Packaging stock takes up space and ties up money. If you’re packing orders from a spare room or a small unit, you need to be fairly strict about what earns a place on the shelf.
Start with the orders you send every week. These are the supplies to keep close by.
1. Boxes that fit your usual orders
Pick your box sizes by packing actual products. Include a typical multiple-item order: the box that fits one candle won’t necessarily work when someone buys three.
Measure the product with its protective wrapping, then check the box’s internal dimensions. Buying from product measurements alone is an easy way to end up with a carton that’s just too small.
For a starting quantity, work backwards from sales. If you dispatch 40 orders a week and 30 use the same box, a pack of 100 gives you just over three weeks’ supply of that size. That’s a more useful calculation than buying equal quantities of every box.
TEC’s box range includes postal boxes, self-seal ecommerce boxes, book wraps and lined boxes.
2. Mailers for products that don’t need rigid protection
For clothing and textiles, keep mailing bags in the sizes you actually use. Check that the opening accommodates the folded item without forcing it in or straining the closure.
Prints need protection against bending; a thin mailing bag won’t provide that. Choose an appropriate rigid postal format from the postal packaging range.
Skip mailers altogether if your products need boxes.
3. The protection you’ve tested
There’s little value in stocking bubble wrap, foam, paper fill and air cushions if you only use one of them.
Choose protection for the job. Wrapping a ceramic mug and filling empty space around a boxed product are different tasks. Pack a sample and check whether the contents move, knock together or sit against the outer carton.
Use that packing method to estimate consumption. Say each order takes half a metre of wrapping, 40 orders will use 20 metres.
Browse TEC’s cushioning and protection materials.
4. Tape, with a spare roll within reach
Keep spare packing tape at the bench. Buy a dispenser if you’re sealing cartons regularly.
Self-seal boxes and mailers will change how much tape you use, so count consumption rather than automatically ordering another bulk pack.
5. Labels that fit your printer
Check the size and compatibility before buying. Keep an unopened pack or roll in reserve and include it in your stock count.
When should you reorder?
Write a reorder level on each shelf or storage bin. It should cover what you expect to use while waiting for delivery, plus a buffer.
If you use 30 boxes a week and replenishment takes a week, ten boxes left is already too late. Increase that buffer ahead of Christmas if you expect more orders, and confirm lead times with your supplier.
For help choosing stock, send TEC Packaging your product dimensions, typical order quantities and current packing method. That gives us something concrete to work from.