A central nervous system for right-sized packaging

Had a chance to catch up the other day with Rod Gallaway. As CEO of Packsize, he’s in the thick of the push to right size packages.

Now, it wasn’t just a random call. Packsize had just sent along a release about the introduction of the PackNet Cloud platform.

Gallaway calls it “the first and only cloud-enabled solution” to manage machines that right size packaging. He talks about using the cloud to optimize packaging operations, reduce expenses, enhance customer satisfaction and decrease carbon footprint.

(Sounds interesting, but aren’t those claims a bit outsized?)

He was asked directly if a cloud platform for right-size packaging machines is a bit of overkill. That was all Gallaway needed to sketch out the big picture and drill down to why the cloud is so important going forward. And he did it without hesitation. Buckle up.

For Gallaway (and most others for that matter), the right-size packaging story (with or without the cloud) starts with packages that are just plain too big for what’s inside them. That’s a waste of packaging materials and space on trucks.

Gallaway says right sizing all packages would eliminate 40% of the air on trucks today. That, in turn, would improve package density on trucks and get more shipped on fewer trucks, making the supply chain more sustainable. Not a bad start.

And then he hit this point. “There’s only a finite amount of truck capacity out there. And under current packaging conditions, when e-commerce accounts for 25% of retail there won’t be enough trucks to ship all those packages,” says Gallaway. Seriously?

“Yes, there won’t be enough truck capacity without right-sized packaging,” reiterates Gallaway. That’s worth a pause.

But while that’s a great premise for the need of right-sized packages, it hardly makes the case for a cloud platform. Gallaway again took up the challenge.

He explains that these machines don’t operate independently whether it’s one or a bank of 50.

For maximum effectiveness, a right-sized packaging machine receives the dimensions of what’s going in the package and determines the build size for the shipping box. That data is then sent to any of several software systems including enterprise resource planning, warehouse management systems, warehouse execution systems and transportation management systems. And the data is shared internally and externally with carriers.

At the same time, the packaging machine has to communicate with dunnage machines and labelers on the front end. And on the outbound side, with materials handling equipment from conveyors and sorters to autonomous mobile robots to get packages to the shipping dock.

There you have it, the wind up and the pitch. Suddenly, the need for a cloud platform is rather self-evident.

And that’s when Gallaway came in with the best line of the day. The cloud platform is the central nervous system for right-sized packaging machines. Central nervous system. What’s not to like about that?

He was asked if he came up with it. With a giant smile, he said emphatically “no.” He credits his wife Mary, an ICU nurse. Gallaway says as soon as she used the words, it was clear they would stick.

And not just because it’s catchy. But because “the central nervous system” makes the case so completely that a cloud platform is not outsized for the future success of right-sized packaging.