Shipping packaging that is too large

Why are parcels still far too big all too often? Logistics experts estimate that there is an average of 50% air in a parcel delivery in German online retail. Isn’t that expensive? On the contrary: it saves mail-order companies a lot of time and money.

Unlike with private customers, the size of the carton hardly makes a difference in the postage. Instead, the weight is often used as the basis for calculating the shipping costs – this is faster and easier to determine by machine.

The widespread belief that “Small boxes – less postage!” is therefore not necessarily true in practice.

If postage is not an issue, why do shippers often choose boxes that are too big when they have to use a larger amount of filling material? The time factor plays a decisive role here. Shipping box In order to fill a box precisely, much more “jigsawing” has to be done than if the boxes are generously packed “at a distance”. It also requires experience and a sense of proportion on the part of the order picker: he has to estimate and estimate the size of the individual items in the order.

The decision on the size of the shipping box or the telescope carton is often made after the first glance at the order. If there is the slightest doubt, the larger box is chosen. It’s a bit like packing leftovers from lunch: if the eye is wrong, everything has to be repacked into the next largest Tupperware box. Both have to be washed up afterwards.

The shipping employee is measured by the number of orders processed. If the box turns out to be too small at the end, it means: back to square one, repack the entire order. Usually quicker and easier (and supported by the employer): At the end of the packing process, fill the hollow space in the shipping box, which is much too large, with filling material such as flo-Pak.

Packaging machines and automation

If the choice of possible shipping cartons is too large, quite a bit of time is “wasted” in weighing them up – which is reflected in labour costs. Unless: The process is automated. Some online retailers are already looking at new technologies – either because of environmental concerns or because of increasing pressure from end consumers. In the Packaging and Trade Logistics/Packaging Optimisation department of the

Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML) is working on a promising approach: augmented reality glasses for the volume-optimised packaging process. With the help of the data glasses, the dimensions and volume of the individual packages are recorded and the appropriate (smallest possible) size of the shipping box is determined. The employee is then guided through the packing process and is shown exactly where in the box which product has to be placed in order to achieve as little empty space as possible.

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Augmented reality glasses or guidance via LED

A really promising approach. The battery life still needs to be improved, the AR glasses are still too big, too heavy and therefore not suitable for use over hours in practice. But in the meantime, the IML is working on another solution together with the company Hüdig + Rocholz:

Technology integrated in the packing table guides the packer with the help of LEDs and helps with the “jigsaw”. In this way, a reduction of the air space in the carton by around 20% is to be achieved. The “iPackAssist” is the prototype of a new packaging workstation: Until now, order pickers usually had to decide on their own which carton fits which consignment and how the items should be divided up inside. To support along this process, Fraunhofer IML has developed two technologies: “PUZZLE®” is an intelligent software for package selection and calculation of packaging instructions. The assistance system “PAsst” can be used for interactive visualisation of these instructions. This system is integrated into a table at the stand and communicates with PUZZLE®.

Who is to blame for the big boxes now?

So it’s the highly complex interrelationships and processes in a mostly “grown” logistics system that lead to deliveries that are far too large – together with the online shops’ drive for profit. Because these “vie” for their customers with ever faster delivery times. The large mail-order companies in particular are under time pressure here. Availability of goods and delivery times are an absolute sales argument, next-day delivery or even same-day delivery a standard that is almost expected by the consumer.

The consumer can help to control this, says Kirsten Havers of the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland:

“The very first commandment when ordering is: no express delivery. Because express deliveries are the death of all efficiency. So if I order something and it should preferably be there today, then this order is loaded somewhere in Germany. It’s taken to warehouse x as quickly as possible and from there to warehouse y and from there to my front door. As I said, these are often small vehicles, often there are three parcels in them, which is madness from an environmental and traffic point of view.”

So end consumers also bear some responsibility here: those who order from smaller, more specialised retailers usually have to wait longer for delivery – but usually receive a perfectly fitting, well-packaged consignment: Because there is then also more (planning) time for packing and shipping.

Now we know from our own experience that sometimes things simply have to happen quickly. But not always. Some online shops offer shipping options during the ordering process: express shipping is more expensive.

Why is too much shipping packaging such a problem?

Many reasons are obvious: If a lot of air is packed, larger or more delivery trucks have to go on tour. This means more CO² emissions during delivery and more traffic or traffic obstruction in the cities. Second-row parking causes traffic to come to a standstill, which in turn leads to more CO² being emitted by waiting vehicles.

The traffic situation in city centres is a particular problem: over 4.5 billion tonnes of goods are transported on German roads every year. A volume of goods equivalent to about 80 million freight wagons. And the trend is upwards. Inner cities are on the brink of gridlock. And the pressure on shippers and shipping service providers is growing: alternative solutions are needed. At the German Aerospace Centre in Adlershof, Professor Gernot Liedtke, head of the “Commercial Transport” department, deals with such questions. According to Liedtke, the number of vans in particular has increased immensely in recent years:

“You can virtually say that from 1995 to today the number of small goods vehicles has increased sevenfold. And that is the hammer. And these are vehicles that drive in the region, that drive in the city, that cover 50 to 150 kilometres per day. And these are the ones you see stopping at the side of the road everywhere in the city.”(deutschlandfunkkultur.de/)

In addition, a large number of orders are returned in whole or at least in part. If the goods already came too large, there is still more air in the return, after taking out a few items. Here too: Larger vehicles or a higher frequency become necessary. Commercial traffic already accounts for about 30% of a city’s total traffic volume, according to Kirsten Havers, head of the climate-friendly delivery traffic project at the Bund für Umwelt – und Naturschutz Deutschland.