24 Sep Proper Care & Handling of Cardboard

Anyone from the south knows that Kudzu will cover your property up in a nanosecond if you let it, and when it comes to prekitting, cardboard will do the same. Everyone laughs when you talk about how much of a problem cardboard becomes when you switch to prekitting, but no one is laughing about 2 weeks after they start.

So what’s the best way to handle cardboard?  Let’s look at some options.

The easiest and most effective way to deal with cardboard is placing the compactor as close to the pick line as possible. Many of our customers have done this and the results are dramatic. In the world of prekitting, every time your employees take a step it’s money, so each step has a cost associated with it. By placing the compactor close to the line – or in some cases in the middle of the line – you not only eliminate the steps required to get rid of the cardboard but you remove the time required to break the box down.  It’s double savings. Yes it costs a few dollars, but in the long run the ROI is remarkable.

A second way to deal with cardboard is to build dunnage into the line. These are planned spaces in the line to slide in a large trash can with wheels. This allows for minimal steps to get rid of the cardboard and makes it easy for someone to pull the trash can out from the back of the line and replace it with an empty one. The pick line doesn’t slow down but you still need an individual to move the cardboard toward the compactor or the recycle dumpster and the labor to break it down.

A third way to handle cardboard is to deal with it BEFORE you start picking. By using large baskets/bins/containers and combining inner packs or small cases of products into a large container you have less cardboard to deal with once you start picking. You still have to deal with chip boxes and some of the larger items, but in many instances you can combine 3, 4 or 5 boxes of M&M’s etc. into one large basket and not have to deal with lots of small boxes during the picking process.

Every operator does not have the space to put a compactor next to the line, but with a little bit of planning and understanding that every step your employees takes has a cost associated with it, you’ll be amazed at how much time (and money) you can save by simply planning on how to deal with cardboard. If you have any questions or would like some assistance on how to make your operation more efficient give us a call or email us at dmarler@lightspeedautomation.com.