Four Corrugated Advantages That Can Add to Your Bottom Line

If you ship a lot of products, the cost of packaging can quickly add up. In cost-sensitive industries, every little bit of savings or cost avoidance helps, and corrugated board may be the packaging material that helps you become more competitive. Multiple case studies from the Fibre Box Association support this, repeatedly demonstrating that corrugated has proven performance and cost advantages in various supply chains. Below, we examine four corrugated advantages that can save you money.

Corrugated Advantage – Product Protection

The most obvious advantage to using corrugated packaging is product protection. When most people speak of shipping a product, they may refer to it as a cardboard box; however, they mean a corrugated box. The misnomer is pervasive outside the packaging industry. Cardboard is made from paperboard, think cereal box, while corrugated has corrugated fluting or medium sandwiched between liners. It is the fluting that provides cushioning protection.

Structural rigidity and strength combined with cushioning protection of corrugated packaging mean that properly packaged boxes can withstand the rigors of being transported and handled while protecting their content. This means fewer damaged products, fewer returns, fewer disappointed customers, and long-term cost savings for you. A fully optimized box provides even greater protection.

Corrugated Advantage – Customization

A fully optimized box is customized to the product and its environment. Highly customizable corrugated can be designed in various shapes, sizes, styles, and levels of complexity. When designing your box, your corrugated packaging partner should have a complete understanding of the product – size, weight, fragility, packing method, shipping method (e.g., FedEx/UPS, palletized truckloads), and any additional needs (e.g., damp environment, mirrored surfaces, retail-ready).

Corrugated can be designed using single, double, triple-walled with a variety or combination of flute sizes depending on the application. The designers will fit the box to your product (or several products) and reduce fill void. On top of offering optimal protection, it reduces the amount of material needed, which in turn reduces costs. This also reduced the DIM weight for reduced shipping costs.

Corrugated packaging can also be designed around unitizing or palletization. This allows you to maximize the number of products per pallet and per truckload, reducing shipping costs.

If you have multiple products, using one type of box for all may save you money in volume, but you will likely lose money in increased shipping and logistics costs, so a balance must be struck. An experienced corrugated partner can help you find that balance between optimizing none and optimizing all for the most significant cost-efficiency.

For more details, see our e-book What is Custom Packaging and Do I need it?

Corrugated Advantage – Marketing and Selling

Corrugated boxes provide a blank canvas for branding opportunities. E-commerce and subscription boxes have seen growth in using the corrugated shipping box as a marketing tool. From simple logos to more elaborate designs, corrugated packaging provides an excellent marketing opportunity. Sometimes called packvertising, it is a low-cost way to capture your customer’s attention.

Corrugated Advantage – Sustainability

Corrugated packaging covers the three Rs – reduce, reuse, recycle – and is a sustainable resource that often uses recycled material in its manufacturing process. Retailers are starting to require more sustainable packaging. Walmart, for example, has a Sustainable Packaging Playbook, which provides an overview of sustainable packaging best practices for its suppliers that suggests suppliers optimize packaging design, source sustainable materials, and support recycling.

In addition, consumers are demanding more sustainable packaging. One survey showed that sixty-one percent of consumers expect clear sustainability practices from brands they buy from. Forty-five percent refused to purchase a product that didn’t have sustainable packaging, and about half said they had purchased a product because it had reusable or biodegradable packaging.

Axis Corrugated Container – a Trusted Supplier

As a trusted supplier of custom and standard die-cut, flexo, and specialty corrugated box and display products, we strive to deliver cost savings through optimized packaging and shorter lead times. We work to provide you with proper packaging, finding the perfect balance between material reduction and product protection. Our in-house ISTA testing lab can ensure your industrial box meets the strict shipping requirements for drop and vibration, so you can be sure your product will be protected.

We would love to help you reduce your total packaging costs. Contact us to get started.