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Buying boxes in bulk can save your business a huge amount of money. It will also ensure you always have packaging available and won’t need to delay customer orders to wait for more packaging. In the run-up to Christmas, demand can sharply rise, and many businesses choose to buy packaging in bulk in preparation for this period. However, their only issue is finding a place to store the packaging in the right conditions to prevent damage. In this article, we discuss options for storing packaging to prevent damage.
Use a warehouse
Businesses that have large amounts of packaging may need to outsource the storage of their packaging. Many companies will use warehouse facilities to store their packaging items; if a business also has excess stock that they can’t keep on their premises, they can utilise a warehouse for this purpose. Dedicated storage warehouses will ensure that your products are kept in the right conditions and that damage is minimised. This solution can be effective but also costly, smaller businesses won’t necessarily need to use warehouses if they can manage their inventory and packaging at their current location. If you are looking at contracting a warehouse, don’t forget to shop around and negotiate your contract to help minimise storage costs.
Keep them flat packed
When boxes are delivered, they often come flat-packed; keeping them in this way will reduce the amount of storage needed. When the boxes are needed, they can be made into their full box form and sent out the door to customers within a short time. Having lots of already made-up boxes wastes valuable storage space and could increase the likelihood of damage.
Keep the conditions right
For your packaging to be strong and durable, it needs to be kept in the correct conditions. Any dampness or wetness can impact the strength of the packaging and lead to mould. Boxes that have become damp can’t be used as packaging. They won’t have the same structural integrity and may break in transit. In addition, your customers are likely to notice that the box has previously been wet as the appearance will change. This will negatively affect their opinion of your business and brand and could stop them from buying from you again.
Organised storage
Items are more likely to get damaged if they need to be constantly moved out of their location to get to other items behind, above or below. This is why small storage facilities with limited space often see more damage. Your products and packaging should be organised, so you only need to move them when needed. This will keep them in the best condition and reduce the chances of damage.
Keep an inventory
An inventory system will itemise every product and packaging material, so you can identify how many postal boxes, how much bubble wrap and how much of every item you currently have in storage. This is essential for preventing loss, reducing damage and reducing costs. If you’re unsure of how much packaging you currently have, how will you know how much to order or if you have enough available in stock? A good inventory management system will stop items from becoming lost and businesses from losing money.
Set targets
The larger your operation becomes, the more likely you are to see damage and wastage of products and packaging; sometimes, this is inevitable. However, you should keep track of all product and packaging damage and loss so you can account for this in your inventory. Many businesses also set targets for employees to reduce damage. Suppose one member of staff has issues and wastes a significant amount of packaging or products. In that case, you can quickly identify the issue and give them additional training or a warning to prevent it from happening again.
Getting your packaging storage and inventory right from the beginning when your business is small can help put you on the right track. When a large amount of packaging goes missing or is wasted, it can significantly impact business performance. Keeping track and preventing this can be the difference between success and failure, especially if the business runs based on a minimal markup, with little room for error.
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