Most packaging spend is not decided, it accumulates. A review looks at the whole cost - materials, storage, transport, labour, damage and waste - and identifies where the opportunities actually are.
A packaging review is a structured audit of the packaging a business uses and what it genuinely costs. It looks past the unit price of a box at the six places packaging spends money: materials, storage space, transport and volumetric carrier charges, packing labour, product damage and waste disposal. WSUK reviews your current specification, box sizes and fill ratios, pack bench process and damage history, then sets out where the opportunities are and what each would involve. You get findings in writing. We do not promise a percentage before we have looked - any figure quoted before the audit is guesswork.
The unit price of a carton is usually the smallest number in the equation. A review looks at all of them together.
What you buy, in what quantities, at what specification - and whether the board grade, film gauge and protective material are matched to the product or inherited from a decision nobody remembers making.
Box sizes against actual product dimensions, how much air you are shipping, and what that costs when carriers charge on volume rather than weight.
How long a pack takes, how many materials a packer has to reach for, what is arriving damaged and why, and what you are paying to dispose of.
Reviewing one of them in isolation usually moves cost somewhere else. A cheaper box that increases damage is not a saving.
Four stages, and you own the findings at the end of it.
We gather what you use - line list, quantities, spend, box sizes, and the damage and returns picture if you have one. Samples and photographs help.
Product dimensions against box sizes, fill ratios, pack times, and where the specification is doing more or less work than the product needs.
A written set of findings: what is happening, where the opportunities are, and what each one would involve to change. Including the ones that are not worth doing.
If you want changes made, we specify and supply them. If you only wanted the review, you have the findings either way.
We review packaging operations for businesses throughout the UK from our Midlands Golden Triangle base - and the review is an audit, not a sales presentation with an audit on the front.
A packaging review is worth doing when packaging has stopped being a decision and become a habit. The signs are consistent. There are more box sizes than anyone can justify, several of which nearly fit. Protective material is chosen by whoever is packing rather than by specification. Nobody can say what the damage rate is, only that there are complaints. Carrier invoices have a volumetric line on them that nobody has interrogated. And the packaging itself occupies racking that is theoretically there for product. A review addresses all of that together, because packaging cost does not sit in one place - it sits in materials, storage, transport, labour, damage and waste simultaneously, and moving it out of one frequently moves it into another. Thinner board is cheaper to buy and more expensive when it collapses. A smaller box saves volumetric charges right up to the point the product no longer fits safely. The only way to find a real reduction is to look at the whole picture, measure rather than assume, and be willing to report that a particular change is not worth making. That is the standard this review is written to. We will not quote you a saving percentage before we have seen your operation, because anyone who does is guessing. Once the review is done, packaging supplies and bespoke packaging are how the findings get implemented, and sustainable packaging is usually part of the same conversation.
Specification first, then a quote against it.
We gather what you use - line list, quantities, spend, box sizes, and the damage and returns picture if you have one. Samples and photographs help.
Product dimensions against box sizes, fill ratios, pack times, and where the specification is doing more or less work than the product needs.
A written set of findings: what is happening, where the opportunities are, and what each one would involve to change. Including the ones that are not worth doing.
If you want changes made, we specify and supply them. If you only wanted the review, you have the findings either way.
Everything you need to know about packaging review at WSUK, answered plainly.
We look at what you use and what it costs across six areas - materials, storage, transport, labour, damage and waste - compare your box sizes against your real product dimensions, look at how a pack is built at the bench, and set the findings out in writing.
We do not know yet, and nor does anyone else who has not looked at your operation. Any figure quoted before the audit is a sales number. The review tells you where the opportunities are and what each is worth; you decide which to act on.
No. The findings are yours. If you want us to implement them we will quote for that, and if you would rather take them elsewhere the review still stands.
Your current packaging line list and quantities, product dimensions and weights, a sense of your despatch profile, and anything you have on damage, returns and carrier surcharges. Photographs of a typical pack are more useful than they sound.
Often, yes - and usually not in the unit price. Businesses with a good material price frequently have the wrong box ladder, which costs more in volumetric carriage than the whole material saving was worth.
That is frequently where the biggest number is. A damaged delivery costs the product, both carriage legs, the replacement and often the customer, so damage reduction and cost reduction tend to be the same project. See protective packaging.
Yes - waste volume, disposal cost, what the receiving end has to deal with, and recyclability of the materials you are using. See sustainable packaging.
It depends on the size of the operation and how readily the data comes together. Tell us the scope and we will tell you what to expect rather than quoting a standard turnaround that may not apply to you.
Yes, and the questions are different - pack bench throughput, box ladder depth, carrier band fit and material presentation at the bench all matter more. See packaging for fulfilment.
| What you get | WSUK | Typical packaging supplier |
|---|---|---|
| All six cost areas reviewed, not just material price | Yes | Rarely |
| Box sizes measured against real product dimensions | Yes | Rarely |
| Damage causes examined, not just damage rates | Yes | Rarely |
| Findings given in writing | Yes | Rarely |
| No saving percentage quoted before the audit | Yes | Rarely |
| Findings are yours whether or not you buy from us | Yes | Rarely |
Packaging Review is supplied UK-wide from our Midlands base. These cities have a page of their own; everywhere else is covered through packaging services.
Tell us what you despatch and what you currently use, and we will tell you what a review of it would cover.