The Complete Package...New Ways to Look at Packaging

(3M Company, 2003)

Today's packaging environment requires doing more with less. The moral of the story? Choosing a packaging supplier who can meet multiple needs is more important than ever.

Constraints on capital expenses. Reductions in staffing. Global shipping demands. Higher productivity expectations. Pressure to reduce operating expenses. In short, today’s manufacturing environment requires transport packaging to be more efficient than ever before. Manufacturers need to do more with less, and spend less time doing it.

With increased expectations placed upon them, manufacturers should expect more from their packaging suppliers. Not only premium products, but solutions and services that improve operating efficiency, manage packaging information, streamline sources and tackle packaging problems that manufacturers didn't even know they had.

Read on, to learn more about:

Improving Operating Efficiency
Organizational Productivity
Single or Multiple Suppliers
Tamper-Resistance and Protection
Building a Company's Image
Global Support

Improve Operating Efficiency

If a manufacturer has insufficient capacity or seasonal demands, it should request that its supplier evaluate its existing packaging lines to see where efficiencies could be gained.

By employing a systemic methodology and technical installation services, 3M can create work-center designs that integrate packaging components from 3M and other companies. To help improve throughput, 3M offers staffing, equipment, training and maintenance support.

Choosing the right packaging equipment can also increase efficiency. For example, case labeling systems from 3M both seal and label transport packages in one step.

Organizational Productivity

When manufacturers spend too much time searching for and communicating packaging information in the supply chain, they either miss deadlines or deliver that information inefficiently or inaccurately. This results in unhappy customers and, inevitably, lost sales.

A packaging information supply chain is a process and can be managed for maximum productivity. Web-based information management services from 3M ensure that packaging information is secure and available for communication and collaboration throughout a company and across its supply chain.

Single or Multiple Suppliers

Establishing a new packaging line is time-consuming and complex. The ideal solution is to contract a single supplier to design, integrate and install a packaging line, supply high-quality consumables, and test and design efficient packaging both inside and outside the box.

A supplier should consider logistical implications and help to improve supply chain management. Manufacturers should also ask their packaging suppliers about financing purchases, operating equipment and staff training. 3M offers these turnkey solutions and services that are delivered with a consultative approach.

Tamper-Resistance and Protection

Packages in transit are moving targets for thieves. According to FIA International Research, cargo crimes account for merchandise losses of up to $50 billion every year.

Authentication and security tapes help to pinpoint where tampering or pilferage has occurred in the shipping channel. For example, when peeled from a package, Scotch® Tamper Evident/Deterrent Tape delaminates internally. This makes the film turn opaque and reveal covert security messages on the tape and on the box.

Packages suffer significant shock and vibration during transit. Aircraft-induced vibration, truck or railcar journeys can last from 30 minutes to 12 hours, subjecting packages to abrasion, scuffing and package fatigue.

3M™ Air Cushion Packaging (ACP) offers unique, bag-in-a-bag protection for shipping high-value or fragile items. ACP is surrounded by an envelope of air and thus resists punctures and G-forces.

Buildings a Company’s Image

Having operated for more than 30 years in the packaging business, 3M has deep understanding of the power of packaging. But one thing that surprised even this experienced supplier was how powerful an impact a package has on customers’ perceptions. 3M consumer research shows that packages that are well-protected, easy-to-open, neat and clearly labeled reflect the manufacturer’s brand positively.

Global Support

3M Packaging Solutions and Services provides worldwide coverage in consultation, sales, technical development integration and manufacturing that have a huge impact on manufacturers’ bottom lines and help their businesses to grow.

Information provided with permission of 3M Company, 2003