Making complicated look simple

Westbury Packaging teamed up with a high-end electronics manufacturer on a complete overhaul of their packaging strategy. The manufacturer had a number of reasons for wanting to review their packaging and have ultimately achieved more benefits that they could have envisaged.

 

Key benefits:

• Reduction in packaging costs.
• Reduction in packaging size.
• Met environmental requirements.
• Improvement in product protection.
• Enhancement in customer experience.

Introduction

Westbury Packaging have worked with this leading high-end electronics manufacturer on the South coast for a couple of years. This award-winning audio and video equipment manufacturer sells direct to customers and through their global distribution network.

 

The Brief

Their original packaging was plain corrugated cases, die-cut fittings and some Stratocell foam components. It certainly wasn’t ticking all of the boxes for them or for their customers. There were a number of objectives for the new packaging:

1. Removal of all Stratocell foam components, as they couldn’t be recycled.
2. Decrease in the size of the overall packaging, as their bulkiness meant that they didn’t fit the pallets efficiently and they attracted high shipping charges.
3. Improvement in protection to the high-value products.
4. Introduction of print to the packaging to augment their brand awareness.
5. Reduction in cost of the packaging.
6. Enhancement in the customer experience by making the packaging a part of the journey of ownership of one of their products.

 

Our Approach

We asked a lot of questions to ensure we understood what the manufacturer was trying to achieve from their packaging. Once we had the full picture we worked out the most efficient and effective way to package it to ensure optimum protection and presentation.

 

The Solution

We achieved all six aims outlined in the initial brief:

1. Our Design team created a bespoke suspension cradle which housed the core components. This element replaced the foam components and also had the benefit of being a multi-component pack, thus reducing the need for multiple packaging SKUs for the manufacturer.
2. Concept designs were made to fit the pallet footprint, which addressed any overhang and potential damage areas and also reduced shipping costs.
3. The nature of the suspension cradle meant that it absorbed impact when in transit, but retained the integrity of the structure.
4. All packaging can now be printed up to 4 colours internally and externally, giving the manufacturers the opportunity to brand this free marketing space.
5. Packaging costs were reduced through the introduction of this new packaging design.
6. The overall customer experience has been greatly enhanced and the manufacturer has been able to meet the demands from their customers for more environmentally friendly packaging.

 

Alongside meeting the initial objectives of the brief, we have also been able to design packaging that can be recycled together in the same recycling bin, giving a clearer message to their customers. The manufacturer has also found that they have more warehouse space at their site due to the reduction and rightsizing of the packaging. Finally, their warehouse team find the new packaging easier to pack and spend less time palletising shipments.