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Here's Why That Tiny Battery Came in a Huge Box

Understanding how Packsize's on-demand packaging works and saves materials and costs in the long run

By Rain Noe - March 20, 2017

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In an earlier post, I lamented receiving an order from Staples where the box was way too big for the product. I had a vague idea of why that had happened, but reader Andrew Roberson did us one better, tracking down the company that provides Staples' fulfillment machinery.

One example is the machine you see at left, which takes predetermined widths of corrugated cardboard and turns it into boxes. They're produced by a company called Packsize and, as suspected, they do indeed reduce waste in the long run (with my case being an outlier).

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I looked into the company's system of "on-demand packaging," and found it edifying to learn exactly what is going on inside a fulfillment center:

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Here's the video Roberson linked to, which shows the inside of an actual Staples facility incorporating the machines:

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So it appears that Staples has chosen the sizes of corrugated Z-fold most common to their order, with my tiny battery being an anomaly.

Finally, here's a toy company explaining how Packsize's system totally changed their fulfillment game, with some helpful explanations from the company veep on how things used to work versus how they're done now:

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I was surprised to hear that they did not have to pay for the machines, but just need to buy the corrugated from Packsize. It looks like the razor-and-handle business model works well here.

Thanks Andrew!

o

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Here's Why That Tiny Battery Came in a Huge Box

Juan Cano

3 years ago

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LOTS OF GOOD AND INTERESTING STUFF. GREAT.

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- Sarah Schiller
  
  Juan Cano
  
  3 years ago
  
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  Z
  
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  I totally agree with you.
  
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Christopher Bray

3 years ago

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We use one of these machines where I work and I love it. There is at least one other company that does basically the same thing (boxondemand.com).

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Sham B

3 years ago

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A thought: Less waste is definitely good but one thing to consider is handling by couriers? I can't remember ever receiving a parcel where the outer packaging hasn't been damaged in some way?! Therefore I feel large amounts of filler isn't necessarily a bad thing? If it will protect my order?
From a business point of view sending goods once and not having returns is a good thing?
Maybe the issue also lies with how parcels are handled? Might autonomous systems be the key?

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Rain Noe

I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.