Small Item, Large Box: The Problem with Oversized Packaging

Discover why e-commerce packages often come in oversized boxes and the sustainability issues this practice raises


Have you ever opened an e-commerce package that is filled with packing materials for one small item?  The box is 5 or 6 times bigger than the item and filled with paper wadding or bubble wrap.  Did you wonder why the shipper used such a large box?

Most shipping operations use standard-size boxes—small to medium-sized—and if the product doesn’t fit the box, packing materials such as paper wadding, bubble wrap, or Styrofoam peanuts are added. This is not the most efficient way, nor the most sustainable way to ship products. The receiving customer is left with an oversized box and a mound of packing materials which may end up in a landfill.

The dilemma for shipping products is the challenging task of balancing sustainability goals with efficiency, shipping time, shipping costs, and labor. This is often a trade-off that shippers consider between buying standard box sizes and adding labor vs. investing in new technology. 

Packsize, a Utah-based packaging company, offers a solution that allows businesses to address both cost and sustainability. Packsize specializes in right-sizing machinery that customizes carton sizes to fit products precisely, eliminating excess space and waste. As a product moves along a conveyor belt, the Packsize machine scans it, constructs a perfectly sized corrugated container around it, and applies the packaging label, all in a seamless process.

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Article Topics


Packsize News & Resources

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Packsize Named 2024 SEAL Business Sustainability Awards Winner
Small Item, Large Box: The Problem with Oversized Packaging
Packaging Efficiency: The modern way to reduced freight costs
Packaging Efficiency: The modern way to reduce freight costs
Enhancing Brand Value With Optimized eCommerce Packaging
Packsize Partners with Paccurate for Sustainability and Launches their “Easy Close” Solution
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About the Author

Rosemary Coates's avatar
Rosemary Coates
Ms. Coates is the Executive Director of the Reshoring Institute and the President of Blue Silk Consulting, a Global Supply Chain consulting firm. She is a best-selling author of: 42 Rules for Sourcing and Manufacturing in China and Legal Blacksmith - How to Avoid and Defend Supply Chain Disputes. Ms. Coates lives in Silicon Valley and has worked with over 80 clients worldwide. She is also an Expert Witness for legal cases involving global supply chain matters. She is passionate about Reshoring.
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The dilemma for shipping products is the challenging task of balancing sustainability goals with efficiency, shipping time, shipping costs, and labor.
Source: Getty Images
The dilemma for shipping products is the challenging task of balancing sustainability goals with efficiency, shipping time, shipping costs, and labor.

A supply chain and sustainable packaging industry leader in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, Packsize International offers right-sized packaging, on demand, for the corrugated marketplace. On Demand Packaging saves time, unnecessary material expense, and shipping costs, while also making the customer’s operations a part of Smarter Packaging for a Healthy Planet. Packsize’s revolutionary On Demand Packaging system lets companies produce the right-sized box for every product when they need it. By optimizing order size, material requirements, warehouse space, and packaging throughput, Packsize On Demand Packaging results in less waste, lower shipping costs, decreased damage rates, and increased customer satisfaction.



View Packsize company profile

 

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