Packing Without Waste

Packaging gets specified once, at the point where the first order is going out and the priority is that it arrives intact. It is rarely revisited, which is why most of it is heavier, larger and more expensive than the thing now requires.

Three things are usually worth reconsidering after the first hundred shipments, because by then there is actual evidence rather than caution:

• The box size, which was chosen for the largest item and is still being used for the smallest.
• The void fill, where the quantity was set to eliminate movement entirely rather than to keep it within tolerance.
• The outer layer, which in most cases is protecting against a handling risk that has not materialised once.

The point is not to pack more thinly. It is that the original specification was a guess made under uncertainty, and the uncertainty has since been resolved. Leaving the guess in place is a decision, even when it is made by not deciding.