Get More Out of Your Warehouse with Vendor Managed Inventory

Managing your packaging inventory is crucial to ensuring you’re able to process orders in a timely manner. Poor management can lead to outages, incorrect orders, or last-minute calls to your vendor hoping they’ll be able to get boxes to you in time. It can be a stressful process, and on top of that, your supplies take up space in your warehouse that could be used for other things.

You’re also likely spending more money than you need to. For most businesses, the warehouse is usually overstocked in an effort to avoid running out of material, but ordering too much is only costing more and sometimes using up more space than you have to give.

It can be a tricky process to navigate. How do you make sure that you have the packaging supplies you need, while also using your warehouse space efficiently? At some point, you might run out of space and inadvertently stall company growth by not having enough room to store more products. It’s a common problem. Inventory often accounts for up to 30 percent of warehouse storage for manufacturing companies, and the majority of that 30 percent is packaging supplies.

Better packaging inventory management is attainable. With a vendor managed inventory (VMI) system, you can eliminate unneeded costs, wasted space, and lost time simply by letting your packaging vendor keep track of the packaging inventory for you.

6 Benefits of Outsourcing Packaging Inventory Management

Think about it — who knows your packaging better than the people who craft it for you? VMI makes it simple to always have the right packaging supplies when you need them by handing off work to someone whose entire job is based on packaging solutions.

How does a VMI system work? Usually in one of two ways. Either you’ll be able to use a modern VMI system, that works electronically, like our eVMI service, or a manual VMI program. With a more modern solution, you’ll have a system that allows you to update your stock levels electronically using a barcode scanner and a web-based program. Your vendor handles it from there.

With a manual program, your vendor will typically send someone from their organization to keep track of packaging levels by hand and update their information each time they visit. They will then recommend placing an order for packaging materials based off of your current inventory levels.

For the majority of businesses, maintaining packaging inventory with VMI erases pain points and opens up your warehouse for more efficient use. Let’s take a deeper look at some of the benefits.

• Less Information to Manage

By handing off your inventory management for packaging materials, your team won’t have to worry about keeping track of stock levels or figure out what to order. Modern VMI systems update automatically, and your vendor will use the information they receive to send out orders, so you never fall below a certain count.

• 24/7 Stock Level Updates

Since all you have to do is scan the loadtag when the skid is pulled for use, it’s immensely easier to keep information in order. With our eVMI service, you can forget about counting and updating the numbers later when you have time, one scan pushes the new stock levels into the system in real-time allowing your packaging vendor to release your orders as needed.

• More Timely Deliveries

Make the panic call to your sales rep a thing of the past. With your vendor keeping track of where your stock levels stand, they’ll be able to schedule deliveries, so you always have what you need, when you need it.

• Better Account Data in One Place

Along with knowing what you need, your vendor will be able to see how you’re using your current stock and plan ahead to order more if you need it, so you don’t run out, or less so you don’t have too much. Within the system, they’ll also have all the information about what type of packaging you order, so you’ll always receive the right order for the right product.

• Our Service

For something that can save you time and money, it almost feels too good to be true. At Jamestown Container Companies, we offer our customers complimentary eVMI or VMI service with their orders to help provide better packaging solutions to everyone we serve. Your business deserves to have strong packaging you can rely on. We’ll not only help you create it, but we’ll make sure you always have the right amount of supplies on hand for free. Get to know our services better by reaching out to us today.

The corrugated box and carton was originally used for packaging pottery and glass. It is composed of a fluted corrugated or ribbed sheet with one or two flat liner boards. Generally, the fiberboard is over 0.01 inches (0.25 mm) thick.

Compared to flat fiberboard of equal mass, corrugated fiberboard has a greater stiffness, especially parallel to the corrugations. The design makes it more durable and resistant to bending. For the most part, corrugated cartons meet the needs of many products being shipped. It can withstand compression, vibration, shock, moisture, and much more.

Corrugated cartons have a wide variety of uses that meet the demands of packaging such as candy boxes, ice cream boxes, pizza boxes, corrugated shipping boxes, packing boxes, corrugated paper rolls, carton boxes, printed shoe boxes, corrugated packaging sheets, duplex carton boxes, vegetables boxes, automobile corrugated boxes, rectangular corrugated boxes, mono cartons, heavy duty corrugated boxes, paper boxes and food boxes.

Some of the benefits of corrugated carton include:

LIGHTWEIGHT

Corrugated cartons are very lightweight, which is a big advantage when it comes to shipping. They are easily transported, shipped and carried. Good examples include pizza boxes, ice cream boxes, packing boxes and many types of food boxes.

STURDY AND STRONG

Corrugated cartons are very strong and durable. Plus their sturdiness minimalizes damage that can be caused during shipping. Not only can they withstand heavy weight but they have excellent tear, rupture and malleable strength. This makes them ideal for products that need to be shipped long distance.

ECONOMICAL

Corrugated cartons are a cost effective solution for packaging. For one, they are usually purchased in bulk at a retail price. Their lightweight design also makes them economical to ship. Plus the strong and durable material greatly reduces the costs caused by damage during shipping.

FLEXIBLE

These boxes can be re-shaped, hammered and cut with ease. The quick and easy reshaping allows for a wide range of durable shapes and sizes. In fact, corrugated cartons can typically be custom made. In addition, lithograph printing can make the cartons more appealing and marketable.

ECO FRIENDLY

Corrugated material is Eco friendly and can be reused and reshaped after a particular recycling process. Moreover, they can be compressed and baled for economical transport. Generally, the baled boxes are placed in a large tank of warm water called a hydropulper. Afterwards, the pulp (slurry) is utilized to make new fiber products and paper.

EXTREMELY CUSTOMIZABLE WITH ULTIMATE PROTECTION

Corrugated cartons can be adjusted so that you have a perfect fit for any product. They come in numerous sizes that can be easily folded into a variety of shapes. In addition, these resilient cartons have a stable cushion that keeps products safe and sound during shipping. And to top it off, the corrugated cardboard can be varied in sizes and thickness to fit your needs.

EASY DESIGN LABELING

Corrugated cartons are known for their smooth surfaces. They have the perfect exterior for printed design labels or stickers. And in today’s competitive market, a professional label is imperative for a lucrative and profitable business.

Why is a brand’s visual identity important?

Today’s market is saturated with products. Everything is more accessible than ever. Price comparison sites help people find the best deal. And yet, people don’t just go for the cheapest option.

Why?

Because it’s the brand that sells the product, not the other way around. But no one said building a brand identity was simple. There are many things to take care of: business name, website and product design, a captivating logo, the right tone of voice, an intriguing mission, your own style of photography; all intertwined in a concept called brand personality. You can distinguish a striking brand from a bad one simply – all the elements of quality brands flow together and create a consistent experience. With ‘’bad’’ brands, everything is all over the place.

What does your brand represent?

Is your brand:

• Personable and friendly, or corporate and professional?
• Spontaneous and high energy, or carefully thinking and planning?
• Young, modern and high tech, or classic and traditional?
• Cutting edge or established?
• Fun or serious?
• Accessible to all or upscale, premium?
• More feminine, masculine, or neutral?

It is not always one or the other; it’s normal to be on a spectrum. You can get even more specific about your brand with the following questions:

• Who is your ideal customer?
• How do they communicate, what captivates them?
  How old are they, what’s their job?
• What’s your brand personality? (You can’t be everything to everyone.)
• If you had to describe your business idea in three words, what would they be?

Try to pick out some keywords to describe your brand’s values and ‘’feel’’. Here are some ideas:

Achievement-oriented, authentic, adventurous, authoritarian, balanced, beautiful, bold, compassionate, challenge-minded, competent, creative, edgy, daring, fun, feminine, joyful, honest, kind, just, knowledge-oriented, leading, mascline, optimistic, peaceful, pleasure-focused, poised, popular, recognised, respected, service-oriented, spiritual, trustworthy.

If colors could speak

Did you know that certain colors invoke certain emotions? Moreover, color increases brand recognition by up to 80%. If we loosely linked colors to key words, it could look something like this: Arriving at that perfect colour for your brand means you’ll be able to send a consistent message to your audience through your logo, web-design, invoice design, product packaging and much more. The key is to stay consistent throughout your emails, social media, and web copy, too.

Analyze your competition

Researching the logos, websites and color schemes of other brands in your industry can help you decide if you want to compete, or stand out. This guide lists the hex code palettes of several well-known brands, which can be used as a reference to create your own unique combination.

Get HONEST feedback

I learnt an important lesson with my initial mistake. See, your cheerleaders want the best for you, like my guy friends did. They don’t always tell you what they dislike, because they think it applies only to them. And they didn’t want to say anything much initially because they didn’t want to hurt my feelings. And each man thought it was just him who wasn’t really connecting, so better to stay quiet.

So definitely, try to do research as much as possible and ensure that the color you choose is not a put-off for your audience. Urge your super supportive fans, especially among people who can be a sort of representation of your target group, to give you constructive feedback, to say it like it is, that you’re a big girl/ boy, and can handle it.

Sometimes you may not be able to reach the exact target in your close circle. Like if you’re doing a product for an age group which you don’t have close interactions with. Pass it around. Ask your connections to ask people they know.

If they all REALLY like your choice of the color palette, and it matches your brand story, you’re all set!

Brainstorm with your graphic designer

I assume you have a graphic designer who is creating your logo? Do a brain dump of all the above on him/ her. Share your preferences of dominant colors and palettes, brief them on what you want the brand to be, and let them figure out how to bring the brand and the logo design alive with the colors you’ve chosen!

Doing the design yourself? No sweat. Just play around with the colors you’ve chosen so far, and see how best it works with your logo.

The most important thing is, have fun while doing it! This is one of the most creative and exciting parts of your business journey.

Once you set the colors, and people know about your brand, they tend to remember it by color. So while you can keep tweaking your colors a bit as you go, don’t change it drastically from the original color palette you had set. Try not to change the dominant color at all.

Would love to hear your comments and don’t hesitate to reach out to connect with me through my website, LinkedIn, or Twitter for more tips and information on simple ways to execute your branding and marketing for your small business.

Final thoughts

While the impact of design and colors on sales may not yet be a science with hard evidence, it doesn’t have to be. When shopping online, perceived product quality is almost as important, if not more important than actual quality – something that can be greatly influenced by good design and the right choice of visuals.

If you sell products in a convenience store, it’s important to really think about the typical customer who’ll be shopping, as well as the transaction type they’re likely expecting during their visit. First and foremost, displays should be, you guessed it: convenient.

So what does that mean to you? We’ve got some great ideas to help you take your product from shelved to sold-out, simply by implementing C-store counter displays.

C-store displays are perfect for the turn and burn shopping experience that customers shopping at convenience stores have come to expect. Why? We have some thoughts on the topic, and we’re here to let you know, C-store counter displays are an ideal answer to your convenience store display problems.

4 Reasons Why We Love These Nifty Displays (And What You Should Consider)

• C-store Counter Displays Allow You to Create an Experience: Point of purchase (POP) counter displays are perfect for convenience store set ups. Cardboard countertop displays with headers are ideal for branding, creating an experience where consumers get to know your brand, even if they are rushing to get out the door.
• C-store Counter Displays are Ideal for Retail Spaces: The typically smaller footprint in retail spaces like convenience stores means less can be more when it comes to displays. Custom cardboard counter displays are neat and compact, so they can fit nicely in prime real estate area (like the counter), maximizing your brand’s exposure while making it easy for shoppers to grab and retailers to stock and restock as needed.
• C-store Counter Displays are Versatile: C-store Counter Displays are one of the easiest-to-customize displays out there. They can work for anything from gum to gadgets. In fact, these sturdy display options can even house edible options that would impress even elite fine-diners. And it’s easy to design a c-store counter display that exudes high class and gourmet, so whether you’re selling croissants or candy, you can create a display that works for you.
• C-store Counter Displays are Convenient: Grab n Go is the name of the convenience store game, and C-store displays exceed expectations in this category. Easy to see what’s being sold and easy to grab products, counter displays are literally the definition of what convenience stores should be?

While it’s easy to see why (and how much) we love C-store counter displays, don’t stop with just the displays, either. Once you have the design finalized and are ready for production, think about adding on other display items like signage that will help ensure your brand is recognized and calling out to customers. Hanging retail ceiling signs combined with counter displays really help make sure your brand will be seen, regardless of where busy, rushed shoppers are looking. C-store counter displays – they really are a win-win, if you ask us.

Gatorade Floor Display

Objective

• Develop a simple floor display platform that provides ease of execution at retail
• Combine a powerful visual impact with structural integrity for easy access to product and a small footprint for health food stores
• Customer needs displays in store in 3 weeks

What we did

• Created a simple one-piece column structure with a dramatic image of Usain Bolt, Olympic Gold medalist, as a billboard graphic
• Developed a quick 1-2-3 assembly process
• Added stark white shelves that highlight product colors and extend beyond the display to invite consumers to further investigate
• Positioned the brand message with high visibility to quickly communicate product benefits to the serious athlete

Results

• Our speed-to-market process resulted in design to delivery in 3 weeks
• The G Series Pro products are selling four times the level of those that are on the shelf
• Retailers reported that the retail floor displays have been restocked multiple times
• The addition of the vac-formed tray has extended store life and enabled retailers to keep the display on the floor to match demand