via customer service. And logistics discrepancies are stored somewhere else in the system. Each department tells part of the story, but nowhere does the whole picture come together.
This results in a fragmented view.
Decisions are made on the basis of isolated signals – an incident here, a complaint there. But underlying patterns remain hidden. And it is precisely those patterns that determine where value is being lost on a structural level.
In many organisations, packaging management only comes to the fore when something goes wrong. Damage, delays, a customer complaint. These are the moments when action is taken.
But this leads to a reactive way of working.
Problems are resolved, but rarely prevented at a structural level. Every deviation is seen as an isolated incident, whilst in reality it is often part of a recurring pattern.
Without a coherent overview, it remains difficult to recognise those patterns.
And as long as that is the case, optimisation remains limited to treating the symptoms.
Many organisations are at a stage where they do record what is happening, but do not yet fully understand why it is happening.
They know where damage occurs. They see where costs arise. But the step towards structural improvement is not being taken, because the information is not being actively used to inform decision-making.
This is a crucial tipping point.
As soon as costs, risks and disruptions are not only recorded but also linked to one another, the role of packaging management changes. It shifts from something that is checked retrospectively to something that can be managed proactively.
And that is precisely where the difference lies between merely managing and actually optimising.
There is one question that is rarely asked explicitly, but which is crucial to the effectiveness of your packaging strategy:
To what extent do you really understand the full impact of your packaging choices?
Not just the direct costs. But the whole picture. Including disruptions, additional steps and risks that manifest further down the supply chain.
Most organisations cannot provide a clear answer to this.
Not because they lack insight, but because that insight is incomplete. It remains stuck at the operational level. What happens is known, but why it happens and what it means in structural terms often remains overlooked.
And that is precisely where there is room for improvement.
When insight is lacking, control often seems logical. But it is only when costs, risks and impacts come together as a whole that true management emerges.
Then packaging management shifts from:
At that point, packaging ceases to be a cost centre and becomes a strategic tool within supply chain optimisation.
The only question is: where do you stand right now?
Many organisations find themselves somewhere between awareness and control. They recognise that there is more at play, but lack the full overview needed to make targeted decisions.
And as long as that overview is missing, part of the potential remains untapped.
Getting to grips with packaging management and logistical efficiency does not happen by itself. It starts with asking the right questions and bringing to light what currently remains implicit.
That is precisely why the Industrial Packaging Maturity Model was developed.
The IPMM assessment helps you gain a structured understanding of where your organisation stands. Not just based on isolated indicators, but on the interrelationships between costs, risks and processes.
It reveals:
Without you having to figure it all out yourself.
Would you like to know how mature your packaging management really is and where you can make immediate improvements?
Then the IPMM assessment is the logical next step.
Erik Holleman is Marketing Manager at Faes and focuses on strengthening the company’s positioning as a 4PP partner. With his expertise in strategic marketing and the Industrial Packaging Maturity Model (IPMM), he helps companies gain insight into their packaging processes and optimize them for maximum efficiency and cost savings.
More articles by Erik HollemanGood 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.
