Keeping Products and People Safe with Pallet Unitization

Working in a warehouse or distribution center, there are many threats to safety. From wayward forklifts, to heavy lifting injuries, to unsecured items like box cutters; there’s always the potential for harm. But when it comes to packages and pallets, there are a number of products that can make handling safer for workers.

The easiest way to improve warehouse safety is to ensure proper pallet unitization. What this means is that all packages are secured on the pallet so that even if they get bumped or jostled, none of the boxes will fall over or become unstable. There are a few products designed specifically for pallet unitization.

Shrink and Stretch Film

Shrink and stretch film is probably the most commonly used and secure method for pallet unitization. Once the correct number of boxes or other items are stacked on a pallet, the entire lot is wrapped in layers of stretch film to hold everything together. When the pallet is then transported, everything will be held in place to prevent spills and damage. There are a number of shrink and stretch film options depending on needs such as strength or ease of use. There are even colored bundling stretch films to color code inventory for easy sorting.

Strapping Materials

If you don’t have an entire pallet of packages, but rather just a few items, it could be more efficient to strap them together rather than stretch wrapping them. This will keep the packages together without taking as much time to wrap and unwrap. There are a number of strapping materials to choose from including steel strapping for heavy loads, polyester strapping with is non-corrosive and lighter than steel, and polypropylene strapping tape for general packing use that allows for some stretch. You’ll also need to consider other supporting products, such as strapping sealers, strapping shears, and strapping tensioners, so make sure you have all necessary items in place before you get started.

Edge Protectors

For fragile products that require extra care during handling, edge protectors can provide extra support while serving as a “bumper” on corners. Printed edge protectors can also convey messages to workers, which is especially important for items that should not be stacked or require additional handling instructions. Though this isn’t a true unitization product in that it still requires some form of wrapping, it does provide an additional layer of protection and support.

Have any questions about which pallet unitization product is right for you? Feel free to email custserv@stamarpackaging.com for a consultation.

How Employers Can Attract and Retain the Best Talent

Now more than ever, it’s vital for employers to consistently attract fresh talent as baby boomers enter retirement. Similarly, once an employee is on-boarded, companies should make an effort to keep them to prevent the knowledge drain associated with high turnover. Offering a competitive benefits package is the first line of defense, but it’s often not enough. Instead, companies should see what products or services will make employees’ lives easier and help them do their jobs more effectively each day.

Organization

It can be easy for new hires to get overwhelmed with training materials and supplies during their first week or so. If you’re going to provide them with books of information, make sure they have a place to keep everything! A book rack with dividers will keep necessary textbooks and binders handy and organized. For smaller packets and handbooks, a simple letter tray should do the job.

Similarly, having easy access to pens, pencils, tape, paper clips, etc., is important. Adding a desk drawer organizer to each workstation will help ensure that daily necessities are always quick to find. And you’ll get bonus points for stocking the organizer with essentials ahead of time.

Fitness

Health and wellness have taken center stage in many workplaces. But you don’t need to provide each employee with a gym membership to show that you’re committed to employee wellbeing. Incorporating products that promote activity can be as simple as having ergonomic exercise balls available in addition to normal office chairs. This gives workers the ability to stay fit while sitting at their desks.

Motivation

If you want employees who are engaged in their work, you must allow for some motivational material. It helps to have an open policy that allows workers to decorate their spaces within reason, but also consider adding posters that reinforce a message of productivity and teamwork. Plain meeting rooms can easily be transformed into collaborative spaces with a few well-placed motivational posters.

By creating a workplace that fosters creativity, wellness, and organization, you’ll be making an investment in your employees’ wellbeing and productivity. People like to stay where they feel appreciated and cared for, which is easy enough to achieve by making some simple additions to the office. Stamar has a full range of office supplies to choose from. Speak with one of our representatives at 877-782-6273 to determine which products meet your needs.

The Differences Between B2C and B2B Packaging Design

With entrepreneurship on the rise and the economy seeing numerous benefits, there’s a greater demand for business-related products and services. And the continued growth trend can’t be ignored, as “entrepreneurs are creating jobs at more than twice the rate of established companies,” according to a Financial Times article.

All of these new employees will be able to increase the capabilities of each small business, bringing in new revenue and allowing founders to hone in on what will help them stand out among the competition. Packaging is one way of doing that – though you’ll want to consider who you’re selling to in order to get the most out of it.

B2C Packaging Design

For small businesses that sell products directly to consumers, packaging can leave a lasting impression that leads to repeat sales and referrals. The idea is to create an unwrapping experience that buyers will want to repeat later on. Sometimes it can be motivated by pride in the purchase itself, as with recognizable high-end product packaging like Tiffany jewelry. And sometimes it’s just the amount of care and thought that went into packaging, similar to unwrapping a gift from a friend or family member that leads to a more personalized experience. Including a note of thanks for the purchase is one way to stand out, along with options like branded tissue paper or packaging that’s printed in the brand’s logo or color scheme.

The main thing you’ll want to focus on is finding a packaging concept that is user friendly, recognizable, and at least somewhat personal. People like dealing with other people, so use that to your advantage when promoting your small business.

B2B Packaging Design

When your primary customers are other businesses, there are a few things that are similar to selling to consumers. You still want the packaging to be recognizable and “on brand,” but you can focus less on the emotional experience of unwrapping and more on ease of use.

Another consideration is stack-ability of packages – since you’re more likely to get bulk orders rather than one-off pieces. So while packaging for consumers can be interesting shapes to get attention, when working with a business, make it more utilitarian so that boxes can be easily stacked up on a pallet and warehoused. You can also use standard corrugated packaging materials for shipping rather than decorative options.

Overall, the main objective is to find packaging options that will reinforce the fact that you’re the right supplier for your customer. Consider various options that are within your price range so that shipping doesn’t eat too much of a hole in your profit margins, and then go from there. Packaging is an important consideration, but it shouldn’t break the bank.

If you have any questions about packaging selection, feel free to call us at 630-282-5400. We’re an experienced distributor of packaging and shipping supplies, so we can help guide you toward the right products.

Where to Find Eco-Friendly Promotional Products

Look around your own home or office, and chances are you'll find more than a few promotional products from other companies. But as you consider ways to build up your own brand recognition, what can you do to stand out from the crowd?

Sustainability is in. Demonstrating that your company is devoted to the planet is the perfect way to grab attention, regardless of the industry you are part of. When thinking about promotional products, the right direction moving forward is to make the best possible effort toward sustainability. By utilizing environmentally-friendly products, you can show that your business cares about more than just the bottom line.

On top of that, it gives you a story behind your promotional product. Having a story and a product that connects on multiple levels, is how you can stand out from competitors. Handing out a coaster with your business name on it will likely get it relegated to a desk drawer – handing out a seed-implanted coaster, or wooden coaster, will make it an attractive desk adornment or something the customer will plant and enjoy for years. Building this sort of connection will help keep your company in the front of the customer’s mind, and these can be useful triggers long after a trade show or meeting is over.

Here at Stamar Packaging, we aren’t just a leading distributor of packaging, shipping, and industrial supplies, we also offer a wide range of promotional products. While we do provide the standards – including those stress toys and pens – we also aim to innovate in the field, which is why we produce a range of eco-friendly promotional products to help you stick out from the crowd. These include:

·         Coasters/lids manufactured from 100% U.S. corn plastic

·         Seed Paper Coasters that are made of recycled material, and embedded with wildflower seeds, to grow your own desktop flower garden!

·         Bamboo plaques, awards, and stands

·         Branded rain gauges, for your gardening friends

·         Cloth tote bags

·         And many more

Check out our full range of eco-friendly promotional products, and see what Stamar can do for you as far as eco-friendly promotional products. While some companies may see this as a trend, we at Stamar see this as a big part of the future, and we are committed to growing our environmentally-friendly product line far into the future. Keep an eye as our line grows, or get in contact with us to see about potential future innovations.

Examining the Growth of Digital Printing for Corrugated Packaging

Digital printing has been steadily growing and holds a lot of promise for the future. While color digital printing has been a boon for color digital labels, folding cartons, and flexible packaging, corrugated packaging hasn't been as receptive, with only specialist converters available and low usage.

All of that is changing though. Suppliers such as Hewlett Packard are emerging with solutions for short-run digital printing of corrugated products, including secondary packs and displays. These digital printers address the concerns of designers and marketers by providing a new generation of solutions that can retain the quality of traditional analog printing – image quality and color being the primary concerns. While analog printing will likely continue to be the standard in the near future, digital printing is edging closer to wider acceptance, due to some distinct advantages.

The advantages of digital printing for corrugated packaging are much the same as digital’s advantages for any type of printing, although this opens up a new segment. These advantages include:

·         Ability to print low-count print runs with improved cost efficiency – a digital run can print off anywhere from 1 to thousands, with little waste or warm-up cost.

·         Prototyping ability for targeting specific markets.

·         Improved turn-around times for low-count runs.

·         Freeing up analog presses for printing long runs, allowing faster turn time on those as well.

·         The ability to print variable imagery

·         Easy transition between sheet sizes

Digital is truly a great innovation for the future of printing, though it is unlikely to replace analog printing outright – we see them as complimentary technologies, and expect them to work together as such as digital gains more traction.

Here at Stamar Packaging, we love to see the innovation and evolution of technology that allows us to provide better response times, with better pricing, to keep our customers pleased. We look forward to the continued emergence of digital printing for corrugated packaging, with the idea that this will one day become an even bigger part of our current business

Top Packaging Trend to Watch in 2017 – Flexible Pouches

Flexible pouches aren’t new – they have been used for products such as beef jerky and dog food for decades. However, design and material advancements have led to an evolution of the product in recent years, creating a packaging option with a variety of uses, that can be molded and printed to meet marketing needs. Flexible plastic pouches have a number of inherent advantages over other packaging methods, such as:

·         Durability: Plastic flexible pouches don’t crack when frozen, don’t break when dropped, and can be twisted, bent, and contorted – and will still be a viable container. These also help them to be more resistant to contamination, and the inclusion of UV-resistant factors can prevent deterioration by light exposure.

·         Reusability: With easy-to-seal tops that help maintain freshness, the pouches can be refilled and reused as needed. It is an added value to the customer, and reduces landfill waste at the same time.

·         Efficiency: Flexible plastic packaging requires limited resources to make the packaging. As highlighted in this article, a pound of peanuts requires ten times more material when contained in glass versus a flexible plastic pouch.

·         Environmental Responsibility: Flexible plastic pouches require less energy to create – and because of their flexibility and light weight structure, Fres-co estimates that flexible pouches create 50% less volume in landfills, while requiring 88% less fossil fuel to produce.

·         Easy and Cheap to Ship: One truckload of flexible packaging can hold enough packages to contain what you would need 26 truckloads of glass packaging – which is 25 less truckloads, and 25 less tanks of fuel, needed to ship. When full, more flexible pouches can be fit into a truck’s weight limit, again reducing the numbers of truckloads needed and again saving fuel.

Easier to ship, safer to use, environmentally- and budget-friendly, the flexible plastic pouch looks to be the responsible packaging choice into the future. Here at Stamar, we like to stay on the cutting edge of the latest packaging technology, and we are interested to see how flexible plastic pouches evolve over the next few years. Contact us to see what we can do for your packaging needs to see what trends we can work into your packaging solution!

The Showcase of Packaging Innovations at PACK EXPO to Feature Award-Winning Packaging Designs

ACK EXPO International (Nov. 6–9, 2016; McCormick Place, Chicago), according to PACK EXPO producer, PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. The showcase will display the latest innovations and award-winning designs in packaging.

“Packaging has evolved over the years into vessels that not only protect the products inside but enhance them,” says Chuck Yuska, president and CEO, PMMI, “The Showcase of Packaging Innovations at PACK EXPO International spotlights the innovations and inspires future breakthroughs in design and technology.”

The packages featured in the showcase are winning entries from competitions all around the world.

“We are proud to have been involved with the Showcase of Packaging Innovations since its inception at PACK EXPO 13 years ago,” says Karen S. Carter, commercial vice president for Dow’s North America Packaging and Specialty Plastics business. “The cutting-edge packaging designs presented in the Showcase over the years have made a major contribution to moving the industry forward, and we are eager to continue that legacy at the show.”

National Safety Council Says Forklift-Related Safety Hazards Are Among The Most Common Workplace Safety Hazards

The importance of safety at work is always on our minds here at Stamar Packaging. But, with June being National Safety Month, it’s a good time to reinforce safety practices and to ensure that all of our employees understand the hazards of operating and working around forklifts, since forklifts are in operation in our warehouses every day. For us, and for everyone, every month of the year is always a good time to review safety practices in order to avoid workplace injuries.

The National Safety Council’s Safety+Health magazine says forklift-related safety hazards are among the most common workplace safety hazards, and that the leading cause of forklift-related hazards in the workplace is “when workers feel compelled to work quickly.” The recent Safety+Health article quotes a workplace safety consultant as saying, “What dictates their [employees] activity is production. They’re all under pressure, and when you’re under pressure, they start taking shortcuts.” These shortcuts often result in injury. The report adds, “Shortcuts include driving with too large of a load or driving distracted. The end result may be hitting a rack, damaging a wall or product or even injuring a co-worker.”

Adding to the safety issues related to forklifts is a “lack of maintenance and daily checks of trucks, and failing to segregate vehicles from pedestrians.” The safety consultants recommend that wherever and whenever forklifts are in operation, operators should be properly training and the trucks should be regularly inspected to ensure they’re in proper working order. Employers also should create designated walkways for pedestrians.

A warehouse environment also creates other safety hazards. Employees need to stay alert and avoid distractions, especially when they’re around or operating machinery. Machines with moving parts represent another common workplace hazard. Warning labels on machinery need to be read, and directions should be followed. And, of course, employees operating machinery must be properly trained. Material handling issues also pop up in warehouses when safety practices are overlooked. A common material handling practice is stacking objects on high platforms and shelves. They can’t be stacked too high, and heavy loads must be stacked neatly to avoid a shifting load or cylindrical objects from rolling off the shelves.

At Stamar Packaging, we are committed to following safety practices every day of the year, protecting our employees the best way we can. A safe warehouse is an efficient warehouse, and as we provide packaging, shipping and industrial supplies to our customers, our employees’ safety is always top-of-mind – as it should be!

Sustainability in the Packaging Industry Continues to Play a Vital Role in Business and Manufacturing in 2016

Sustainable practices are essential in business today, and especially in the packaging industry, where packaging manufacturers are required to be innovative in all areas of packaging manufacturing: design, the selection of packaging materials, and in all phases of the packaging production process. By focusing on sustainability, manufacturers are under pressure to reduce their “environmental footprint”.  The dictionary defines as the effect a company “has on the environment, for example, the amount of natural resources that they use and the amount of harmful gases that they produce.” But that definition is taking a big-picture look at sustainability. Let’s take a closer, more specific, look at how sustainability in the packaging industry continues to play a vital role in business and manufacturing in 2016.

Specifically, in the packaging industry, the history of sustainable practices is traced back to the 1970s, according to Packaging Digest. The publication reports, “The basis for sustainable packaging started the environmental movement in the 1970s…” Fast-forward four decades, and Packaging Digest shares the definition of “sustainable packaging” offered by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC):

Sustainable Packaging ...

• Is beneficial, safe & healthy for individuals and communities throughout its life cycle
• Meets market criteria for performance and cost
• Is sourced, manufactured, transported, and recycled using renewable energy
• Optimizes the use of renewable or recycled source materials
• Is manufactured using clean production technologies and best practices
• Is made from materials healthy throughout the life cycle
• Is physically designed to optimize materials and energy
• Is effectively recovered and utilized in biological and/or industrial closed loop cycles.

According to the SPC’s website, the Coalition is a “working group dedicated to a more robust environmental vision for packaging,” and the organization promotes and supports sustainable packaging practices as an essential part of doing business.

At Stamar Packaging, we’ve been following sustainability trends in business, and how these trends affect the packaging industry, for many years – since we first started our business in 1981. Throughout the past 35 years, we’ve helped many of our customers – all types of businesses and manufacturers – be more sustainable and to reduce their environmental footprint by using some of the many different types of sustainable packaging materials and supplies we distribute. We’d welcome the opportunity to discuss the many sustainable packaging supply options available today. For more information about the packaging solutions and shipping supplies Stamar provides, including those designed with sustainability in mind, visit our website. Or give us a call at 630-282-5400. 

Follow these Product Labeling Tips and Tactics to Appeal to More Customers

Product labeling is an important part of any business: Having the right information and displaying appealing graphics on your product labeling can help capture the attention of more customers – and ultimately boost product sales. However, lack of information, misleading claims, and inadequate product labeling design can get your business into some trouble. Obviously, you’ll want to avoid this! In most types of businesses and industries, and in larger companies, the responsibilities related to product labeling are usually in the hands of packaging designers and marketing or product/brand managers. In small businesses, product labeling responsibilities are often managed by the business owner or manager, who has a long list of other responsibilities in addition to product labeling.

At first, the product labeling process can seem to be overwhelming, but it doesn’t need to be. Product labeling can easily be managed if you follow some simple strategies and guidelines. Here are some product labeling tips and tactics to consider to simplify the process, and to help you appeal to more customers to boost your business’ bottom line:

• Be sure to include the necessary information customers expect to find on product labeling: What information do your targeted consumers expect to find on your type of product’s label? Of course, this information will depend on your industry and the types of products you’re marketing. For instance, product labeling for office supplies will have less and different information than product labeling for over-the-counter (OTC) medicines that will be ingested by consumers. It may seem obvious that food and beverage product labeling will contain more information than the label on a roll of bubble wrap, but be sure to know the type of basic information that’s required for products in your specific industry. This brings us to the next guideline…

• Know and abide by the regulations and product labeling requirements for your specific industry. Lately, in the U.S., it seems that product labeling regulations and requirements are in the news just about every day, and regulations frequently change. Different types of products manufactured and distributed in the U.S. are regulated by various organizations. Consult government and industry-specific organizational resources to make sure you’re on top of the latest product labeling requirements and information for your industry. Here are some links you might find helpful: 

v  FDA product labeling requirements: The FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) regulates food products, drugs, cosmetics and medical equipment, and there are many product labeling requirements that are specific to each of these industries. The FDA website offers specific information about food labeling requirements and cosmetics labeling requirements.

v  FTC product labeling requirements: Generally, you can assume that products that are not regulated by the FDA are covered/regulated by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). The FTC’s mission is to “prevent business practices that are anticompetitive or deceptive or unfair to consumers…” and product labeling is one of the business practices the FTC monitors. You can search the FTC website for information about all different types of products, whether they’re regulated by the FTC or not, and find helpful information related to product labeling.

v  CPSC product labeling requirements: As its name implies, the main mission of the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) is to protect consumers. The CPSC regulates a wide range of products and manages compliance to several safety acts that cover different groups of products, including the Poison Prevention Packaging Act (PPPA), the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) and the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA). Find more information about requirements related to consumer safety that may affect your product’s labeling on the CPSC website.

v  State requirements can also affect product labeling: Be sure to consult your state’s business bureau to find out if there are state regulations that might affect your product’s labeling.

• Hire a designer with experience in packaging design and labeling, if you can. Packaging designers are trained to use their artistic ability and their business sense to grab the attention of customers. Working with a packaging designer is worth the investment, as professional, vibrant designs easily grab consumers’ attention.

Overall, when it comes to product packaging and labeling, remember that your ultimate goal is to attract the attention of more customers, while also meeting the specific product labeling requirements for your industry. At Stamar Packaging, we’d be happy to discuss your packaging and product labeling needs in more detail. Give us a call at 630-282-5400, or contact us through our website.

Getting An Early Start On The Holiday Season

Here at Stamar we understand how important it is to take the time to enjoy a celebration of a holiday party. As the holiday season rolls around, it's not uncommon for us to get wrapped up in the chaos of shopping, cooking, and hosting guests that sometimes having a work holiday party gets put on the back burner. That’s why we take a slightly different approach. We start the season with the holiday party, instead of ending the season with one! This year we chose Nov. 12 to hold the 2015 Stamar Packaging Holiday Party.

We thoroughly enjoy celebrating the season with our employees and kicking off the season with the party is about more than just having a good time. It's one way we like to show appreciation to all employees because they play an essential role in Stamar Packaging's success.  It also gives way for team bonding among departments and employees, and it reinforces our company’s mission of valuing the people who work together to build all of our successes.

Every employee is vital to the work we do each day, without them we couldn’t provide the high-quality products and services that our customers have come to expect from us.  We give thanks to the entire staff for their daily performance, the customers we serve, and the opportunities to come in the new year. We wish everyone a very Happy Holiday Season and thank you for keeping up with all things Stamar.

Products Pop With The Right POP Displays

There is a great deal of competition to draw attention to products. Point of Purchase (POP) displays are an ideal way to attract a customer to a product. A POP display can entice the customer to buy it.

Unfortunately, not all POP displays are effective. It takes experience, design skill, ingenuity, and quality materials to make an eye-pleasing and effective display. When choosing Stamar for POP design and assembly, you get all of the above abilities in one place!

As experts in packaging, we offer outstanding capabilities for creating a successful design and then build the display to highlight the product. The process begins with the design and then through our contract packaging services we gather the right materials and assemble a kit. This kit is then sent out to the clients or distribution centers for delivery to retail outlets.

Since this is a custom service, we can design and build displays of any shape or size. The one thing all displays have in common is Stamar Packaging’s quality design for an easy setup and eye-catching display.

As an example of our POP assembly services, we were contracted to design and build displays for a new line of hot cocoa mixes from Land O’Lakes.

The cocoa mixes are packaged in single-cup packets and sold individually. We created the design, built the packaging, and then assembled it all into a display kit. The final kits were sent to the distribution centers and then to supermarkets.  Next time you are in the market for a hot cocoa treat look for our display!

Stamar Packaging is responsible for many POP displays and offers a versatile contract packaging service that can handle all kinds of products. Contact us for more information or visit our website for a complete overview of our products and services.

One Way Pallet Wrap Can Grow Your Sales

Do you use pallet wrap? There may be an opportunity if you do to get your brand out to a wider audience.  

Stamar Packaging has been a packaging company for over 30 years. Over those 30 years, we have become a trusted name not only custom packaging but also, just in time warehousing, pallet wrap and branding merchandising for companies.  We're always looking for more opportunities to better serve our customers.   We have developed a keen skill in realizing a solution to a customer’s problem before they realize they have the problem.

Take our Just-In-Time warehousing, for instance, we had an instinct that our customers lacked storage space because they were ordering items consistently to refile their stockpile in their allotted space. When we introduced JIT storage, we were praised for helping them save time, money and most of all stress.

Now we have found an opportunity to further advertise for our customers on a product they already use. Introducing Printed pallet wrap with logo advertisement space.

There are several benefits to advertising your company on pallet wraps.  

First it will reach more eyes making them aware of you brand all through an item you already purchase.  It can include the logo, website, contact info and more.  

Furthermore, the pallet printed wrap can now give clear instructions to its handlers including messages like "Do Not Double Stack" "Fragile Handle with Care" or "USDA Organic". These warnings better help inform the handler and also ensures the safety of your products arriving at its final destination without damage.

Another threat it avoids is the tampering of products during storage or transit.  This security effort helps damaged shipments become readily identifiable as it can be easily detected if the skin has been broken or tampered with.

Lastly, the new skin printed wrapped pallet helps reduce misplaced, or shipment loss as all contact info is directly on it.

As you can see using advertisements or messages on your printed pallet wrap may be a great addition to your brand and overall shipment.

To get more information about Stamar's Printed pallet wrap check out our website or call us at 630.282.5400.  

As always to get the most up-to-date information about Stamar and the packaging industry follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Don't Underestimate the Power of Using Promotional Items to Boost Your Company’s Brand

In Marketing Your Business, Don’t Underestimate the Power of Using Promotional Items to Boost Your Company’s Brand

If you're a business owner or manager responsible for customer service, sales or marketing, you know about the importance of establishing a marketing plan for your business. An article on Inc.com says, “Marketing – whether advertising, public relations, promotional literature, etc. – is an investment in the growth of your business… Do your homework and create a smart marketing program.” We agree! Your marketing plan probably includes branding tactics to help boost your company’s brand.

You may be saying to yourself, “Branding is for those big companies… I run a small business…” But whatever the type and size of your business, it’s still important for you to promote your company’s brand. Branding always matters.

An article published by The Marketing Donut says, “If you’ve got a business, then you’ve got a brand. What you do with it is up to you… If you were to replace the word ‘branding’ with ‘reputation” it might get your attention. You care about your reputation, right?” Branding is all about the impressions you make. It can keep your company’s name at the top of your customers’ (and potential customers’) minds so that they come to you when they’re ready to buy.

Part of what we do at Stamar is provide our customers with promotional items to help them with their marketing and branding efforts. As we like to say, at Stamar we have promotional products covered. Half of our business is focused on promotional merchandise and packaging products. (BTW, in case you don’t know, the other half of our business is focused on corrugated.)

Ready to promote your company’s brand? You can learn more about the promotional products Stamar offers, and you can check out our flip-through catalog by visiting our website. Or give us a call at 877-782-6273 and we'd be happy to tell you more.

How Just-in-Time is Just What’s Needed for Saving Time and Money

These days, efficiency is a big buzzword in business, and for good reason; creating ways to maximize efficiency means major time- and cost-savings, and better business all around.

Within this umbrella term, just-in-time falls under the category of one of the best ways to maximize efficiency. It means sending and/or receiving something just when you need it—and not earlier—in order to save space, time, and money.

To that end, Stamar Packaging happily offers just-in-time (JIT) warehousing, which is a very large and popular aspect of our business.

So how does this work? Simply put, we can store your items for you until you need them. This allows you to free up your warehouse and manufacturing space, for items that make you money. Warehousing your excess products in our facilities for weeks or even months, and shipping them to you until when you are ready to use them.

By utilizing our JIT warehousing, you eliminate the costs and hassle associated with storing hundreds of different items, while freeing up and simplifying your inventory and storage system. This improves your cash flow and allows you to focus on the more important responsibilities of running a business.

You not only benefit from our space, but from the years of experience and expertise that we have, which are an instrumental and invaluable money-saving resource.

Finally, our fast, reliable, efficient delivery means you get your products as soon as you need them—and always on time.

In business, every second, inch, and dollar count. You can free up your clutter and boost your efficiency in one fell swoop with JIT warehousing. 

Stamar Celebrates the Blackhawks

For the third time in six years, Chicago hockey fans had a lot to celebrate when our Blackhawks once again won the Stanley Cup Championship. In Chicago, we work hard and play hard, and we're a very proud city. This was certainly evident as two million people joined in the festivities along the celebratory parade route.

At Stamar Packaging, we were no exception. We are proud members of the Chicago community—and huge Blackhawks fans!—and like any good, close-knit group, we all joined together to celebrate the big win.

In fact, we had an entire Blackhawks Day, dedicated to the team, and everyone here wore Blackhawks gear and joined in the fun. We're always emphasizing teamwork and comradery, and this extends to our sports. After all, we all work very hard together, making sure we produce the very best products and deliver the highest quality service. But like any good Chi-towner, we love to let down our hair and celebrate all the things that make our city great—including the Blackhawks.

After all, like our local sports, we are all part of a team dedicated to success, and we celebrate together as well as we work together. We can’t wait for the next Chicago win!

Introducing On-Demand Packaging®: The Right-Sized Box, Every Time

Today’s businesses have their work cut out for them. We're living in an instant-gratification world, and clients and consumers demand immediate results. From information to entertainment, insurance discounts to data, the theme of business has to be instantaneous.

Enter On-Demand Packaging®.

Yes, it’s as good as it sounds, and frankly, it’s revolutionary. We at Stamar have teamed up with Packsize to bring our customers their innovative packaging system that produces the right sized box every time, for every product.

The Packsize system prints boxes made-to-order, completely customized each and every time to fit the product they are containing. This means a box or corrugated design will fit your product while speeding up your entire packaging, shipping, and order fulfillment process. Combining WMS integration capabilities with unlimited design flexibility, packaging waste shrinks as your profits grow.

Let’s look at the specific benefits that come from this offering:

• Minimize void fill: Packaging is made to fit your product, with no wasted space
• Reduce box management: Eliminate the need to stock and manage multiple packaging options
• Increase throughput: Orders are turned around much faster, making room for more to be fulfilled
• Minimize damages: Made-to-fit means made-to-protect, which also means higher customer satisfaction rates
• Increase sustainability: Less material, less waste, smaller footprint, and a happier planet
• Reduce shipping costs: You’re only paying for the exact size you need, and have the ability to negotiate better rates

While enjoying this innovative packaging method that’s designed to increase efficiency and better optimize your supply chain, you’ll continue to benefit from the proven experience, history, and expertise of Stamar Packaging. Anyone who’s worked with us knows we are not a supplier—we are a packaging partner—and this partnership in success is only enhanced by our On-Demand Packaging® offering.

In this need-it-now, less-is-more world in which we’re living, On-Demand Packaging® can take your business to the next level; we’re happy to help bring you there.

The Many Benefits Of Working With Fulfillment Services

There are several benefits in partnering with fulfillment services for businesses & manufacturers.

Many challenges arise when fulfillments are conducted within the company.  The advantages of partnering with fulfillment services are vast and include better bottom lines, improved security, customer satisfaction, and lower inventory & distribution costs.  Not to mention using fulfillment services can save many headaches along the way.

When a company tries to carry out the duties of fulfillment services they begin to face several roadblocks. Disorganization of orders, over compensated inventory levels and the ongoing changes of delivery expectations are just a few of the factors that challenge orders.  Of course customer satisfaction to a business can often determine their success or even survival.  Because of the challenges and needs orders require it only makes sense to leave fulfillment services to the professionals.  Ultimately, leaving it to the experts allows for more productivity on your end, because it allows more focus to be centered on other areas like product development and growth.

Why is it so challenging for companies to complete orders?

One key finding from a study of 589 supply chain execs’ discussion was that many industries face the same problems including those in manufacturing, high-tech, and retail. Across the board, they have claimed that fulfillment orders have become more complicated because customer demands have heightened, and order processing is a narrow road.  Many companies usually have a fragmented multifaceted system in place.  For example, they may have a retail store, a customer care phone line, e-commerce and electronic data interchange services in place. With all these varying channels, it makes it difficult to have a systematic way of tracking all orders.

As one vice president of supply chain operations responded: “Currently, we do not have the ability to create one invoice for a customer that has placed multiple lines of shipping from different facilities. The adoption of new technologies could help give us a better picture of what types of orders are coming in, what our average size is by volume and length, and streamline our invoicing process.” To get a hold of all the data of orders and streamline, it is not cheap either. 

Other problems that occur when businesses don't have a partnership with a fulfillment service provider, is that many companies give unrealistic delivery times, store higher than needed inventory levels, and face high supply chain costs. Also, it is only becoming more rapidly complex to complete orders due to increasing globalization & high e-commerce demand.  All of these challenges threaten the bottom line.

Here’s’ where utilizing a professional fulfillment service can save the day.

1.    Integration & streamlining all orders.  Order complexity was another key challenge for supply chain professionals when managing order fulfillment. This difficulty in managing orders efficiently and accurately has been caused by a number of factors, including the explosion of order capture and fulfillment systems that many companies now operate.  Fulfillment services can integrate the different channels the orders are being placed into for a more efficient outcome and, as a result, track better inventory levels. Companies benefit because it can help lower costs, increase margins, and greatly improve customer service.

2.    They have the capabilities to forecast higher accuracy on delivery.  They are experts and they can determine with greater veracity when the end customer/retailer will receive their order. Naturally this will improve reliability and customer satisfaction that was one priority for those respondents in the study. “39 percent of supply chain executives named inaccurate order promise dates as a top inventory management challenge.”

3.    Better demand management by utilizing capabilities that establish a demand-driven organization with higher service levels and sales, more satisfied customers, and lower inventory and distribution costs.

4.    Continual monitoring.  Fulfillment services will continually monitor your orders and inventory- taking away this responsibility can lead to more productivity in other areas of the business like product development, marketing, and growth. 

To find out more about how Stamar Packaging can provide fulfillment services contact us at custserv@stamarpackaging.com or (630)282-5400.

The Benefits of Custom Corrugated Boxes

If there’s one instance in which a book can and should be judged by its cover, it’s with packaging. In fact, the packaging of a product is almost as important as the product itself. When a company ships an item to a customer, the box in which it’s contained is the first thing the customer sees.

Therefore, it’s a very good idea to consider custom boxes for your products, as the benefits are numerous and significant. They range from aesthetics to economics, and much in between. Here are just some of the many advantages to using custom boxes. 

Size and Pricing

Chances are, your goal is to run your business in the most efficient way possible. So why would you package a product in a box that’s too big? It doesn’t make sense, and yet so many people do it. Instead, shipping items in boxes custom-made to their appropriate size means the elimination of wasted space and shipping materials. Furthermore, as we’ve recently written about, the new dimensional weight pricing method being used by all major carriers is based on package size, with larger packages costing more, regardless of weight. Therefore, custom boxes mean you won’t be charged more than you should be.

Protection

What good is the delivery of a quality item, if it’s broken once it gets there? If you use a custom corrugated box, it’s specifically made to house what’s in it, taking into account the strength and durability requirements. This ensures your product reaches your customers safely every time.

Branding

Once again, before your package is ever opened by your customer, the box is being seen—and not just by the client, but by countless people along the way. The package is the first—and often best—way to get your brand out there, and it’s an opportunity for visibility that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Eco-Consciousness

Eliminating wasted space and materials is great for the bottom line, and it’s also great for the planet. Custom boxes that are efficient have a smaller environmental impact, and take up less space on vehicles, making the transport more efficient as well, which saves fuel. It’s a win/win!

Want to know more about our custom corrugated boxes? Visit our website and contact us anytime for more information. 

Happy Holidays, From Our Family To Yours

For those of us in the packaging industry, this is one of the busiest and most exciting times of the year. The holiday season is especially demanding for us, but once again, we’ve been more than up for the challenge.

That said, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank our loyal customers for their continued support, and wish you all a very happy holiday season.

We’d also like to take a look back at the year, which was a very successful one for Stamar Packaging. Of course, we couldn't have reached this success without our amazing team of dedicated professionals—truly the best in the business. We believe one of the many reasons our employees are so great is their commitment to teamwork and collaboration, both within our facilities, and outside of them.

One of many examples was our participation in the ROC Race in July; even during a torrential downpour, our team members kept smiles on their faces, while running and cheering each other on, and raising money for The Challenged Athletes Foundation.

Whether it’s a fun and charitable activity like the ROC Race, our spring and fall barbeques, or the everyday team- and morale-building, the Stamar Packaging family is dedicated to each other and to our clients.

So as another year comes to an end, we’d like to thank everyone for making it such a good one, while wishing all of our friends and family a very healthy, successful 2015!