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7 Key Steps to Streamline Your Packing Area
7 Key Steps to Streamline Your Packing Area
Packing stations are an essential part of your warehouse, without them, how would you get your products out the door?
Optimising your process from pick to packing bench can save time, reduce cost and create a better working environment for your team. Here’s Springpack’s top tips to Streamline Your Packing Area.
The Packing Bench:
Your operative’s work surface is a great place to start. Workspaces can often become cluttered with rolls of bubble wrap, boxes and label liner backing paper. This can lead to a stressful work environment for your team and things like Tape Dispensers can easily get misplaced in the jumble.
Giving your operative the tools to organise their bench is incredibly beneficial. Simple changes such as installing overhead void fill hopper, or shelving underneath the packing bench can make a huge difference.
Automation:
Packing is often a manual process, and some tasks take longer than others to complete. Wrapping a pallet by hand is a great example of this.
Hand wrapping pallets has its benefits and is a great option for small businesses, though if a lot of pallets need to be wrapped per day, Pallet Wrapping Machines are a great solution.
Pallet Wrap Machines automatically stretch, tension and apply the wrap at the touch of a button. This leads to improved load stability, reduction of wrap used, and eliminates back strain for employees. They also guarantee that every pallet is wrapped the same way each time, which reduces the risk of damage during transit.
Integrated Void Fill Systems:
Void fill is bulky. There’s no avoiding it – in fact, the whole idea of void fill is that it takes up space! Yet it’s an integral part of the packing process. Without void fill, many of your customer’s orders would arrive damage, damaging customer satisfaction.
A great way to avoid the bulk of your void fill is to fold or inflate on demand. Integrated systems on packing stations are a great way to void “Bench Bulk”.
Springpack’s Blue Ocean Air Cushion packaging is inflated on demand, when needed. Overhead hoppers with level sensors can be installed too. Meaning you never need to wait to inflate, or waste valuable space on your brench.
Other integrated systems are available, too, such as Hive Wrap dispensers and Ripad Paper folders. If you are interested in integrating your void fill, why not contact one of our friendly packaging experts for a free packaging overhaul?
Automation:
Packing is often a manual process, and some tasks take longer than others to complete. Wrapping a pallet by hand is a great example of this.
Hand wrapping pallets has its benefits and is a great option for small businesses, though if a lot of pallets need to be wrapped per day, Pallet Wrapping Machines are a great solution.
Pallet Wrap Machines automatically stretch, tension and apply the wrap at the touch of a button. This leads to improved load stability, reduction of wrap used, and eliminates back strain for employees. They also guarantee that every pallet is wrapped the same way each time, which reduces the risk of damage during transit.
Workflow:
Your warehouse has a workflow, whether it’s by design, or just a way your team like to work. One of the best ways to improve your workflow is by chatting with the team who are doing the work and listening to what they think would work best.
One of the most common workflow issues are products that are sold together frequently being on other sides of the warehouse. This leads makes the pick and pack process take longer. To streamline the process, you could move an amount of the similarly sold together products closer together. If it is a temporary promotion, you could consider using Cardboard Pick Bins for this.
Another common disruption to workflows are running out of packaging products, but we will talk about this a little later.
Labels:
Labelling is an essential part of every operation. Whether you are adding a shipping label, a hazard label, or a pick location label. Labels are often an unsung hero of a packaging process.
The downside of sticky labels is the waste they create. Label backing paper makes up 50% or more of your roll, is tricky to recycle and is the cause of a surprising number of trips and slips at work!
A simple switch to a linerless label can make a small but mighty difference to your operation. More labels per roll leads to less frequent roll changes, and less wastage per roll benefits everybody.
Lean Packaging Supplies:
We touched on it above – packaging can be bulky! If you’re low on space and always running low, you’re risking a total halt on your distribution process. There’s a fine balance between needing to panic and feeling secure about the amount of packing materials you have on hand.
Using a packaging provider you trust to deliver what you need and when you need it is paramount. Here at Springpack, we offer next and even same-day deliveries of packaging supplies, so you can be sure you have what you need exactly when you need it. What’s more, coming soon, you’ll even be able to plant a tree with every online order!
Book an Operational Packaging Review:
In the world of packaging, there are countless options to choose from. It can be tricky to know which changes to make for the best. That’s why Springpack offers a Free Operational Packaging Review! In 30 seconds, you can schedule a call or appointment with one of our Friendly Packaging Experts.
Take the first step towards a streamlined packaging process. You can trust Springpack to take the headache out of your packaging operation – click the button below to get started.
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Author: Alice Jeavons
Springpack is a UK packaging company delivering sustainable solutions that empower customers. We prioritise exceptional service, building strong relationships and developing innovative packaging solutions tailored to unique needs. Sustainability drives us, from eco-friendly materials to reusable practices minimising waste and emissions. As a family-run business, we’ve grown from humble beginnings to industry forerunners. Our passion lies in making a positive impact in our community and the lives of customers, employees, and stakeholders through outstanding service that exceeds expectations.