Why More Companies Are Reassessing Packaging
Many companies don’t think about packaging until it becomes a problem. However, packaging choices can severely influence operational performance, logistics efficiency, product protection, and the ability to adapt to changing requirements. Today, tariffs, shifting production strategies, and regulations such as the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) are forcing manufacturers to take a closer look at how packaging performs across their operations.
Several shifts are making packaging performance harder to ignore:
- Regulatory pressure: growing regulatory requirements around recyclability, reporting, and packaging design;
- Regionalization and supply chain redesign: more distributed manufacturing and supply chain networks creating additional complexity;
- Cost and efficiency pressure: ongoing pressure to improve efficiency and eliminate unnecessary costs.
Together, these trends are pushing companies to rethink how packaging supports broader business objectives.
What is a Packaging Review?
A packaging review is a structured evaluation of packaging solutions and processes across an industrial site, covering outbound and, in some cases, inbound flows. Its purpose is to build a clear understanding of the existing packaging landscape by collecting and analyzing data across packaging systems, materials and flows.
Why a Site-Level Packaging Review Is Needed
Packaging systems often become complex over time. Different teams, sites, and suppliers gradually introduce new materials and solutions, creating a fragmented packaging landscape that becomes difficult to oversee and even harder to improve systematically.
As Charles de Muizon, Sustainability Director at Nefab, explains:
Without a site-level view, companies often struggle to understand:
- where logistics costs really originate and which cost could be avoided,
- where environmental impact is concentrated, and
- which packaging solutions may need to be reviewed in response to changing regulatory requirements.
A site-wide packaging review brings this information together by analyzing packaging flows and solutions across a site. This makes it easier to identify priorities and direct resources where they can create the highest impact.
Where a Packaging Assessment Delivers Measurable Results
When packaging is reviewed across an entire site, some of the biggest improvements often come from identifying connections that are otherwise difficult to spot at an individual product or shipment level.
One global healthcare equipment manufacturer partnered with Nefab to review their packaging at a production site. The company wanted to improve transport efficiency and reduce environmental impact.
The review identified opportunities to:
- standardize packaging formats
- replace plastic-based materials with paper-based alternatives
- and improve container utilization through multi-stacking and standardized pallet design.
Together, these changes helped reduce material use, improve transport utilization, and simplify recycling processes.
Results:
- 12% reduction in CO₂-eq emissions
- 9% reduction in total packaging and logistics costs
The project demonstrated how a site-wide packaging review combined with packaging improvement can support both operational efficiency and sustainability goals at the same time.
Turn Packaging Insight Into Action
In the current supply chain environment, companies need practical ways to reduce costs, improve sustainability, and ensure packaging remains compliant.
As supply chain pressure increases, packaging can no longer be treated as a secondary issue. A structured packaging review is often the first step toward reducing complexity, improving operational performance, and building a packaging strategy that can adapt as supply chains evolve.
Explore how Nefab’s packaging assessment can help identify high-impact opportunities and turn insight into action.
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