The desire for perfection is an obsession for many organizations. Whatever it is we make or sell, we want it to be bigger, better, faster, stronger. But sometimes, the pursuit of perfection takes us elsewhere. Two quick examples:
- Instant replay in the NFL. The quest to get every call right gave birth to instant replay. Some folks love it, but others do not. Games take longer, interruptions are never-ending, and calls are still made incorrectly. We’re not taking sides in this debate, only noting that it’s possible to make several things worse by making one thing better.
- Mobile app upgrades. Did you ever notice certain “new and improved” phone apps are more complicated and harder to use than the ones that were working just fine for the last three years? Having the ability to add features does not mean people need or want them.
Can these sorts of things happen in the world of packaging? You bet they can! Here are a couple examples that mirror the two mentioned above, illustrating how perplexing perfection can be.
Master Carton Consolidation
Consumers hate receiving their online orders packed in master cartons 10 times too big for the item(s). They hate it so much there are blogs and social media pages dedicated to sharing rants about it. From a sustainable packaging design standpoint, it does seem ridiculous, and as leaders in sustainable packaging solutions, we greatly dislike seeing obvious packaging waste.
However, things are not always as obvious as they seem! Sometimes, a distribution center’s decision to “right size” its master cartons would create legitimate problems. Managing the inventory of scores (or 100s) of master cartons instead of two or three could lead to operational inefficiencies, substantially increased costs, shipping delays, shipping errors, and irritated or even lost customers.
As with the instant replay issue, we are not attempting to take sides, only point out that packaging that seems far from perfect may be as close as it can get. Admittedly, big box retailers sometimes do a poor job of letting consumers know why their master cartons are so big — but we should never mistake bad communication for bad intentions.
Corrugated Box Tolerances
Our second example, like those mobile app “improvements,” demonstrates how making something more complicated or precise is not the same as perfecting it. Being deeply involved in custom product packaging and design, we encounter companies that have a hard time accepting certain standard industry tolerances for corrugated boxes, such as these.
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- For the manufacture of custom corrugated containers, the standard run tolerance is +/- 10 percent — if you order 1,000 boxes, it is acceptable to run and ship from 900-1,100.
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- Dimensional tolerance for boxes manufactured without a die is +/- 1/8 inch.
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Some companies, due to restrictive inventory management systems, insist on a tighter run tolerance, or no deviation from order quantity at all.
With regard to dimensions, engineering-driven companies sometimes create specifications for boxes to the same standards as their component parts, which indeed require precise dimensional accuracy and consistency.
Can Salazar Packaging meet these exceptional demands? Yes — but at a cost. These steps toward perfection in box construction will result in additional manufacturing and fulfillment costs that ultimately impact us, our customers, and our customer’s customers.
What Is Packaging Perfection?
We maintain that perfect packaging is practically perfect packaging. When we say “practically,” we mean it both in the sense of being nearly perfect, and also in the sense of being perfect for the real world.
As a matter of fact, we could have followed our own advice in this post and simply said, “KISS.” In packaging, keeping it simple is the straightest path to perfection.
Let us help you move down that path! We are eager to learn more about your packaging challenges and brainstorm ways to overcome them. That’s exactly what we do every day. Please call us at 630-551-1700 or contact us through the website to start the conversation.
Related posts:
https://www.salazarpackaging.com/blog/beginners-guide-to-e-commerce-packaging-design/