Calculating the ROI of your packaging solution

The packaging industry is moving at an ever-increasing speed, with technological advances (hello, AI!) changing the way consumers and companies think about and approach packaging. 

Investing in a new commercial packaging machine is extremely exciting, especially when it’s long overdue. While the costs are usually obvious, there are often less apparent benefits that should also be considered. 

WHAT’S MY ROI?

Well… that’s a fairly loaded question that depends on quite a few factors. We first suggest you identify your goal. Are you hoping to increase throughput? Reduce labor costs? Improve product appearance? Be sure to know what you’re hoping to accomplish with your new solution before looking deeper into its value. 

Once you’ve identified the main pain point that needs to be addressed, consider any other aspect of your business that may be affected (hopefully positively!) by your investment. Not sure what that entails? Here are a few to think about:

OPTIMIZED SUPPLY CHAIN

It’s not uncommon to outsource some of your packaging process. But, if you find a commercial packaging machine that can accommodate several steps (i.e. club packing and labeling in one step), you’ll no longer be at the mercy of your vendor’s schedules and timelines. Be sure to consider the time and money you’ll save without compromising quality of work.  

INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY

Aside from using outside vendors, many facilities still rely on manual operations for packaging. Replacing manually intensive, laborious processes with automated ones can quickly improve productivity by reducing cycle time, labor shortages and downtime required for shift changes. 

LABOR COST SAVINGS

Manual operations aren’t just time consuming, they’re expensive! And, with quality, skilled labor increasingly difficult to find and retain, labor costs can skyrocket quickly. If your new solution frees up hands for other, less physically taxing tasks, your labor and injury compensation costs will decrease just as quickly as they increased. 

DAMAGE REDUCTION

Will your new system combat damage and, therefore, replacement work? Be sure to understand the time and cost you’ll save from no longer working double-time to overcome damage complaints. 

WASTE REDUCTION

Does your new solution use less material than before? Does it generate less waste per item than before – for you or your customer? If so, be sure to consider the cost savings from material waste when calculating your ROI. 

FREIGHT SAVINGS

Freight savings can be considered in several ways:

• Fewer truckloads needed if more product can fit in each case, pallet or truckload 
• Fewer pick-ups needed if rework is minimized

INCREASED SALES

Are you updating, improving or changing your product branding or labeling as a result of a new packaging solution? Any increase in sales associated with the change can be attributed (at least in part) to your new system. 

IMPROVED SUSTAINABILITY 

It’s not likely that you’d invest in a new solution that doesn’t contribute to your company’s overall growth and success. Consider how the system will keep your business and the environment sustainable. After all, sustainable packaging is about helping people, our planet AND your profit.

Give us a call to learn how you can enhance your packaging process and generate a quick ROI!