Packing for a Warm Climate
When I ordered a new PC, my software activation code wasn’t emailed to me or included with my machine. Rather, it arrived separately in what must be world’s best practice in packaging.
Simply follow these steps and the (oceans of the) world will beat a path to your door!
1. Print your activation code on a plastic card.
2. Slide the card into a sturdy sheath.
3. Seal the sheath with a hologram.
4. Fold the sheath into a protective folder.
5. Secure the folder in a padded bag.
6. Put the bag into a large cardboard box and collect some air.
7. Ensure no babies play with or suffocate in the air.
8. Fill the box with air.
9. Seal the box with tape.
Presto! Your package is secure and ready for delivery by express courier.
Efficiency and sustainability are today’s business watchwords. Small is the new big. And given this big-firm packaging demonstration, it’s just as well!
Think for a second: is your business sustainable?
What will your kids and grandkids say about it (and you)?
Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, www.thefeistyempire.com
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Paul,
Unfortunately this is a classic case of ‘efficiency at the expense of sustainability’. It is more cost effective for the distributor to stock one type & size of packaging product (i.e. the box and airbags) than it is to also stock envelopes. And as they send other products too which need the box approach, it’s a case of ‘one size fits all’!
What a ridiculous situation. Aside from the obvious environmental concerns and just plain wastage the cost of this is incredible. I would not be surprised in these tough times if the management team have been away on a 3 day cost cutting retreat to the Gold Coast where every line of the P&L would have been scrutinised for cost cutting opportunities.
Can we save money?
Yes, let’s sack 3 customer service people.
Great idea, pass the iced vovo’s and pour me another drink.
What else? How about that guy in the warehouse?
Yes what DOES he do? Get rid of him!
Can we down grade the product and reduce the memory capacity, no one will ever know!
Fantastic, and let’s get cheaper parts and reduce the warranty!
All good, by the way when is your BMW up for renewal?
It can be all too easy to look in the wrong places to cut costs when they are potentially sending out a hundred boxes a day at a cost of $10.00 or more with the courier when for $2.00 they can have guaranteed express post and save heaps.
Many businesses cut costs in the operational and transactional areas which erodes quality, devalues their brand and reduces service standards while allowing blow outs in non essential areas.
How many ‘bloated boxes’ do you have in your business?
Thank you, Sonia and Malcolm, for your comments. I was hoping someone else would care about this. I think it’s such a shame. P.
Hi Folks,:- )
Good to see you again Malcolm :- )…Hmmm!…”bloated boxes”?…It’s a pickle! No doubt about it…where does one begin?
Paul, I think you may have hit one of those topics that is so huge, relevant and in our faces that we (as a society), have not even begun to be able to deal with the layers and layers of guilt, layed down with each visit to the shops and/or the garbage. It’s kind of like death…everyone knows about it, but it’s so big ‘I can’t deal with that right now’ (meaning ‘Ever’!).
I would venture to say, if indeed there is such a ‘cultural denial’ (as alluded to above), that in this case (i.e. ‘bloated boxes’), I reckon it is underpinned by a genuine desire to fix the problem…but it is mixed with our old friend ‘utter powerlessness’ to provide a meaningful solution (as opposed to death, which I consider to be based on ‘fear’ and ‘utter powerlessness’ :- P).
I know that I cringe nearly every time I eat. There is always some processed piece of the planet that I cannot use or reuse. It chips away at me on a daily basis. It’s like smiling when I don’t want to.
I really support Malcolm’s parody above. Not only is disturbingly accurate and familiar, but it cuts straight to the source of the problem…US!
But does it provide a solution? Sure it provides a solution for that company to save some dollars…but does that solve the ‘bloated boxes’ issue? I don’t think so…but it perfectly illustrates my denial scenario above.
Hmmm! Solutions! Solutions! Solutions! I would say that we are up against the economic power of ‘market perception’ and the ‘emotional’ power that drives it? That’s gunna take a few ‘bloated boxes’ full of incentives to overcome.
Amongst the many other issues of ‘change’ we are faced with today, I reckon that this one is the ’sleeping giant’. Why, is a whole ‘nother story…
Consider the impact on the current global economy if we suddenly and significantly reduced the production of our ‘bloated boxes’? Use this for some context(I’m not intentionally picking on the US here…it just happens to be where the stats are from):
Currently (and/or recently), in North America, the total amount of production still in use after 6 months is 1%. No! It’s not a typo…it’s 1%. That means that 99% of the stuff that we mined, harvested, manufactured etc, etc is ‘garbage’ after 6 months. (Ref: The Story of Stuff – http://www.storyofstuff.com/).
Until we are willing to take a not so serious look at the ‘actual’ way we are doing business, we will be making pills to reduce symptoms, whilst the source of the disease remains safely and in many cases sacredly, institutionalised. (e.g. Accrual Accounting (http://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=16) V ‘Natural’ Accounting (http://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=1739)
Ok! I reckon that might be my 2 bobs worth? :- P
Cheers
Stephen G
Nice to see you again, Stephen. Has Burn-A-Debt moved in yet?
I’m very glad you put in your CPI-adjusted USD$0.20. I was worrying that nobody gave a damn about this issue.
I liked your take on the matter and I LOVED the Story of Stuff. I heartily commend it to everyone.
Hi Paul,
Thanks mate :- )…and yes, she has moved in! :- P Though there’s a ’shipload’ more ‘Debting’ than ‘Burning’ going on at the moment :- P.
Re: ‘Nobody giving a damn’: Yeh! It would be rather ironic (if my above surmises are realistic), that perhaps the smaller number of comments is simply because everyone REALLY DOES give a GREAT BIG DAMN, but just doesn’t know where to begin?
Cheers
Stephen G
Very interesting point!
Silence used to be golden.
I don’t think we can afford it any more…
And cleanliness used to be next to Godliness…have we ‘Hermetically’ Sealed our fates? :- )
I don’t think we can be silent either…but I think this may be yet another ‘debate Australia/The Planet has to have’?
And paradoxically, our new-fangled-high-definition global communications network is so effective that even the most crucial messages can get lost in ‘white noise’…taking years to emerge from the light (speaking of paradoxes
)
Cheers
Stephen G
This has been a bone of contention on The Register for a while. Big IT disties and manufacturers using innordinate levels of packaging to ship licenses and batteries etc.
It amazes me the level of packaging used to send the smallest items.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/29/aboxalypse_now/
Many thanks for your visit, Paul. The Register is fascinating! What a great idea. I’m delighted to have struck a kindred spirit (who is streets ahead of me in terms of ACTION). Best regards, P.