It’s time to get lean with Premier Packaging. And no, we don’t mean passing up dessert.
In industry, lean processes use continuous improvement to increase production, quality, and profits while reducing costs. They follow such principles as designing products to meet customers’ needs (eliminating all other features), looking at a product’s complete life cycle, and allowing products to move seamlessly from production to shipping without interruption.
Lean companies move from a push system, which starts with purchasing supplies and pushing material through the production process even when there isn’t an order, to a pull system that only makes new products when the inventory is depleted.
Toyota used lean tools and methodologies to grow from an insignificant car manufacturer in a small country (Japan) to the global leader in automotive safety, quality, reliability, and sales. Ironically, a Toyota delegation got the idea while touring a Piggly Wiggly in the United States. They saw value in how the supermarket only reordered and restocked goods once customers had bought those items. Toyota used this inspiration to move to a Just in Time inventory system.
They also worked hard to eliminate seven wastes (mudas) in normal manufacturing: overproduction, unnecessary inventory, inappropriate processing, defects, unnecessary/excess motion, waiting (when goods are not moving or being processed), and transporting between processes.
In the packaging industry, lean processes mean considering how goods and components are unloaded and moved around your warehouse, the way your products are picked and packed, the boxes in which they are packed for shipping, and even the pallets on which boxes are shipped.
Premier is a lean organization practicing continuous self-improvement. We can help your operation get lean by:
- Right-sizing your protective packaging. With our design and testing services, we can right-size packaging to minimize waste. Smaller packaging also means less shipping costs, saving you money.
- Performing target assessments of your processes to improve your supply chain. This might mean suggesting automating parts of your process with, say, a case sealer for improved productivity and consistency in sealing packages. This would also save you labor costs and allow you to use those workers in other areas.
Maybe we suggest something as simple as switching to a lighter gauge wrap with greater stretchability. This would save you material costs and make your operation more sustainable by reducing the amount of plastic entering the waste stream.
We can also look for ways to improve your warehousing operation, like using our bin boxes to better organize a wide variety of products or simply moving your popular products to the front of the warehouse for easier picking. - Reducing the amount of inventory you need on hand. Through our warehousing and shipping abilities, we can provide your products when you need them for JIT delivery.
Intrigued? Contact us today for more information on how we can help you get LEAN.