Packaging Lessons Part 6

Printed boxes.

A lot of manufacturers have their own custom printed boxes. Of course, we'd like that, but it does add to the cost of each box. Plus, there is the fee to step up the printing too. The benefit to having a printed box is for retailers to more easily identify our boxes. We could just put stickers all of the boxes like we do right now, but that looks pretty unprofessional. We decided that the easiest way for us to put our name on the boxes is with tape. We're getting custom printed tape that says SleepPhones on it. We can then close boxes with that, and it would be quite easy to recognize. We could even put a strip of tape across a few sides to make it that much easier to find our boxes. Here's a pic of our 2” standard packing tape!

Packaging Lessons Part 5

We have some sample boxes from the box manufacturer right now. We're still tweaking the exact final sizes and designs. The bigger boxes are 44-ECT instead of the standard 32-ECT. The 44-ECT cardboard is thicker, but not quite to the doublewall size.

For a pallet, we would need to wrap the boxes with plastic wrap or strap them with thick bands. I looked around and the commercial plastic wraps all come in boxes of 4, even on eBay. I'm not sure we will be needing to pack our own pallets for more than a few months. We only have one order right now that requires pallets. I really don't want to buy a wrap dispenser ($50) and 4 giant rolls of wraps ($70). I even considered using kitchen Saran wrap. But then I stumbled across U-Haul's moving supplies. It turns out that they have single tubes of plastic wrap pre-packaged on a dispenser. And if you ordered $25 worth of stuff, they deliver it for free! So I ordered an 18” tube and a 5” tube. I'm excited that I found a great low-cost, no commitment solution for wrapping boxes on a pallet!

Packaging Lessons Part 4

I've been buying boxes from Uline's box stocks. They aren't custom, but they have so many sizes that I can usually find something that fits well enough. They are fast, shipping from about 2 hours away. Unfortunately, they don't have anything close to what I would need to minimize wasted packaging per the requirements of our manufacturer's rep. So I have to start using custom-size boxes.

If you've never noticed before, on the bottom of every corrugated box, there is a circle stamp with the box manufacturer's information. I looked around at what other business use locally and found a box manufacturer about 45 minutes away. They have been quite responsive, and the sales representative that called on us has stopped by a few times with lots of samples to try out, per my specifications.

The problem is my specifications. There are lots of details in box design!

There are the inside dimensions for the products. That's pretty obvious. The typical 32-ECT corrugated cardboard measures about 1/8 inch in thickness. The outside dimensions are usually 1/4 inch bigger. The sides that have the flap doubled would make that side 5/8 inch bigger. But then depending on how they put the box together, there's usually a tab along one edge that would need to be glued down. That makes that corner an extra 1/8 inch in thickness. Add up all of the little extras to get the final inner carton outside dimensions (which is different from one corner to the next actually).

Packing the inner cartons into a master carton involves the same process of determining the inside dimensions and then figuring out the outside dimensions. But wait! If you make things exact, you'll never be able to get the inner cartons out. If they are packed in too tightly, you create no space for air to move around, and trying to get an inner carton out would involve fighting a vacuum. So you have to add an extra eighth or quarter inch around.

As explained in the previous post about pallets, the outside box dimension is important for fitting things on a pallet. I calculated backwards from 48” final outside dimensions to figure out what size the the 6-pack box would need to be. Once I have all of these dimensions, the box manufacturer can finally make the boxes!

Business Cards

We're working with a talented graphic designer, Tara Tallman, who is a friend of friends. (We live in a relatively small community.) She designed my latest business card! I had no idea how to put RunPhones and SleepPhones on the same card without it looking tacky. But she totally pulled it off! RunPhones are in the white background, signifying daytime, and the SleepPhones are on the black background, signifying nighttime. Curved line makes everything soft, like our headphones. Very cool. It's the one on the right side.


In comparison, the previous card design was made by yours truly (on the left). It's supposed to depict a door hangtag - like the "Do Not Disturb" signs. Get it? No? Oh. Okay.

Shake Up

We're very excited to be moving forward with a new public relations strategy and packaging designer!

It's been a while since we've been involved in direct conversations with our customers via Blogs, Facebook messages, and newsletters. The reason is because we had employed a PR firm and relied on them to help us with getting our message out. Over time, we figured out that we really need many of the tasks to be done internally or at least locally. We never met most of the people we conference called monthly because they are 5 hours away. Our new PR representative has worked in the field for many years and is a good friend.

And as for packaging, we're discovering talent we didn't know existed locally! Through networking with friends, we found out that Shannon Lake is a local powerhouse of packaging and business identity talent, having worked at firms in Pittsburgh and locally on many household names. Originally we contacted her for help with RunPhones packaging, but then figured that we might as well employ her for the SleepPhones packaging too.

From the business angle, firing the previous organization was a new experience for us. On the whole, it has gone well, and we have left the relationship amicably with the other party. Some business decisions involving people you like is difficult, but it's a little easier when emphasizing that it is just a business decision, not a judgment on the person(s).

Best New Sleep Aid, the Sheep of Your Dreams System, is Now Available

Do you have trouble sleeping at night? Do you find yourself tossing, turning, and wishing you could just drift off peacefully? Are you kept awake by distracting noises, such as your partner’s snoring or your roommate’s loud music?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, we want to encourage you to check out our Sheep of Your Dreams system, one of the best new sleep aids for anyone looking for a drug-free, all-natural solution to sleeping problems.

New Sleep Aid Kit

The Sheep of Your Dreams sleep aid system includes a pair of SleepPhones™, a soft and cuddly SleepPhones Sheep, the Dreams CD, and a lavender sachet. All of these components work together to promote relaxation, relieve stress, and lead you into a sound and restful sleep. Plus, there is no risk of harmful side effects.

We suggest plugging your SleepPhones™ into your iPod or MP3 player, stowing the music player into Sheep’s back pocket, and listening to the soothing tracks found on the Dreams CD. Don’t forget that your SleepPhones™ can also double as a sleeping mask in order to block out light and keep you sleeping soundly until your alarm goes off. Finally, keep the fragrant lavender sachet close by as you drift off to sleep. Lavender can help with sleep problems such as insomnia, anxiety, and nightmares.

Best Sleep Aid System

The Sheep of Your Dreams sleeping aid system can help you fall asleep faster, so you wake up feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day ahead. For those who suffer from sleeping problems and want to avoid turning to pharmaceuticals, this is one of the best sleep aids available. With the holiday season just around the corner, it makes a great gift as well!

Have you purchased the Sheep of Your Dreams sleeping aid system already? We would love to hear how this new sleep aid is making a difference in your life. Tell us about your experience below!

Packaging Lessons Part 3

Now that we have the final package design for this holiday season, we have to box it up. We have been reusing the various boxes we have around from the things that we buy. So our wholesale customers get their SleepPhones in Amazon boxes, Staples boxes, and a variety of other boxes. We'd try to rip off the excess stickers and cover up writing with SleepPhones stickers. It wasn't very professional looking, but at least we were reusing – one step up the sustainability chain from recycling. Our manufacturer's representative advised us to get some more consistent packaging.

Retailers like inner cartons and master cartons. Inner cartons are usually in 6-packs of 12-packs, depending on the size of the item and how they night fit on a shelf. They want to be able to take out a 6-pack, put it on the shelf, and not have to take any back to the stock room. For our medium size product, 6-packs and 12-packs (for 6 of two different colors) seem reasonable.

If the store is a chain, then they would want to take a master carton, open that up, and send out a 6-pack or a 12-pack to their individual stores. A master carton of 24 would be excessive packaging, while a master carton of 108 may be a bit too much.

Ideally, I would have liked to pack 72 into a master carton. I drew out the geometry for that and was quite excited. Unfortunately, when I calculated the final sizing, I figured out that it would be too big. FedEx and UPS both have calculations for what they consider an over-sized box. If the length + 2 (width+height) > 84 inches, then it's oversized. They charge a minimum of 30 pounds worth of stuff for oversized packages, regardless of how much the package actually weights. 72 SleepPhones would weigh about 16-18 pounds. So I nixed that design.

Then I looked into packages of 60 pieces. It would fit in just under the oversized box limit, and it would be easy to carry. It's a nice even number, so people could order 300 pieces or 600 pieces. I did all of the calculations for that, and the final 60-pack box size would be about 31” x 14” x 12”. I took that information and tried to stack it onto a pallet. If someone order 1200 pieces, I'd need to put the boxes on a pallet for easier unloading. (It wouldn't be easier loading since we don't have a forklift, but we could just put the boxes onto a pallet in a truck if necessary.) I tried every configuration I could, and the size was just so awkward for a pallet! A typical wooden pallet is 40” x 48” x 5” and weighs about 15 pounds. The 31” length wasted lots of space around the edges of the pallet. So I finally had to give up that design.

The next design is for 48 pieces in a master carton. I shortened the inner cartons to make it fit, but I finally got a 24” x 14” x 12” box. That meant I could have two 24” boxes side by side on a pallet, so there wouldn't be wasted space. And if I turned the box on its side, I could have 3 rows of that. 6 boxes per level, 4 levels total, for a total height of 61”. 24 boxes would be 1152 pieces per pallet, a pretty good number.

I draw up everything and was about to send it off to our adviser. Then I learned from a box expert that the corrugation on cardboard determines its strength. If the warehouse were to put another pallet on top of our pallet, it would need to withstand a lot of downward force. When I turned the box on its side to fit it onto a pallet, the corrugation would no longer be straight up and down. So...I had to swap the width and height to get it to work. I re-drew the boxes.