E-fulfilment saves on labour, shipping and material costs. Read more about how the Speedpack Hybrid from Audion Packaging Machines achieves this!

How can you optimise your E-fulfilment packaging process and save on labour, material and shipping costs? This can be achieved with the Speedpack Hybrid, which we have developed in house. In the article below, all facets are discussed and this is translated into concrete figures.

Labour savings in E-fulfilment

First of all, the figures on labour savings. If there is manual packaging with shipping envelopes, for example, then you can assume approximately 0.9 to 4 orders per minute. When using the Speedpack Hybrid, a minimum of 3 to 6 orders per minute are packed (depending on bag length and operator). Why is that? By limiting the number of human actions per package. For example, this is already the case when encoding with a label.
With the Speedpack Hybrid, this is done automatically (printing or labelling). With manual packaging, an employee first grabs a bag, presses a button for the label, reaches for the label and has to stick the label on the packaging. When it comes to inserting a product, the Speedpack Hybrid opens the bag and creates a maximum filling opening (easy load system) enabling the operator to fill easily, then the package is automatically sealed (automatic top seal). In the case of manual packaging, the employee must first open the bag, then insert it, then remove the adhesive strip and then close the bag. However, issues such as automatic disposal also contribute to a labour-saving factor of 1.5 to 3.

Calculation example

Assuming 10,000 orders per day, with three Speedpack Hybrid machines you can save almost 50% in the number of FTE on an annual basis (on average 6 instead of 11 FTE)! With higher numbers of orders per day, the savings will only increase. An investment in a more automated packaging process by means of the Speedpack Hybrid can therefore be recouped in no time. Especially if we assume that labour costs have risen in recent years in many regions where Audion Packaging Machines has a strong presence, and it is expected that these labour costs will continue to rise in the coming period.

Save material costs in E-fulfilment

Secondly, the figures relating to savings in material costs. Cardboard boxes have the highest cost price, followed by shipping envelopes and bags on rolls, which, on average, have a fairly identical price level. Layflat tubing is the packaging solution with by far the lowest costs. But the cost per product is not the big issue here. The problem is bag length selection.

Calculation example

Most film shipping bags are 400 mm wide, 500 mm long, black on the inside, white on the outside and 60 micron thick. On average, you can already save 25% on film by selecting the bag length. Assuming 10,000 orders per day, you arrive at just over 1.5 million metres of film per year. With a saving of 25%, you therefore save 325,000 metres of film! At a price of, for example, 0.24 cents per metre of film (the price is highly dependent on the purchase volume of the film), a saving of
€75,000 per year in material costs can be achieved just like that. The payback period of a machine is therefore short and will of course strongly depend on the number of daily orders.

In addition, the reduction of materials reduces the burden on the environment (production and residual waste). The Audion Packaging Machines sales managers will be happy to work out the calculation with you.

Save on shipping costs in E-fulfilment

Finally, the figures on shipping cost savings within E-fulfilment. The more individual packages that can be transported per individual mode of transport, the lower the shipping costs per item. Flexible packaging takes up less space than cardboard packaging, as no air is transported. Fewer shipping movements result in less environmental impact. In addition, the automatic labelling of packages with the Speedpack Hybrid reduces human error and therefore also the number of returns. The purchase of returns, a hot item in E-fulfilment, also results in fewer shipping movements, lower costs and lower environmental impact.

Advantages of Speedpack Hybrid

Our Speedpack Hybrid is the way to optimise the E-fulfilment process while saving on components such as labour, material and shipping costs. Want to find out what the Speedpack Hybrid packaging machine can do for you? Our sales engineers will be happy to tell you, but you can also find all the specifications on our website.