Packaging optimization in the telecoms industry — Packhelp Pro Case Study

See how UK-based brand Raylo collaborated with Packhelp Pro to develop a cost-effective, sustainable and good-looking packaging design.

In early 2019 when Karl Gilbert, Richard Fulton, and Jinden Badesha established their brand Raylo, they already knew how essential packaging will be in order for their business to succeed.

It didn’t take long for them to realize that the right structural packaging design was the sweet spot between cost effectiveness and a killer customer impression, too. Since packaging would be needed for deliveries and returns, the founders were ready to explore all possibilities before the first box left the production line.

In this case study, you’ll learn about Raylo’s process of packaging development — from visualizing and testing, through optimization and then production.

Chapter #1 — Raylo’s business model

The Raylo founders are well-informed about the telecoms industry. They wanted to bring an affordable and sustainable solution to a massive industry that’s based on constantly updating to the latest model. That’s how the three entrepreneurs came up with Raylo, a startup that promises to bring an iPhone at an affordable price, and keep it circulating in a closed-off system.

It works like this:

Raylo operates on a subscription model basis. Each customer receives:

• a new sim-free iPhone
• a 100% compostable Pela case
• a screen protector

All of which is fully insured.

Customers can return their old iPhones, and these are transferred to people from lower-income communities. This is ultimately how Raylo limits the number of new phones circulating in the market.

According to Raylo’s COO Nuno Brito e Cunha, for every 10 customers who choose Raylo’s subscription model, a whole kilo of plastic is kept out of landfill.

The company also invested in local customer service. Unlike other phone providers that outsource their customer service to offshore call centres, Raylo created a customer service centre in the UK with local people that work exclusively for the brand to offer the best possible service.

Chapter #2 — Sustainability’s impact on branding

The Raylo subscription box model also put a spotlight on the sustainability of mobile phones.

As a subscriber, you have the option to upgrade to a new iPhone or renew the contract with the same phone. This was done with the idea of keeping mobile phones in circulation for the duration of their useful life. Once you upgrade to a new phone, you’ll be able to return your old iPhone to Raylo in the provided Raylo Mailer Box. Old phones are then offered to people in lower-income communities who are not in the need of newer mobile phone models, for lower price.

This sustainability mission needed to be reflected in the packaging design too.

Most of the packaging used in telecoms is based on plastic — even the industry leader Apple does so. The inserts used in Apple’s boxes are made of plastic, and the packaging is often reinforced with a polymer layer. Apple nails the artwork part thanks to the application of minimalism and elegance — however, the sustainable element is all but non-existing.

Chapter #3 — Raylo artwork and brand design

When it came to the brand design, the founders opted for two signature colors; Royal Blue and Salmon Pink. These two colors are showcased in a design that wraps around their box. The mellow tone of the Salmon Pink works in a contrast with deep, sharp Royal Blue.

When it comes to the aesthetics, Raylo is bold, and uses eye-catching typography and simple artwork. This is mimicked on the brand’s boxes.

With all this background, we can now move to the part concerning Raylo’s packaging.

Chapter #4 — Raylo connects with Packhelp Pro

During its earliest stages, Raylo came to Packhelp to collaborate in creating packaging design that was secure, cost-effective, sustainable, and elegant.

As the team explains;

“Packaging was not just a box, it was more than that. As an online-only brand, packaging becomes the first form of physical contact customers have with us. It has to be something great”.

Packhelp and Raylo worked together to prototype a solution that was based on two principles. Firstly, the box had to efficiently store a number of items. Secondly, it needed to comply with the sustainable ideology of Raylo.

The first packaging that was requested by Raylo was a narrow box measuring 110.0 x 180.0 x 100.0 mm.

“We wanted everything to be in layers so that each item in the box can be appreciated. After opening the box, it all starts with a thank you note from Raylo, then starting off with the screen protector, case, and so on. Because of this box, our customers got an experience with Raylo that went beyond our online shop”.

The dimensions used for the box design were perfect for the brand’s purposes. It was carefully sized to fit all of the items in a perfectly stacked manner, removing excess space to avoid any internal movement during shipping.

Following this initial idea, in April 2019, Raylo opted for beta tests of their packaging design, prior to the official launch planned for September.

A second prototype was made of corrugated cardboard, with three thick layers, and a lamination on top of the external cardboard layer. The items were stacked inside the box, with the iPhone proudly holding the top position.

This isn’t, however, the end of the story.

Chapter #5 Re-designing and packaging cost optimization process

This initial packaging design didn’t pass the tests.

While the box provided sufficient protection for the items inside, the dimensions were not ideal for the triple-layer of corrugated cardboard. Three walls were too thick and created issues with folding the boxes. Manual tests also proved that in some cases, this thickness led to cracks in the laminated layer.

That being said, there was another player at the table — cost effectiveness. In the first round of design, Raylo’s box was what in industry terms is called “over-packaged”, meaning there was far more material than actually needed, leading to excess waste in materials. Therefore, the initial design had to go through a cost-cutting process.

At this moment, Packhelp Pro team was tasked with restructuring the design. In order to provide an optimized packaging solution for Raylo, there were different aspects to be analyzed. In this part of the supply chain, the external packaging needed to both provide the ideal level of protection and be aesthetically pleasing.

After scrutinizing every bit of the design, the Packhelp Pro team came up with a different solution. The most important issue to solve was the thickness of the walls. Testing revealed that the walls could be reduced to two layers of cardboard of a different thickness, and a layer of laminated paper on top. This solution kept the vibrant artwork on top, and helped to increase the flexibility of the whole packaging design.

The cardboard insert was changed too. Items were moved under the iPhone as before, but the shape of the insert was slightly adjusted to the new space inside.

The switch of materials helped to reduce the costs by 11% in comparison with the initial design. And that was only the cost of packaging itself. More costs decreased further down the supply chain as a result.

That wasn’t the only benefit.

By using a different thickness, the Packhelp Pro team achieved a significant drop in glue consumption (25%), which complied with Raylo’s eco mission. On top of that comes the material itself — recyclable, corrugated cardboard.

Chapter #6 Final learnings

When it comes to custom packaging design, the key is to embrace the testing, visualizing and prototyping in order to reveal potential flaws and issues before production starts.

Raylo started working on its packaging design months before the product launched. This period allowed Raylo to collaborate with Packhelp Pro and nail down every detail.

Many companies commit to bigger orders without prior pilot runs. This is a dangerous move. Designing packaging with experts helps to avoid unnecessary costs. Without a simple pilot run, you could be ordering thousands of units that aren’t engineered correctly.

This case study is also a great way to understand what influences the costs of certain packaging design. Through changes applied to materials and the structural design, you can achieve significant savings.

If you are currently facing similar issues with your packaging, or are about to launch a product like Raylo, visit the Packhelp Pro website and get in touch with our team.

Click here to read more about Packhelp Pro.

You can also directly go to our quote request form — describe your needs there and we will be in touch soon.

Click here to fill-in the packaging quote form.

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Packhelp Pro can help you with your packaging design, packaging supply chain & more:

• Packaging engineering — the process of redefining and optimizing a current packaging solution in order to find possible improvements
• Packaging cost optimization — with a vast network of thousands of vendors, Packhelp finds you the best possible manufacturer
• Packaging visualization & prototyping — our experienced team sketches models and prepares physical prototypes prior to production
• End-to-end ownership — from concept development to long-term production plans, Packhelp covers your whole packaging supply chain
• Packaging material switch — finding better, more sustainable alternatives to your current packaging

We operate in the entire EU, the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Packaging optimization in the telecoms industry — Packhelp Pro Case Study was originally published in Packhelp on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The coronavirus outbreak has already impacted many industries around the world. What is the situation like for packaging industry and supply chains? Here’s a few learnings I have found so far.

The crisis resulting from the outbreak of the coronavirus changes on a day-to-day basis. While doing my research on the topic of COVID-19, I have noticed that:

• there is confusion as to several “myths” and theories concerning the coronavirus and its impact on packaging
• many business owners are terrified of the impact of COVID-19 will have on the economy and supply chain

Note: I am not giving any medical recommendations in this article. While I quoted a few medical sources, they were only used to back up some of the statements in the article. At the same time, I encourage you to study WHO’s recommendations, as well as monitor the information provided by your local authorities.

How coronavirus influences the packaging supply chains?

In order to answer this question, let me firstly analyze the complexity of the situation.

Most Chinese manufacturers halted their production for at least several weeks, right after the outbreak. This caused a huge distraction already. However, it’s only the beginning. While the Chinese companies are getting back on their feet, the several weeks of quarantine have already hit the global economy hard. Freights are delayed, and so are the final deliveries to the customers. Furthermore, the current crisis causes material shortages, as well as human resources issues. Some plants lack workers to operate machines, and therefore the efficiency is much lower.

However, the biggest issue now is that the coronavirus has heavily impacted the European markets, along with the U.S. The announced lockdowns and border controls will cause further delays in deliveries from China, and furthermore — many packaging manufacturers from China stopped their production for weeks, thus causing a huge disruption in the global supply chains. It is now the case of making up for the time lost, and only then the producers will slowly get back to their standard production deadlines.

Due to these reduced capabilities, it could be months before the situation is back to normal. It’s well put by Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president for supply chain and customs policy.

“There are still a lot of unknowns to fully determine the impact of the coronavirus on the supply chain. As factories in China continue to come back online, products are now flowing again. But there are still issues affecting cargo movement, including the availability of truck drivers to move cargo to Chinese ports. Retailers are working with both their suppliers and transportation providers to find paths forward to minimize disruption.”

What to do in the times of such uncertainty?

• Ordering early is better as production and delivery time will be longer. Although China seems to be getting back on its feet, the virus will further influence the European logistics chains. You should expect longer delivery times and that’s why ordering locally will be your best option now.
• City lockdowns. Many countries announced temporary lockdowns of major cities, as well as more strict rules of crossing the borders for foreigners. This will disrupt the delivery chains and is likely to cause shortages too.
• Consider switching to local partners. That refers to all the elements included in your supply chain. While switching to European providers might be more costly, it will likely help to keep your business less vulnerable. It’s going to be easier to deliver products within Europe, rather than shipping from farther countries.
• Monitor the situation in your key markets. Be sure to regularly check information concerning your key markets and cities. Be on alert, and sure to react quickly to changes.
• Think about stocking your products. It might be better to order bigger quantities now, simply because it’s a natural way to secure your business from a sudden shortage of packaging.
• Find alternative sales channels. Try looking for new online platforms, where people might be looking for your product.

What’s going to be the impact of COVID-19 on e-commerce sales?

Honestly, nobody knows.

Given the stock market numbers plummeting, it is likely that the crisis will leave many businesses seriously hit, long after the epidemic’s ended. According to Bloomberg, the U.S. labor market has already witnessed a recession, with more than 221,000 claims for unemployment insurance. This, however, is a number from the first week of March. Experts estimate that the total claims in the U.S. might spike up to 2 million. In comparison, the financial crisis in 2009, the claims reach 669,000. On the one hand, the future isn’t bright.

Due to the way this virus spreads (via respiratory droplets), it is likely that the retail sector will suffer the most. Social distancing, city lockdowns and authorities restricting the opening hours for many businesses, they all heavily influenced the retail sector’s numbers.

However, E-commerce sales are actually expected to rise. And that constitutes an opportunity for many retail brands. In a recent study, 38% US retailers expect that their e-commerce business will grow due to the outbreak. However, that might be a short-term outcome. If the crisis will last for months, then the global economy will likely fall into recession, thus decreasing global sales as a whole.

What can we expect in long-term for e-commerce then?

Various experts claim that the customer preferences and habits will most likely change after the epidemic, and we’ve seen happen before. In an article published on Divante, the author mentioned that e-commerce giants — Alibaba and JD.com — grew exponentially during the SARS outbreak back in 2003.

The time of self-isolation creates an opportunity for many new businesses to emerge, related to e-commerce. First of all, many companies will launch their online versions and therefore boost their presence outside of the retail world. The most visible changes should be noticed in eGroceries, among food delivery companies, but also retail products like cosmetics or apparel.

There’s also the expected changes to consumer behavior that will surely play a significant role. Customers will accept longer delivery if the service will be of high quality. That will also include the more rapid growth of alternatives to courier delivery services, a kind of pick & go ideas. Finally, retail itself will change, and ideas such as Amazon Go are going to get more traction than before the COVID-19 outbreak.

Can you deliver products to cities and countries under a lockdown?

Before I answer this question, let’s clear something out.

The lockdowns were implemented as a tool that’s supposed to reduce the virus spreading. This process is dependent on the physical contacts between people. Limiting those can lead to a drop in the number of new active cases of the virus. This is why WHO strongly believes in social distancing and instructs people to remain in self-isolation for the next weeks. The dropping numbers reported in China serve here as a proof of concept — isolation really works if taken seriously.

Since the packages are not likely to carry the COVID-19 virus for more than 24 hrs (more about it below), it is rather unlikely that deliveries in European countries under lockdown will be completely halted. However, it is best to expect some delays, as it might take more time for freights to reach courier facilities.

How can an online business prepare for this?

• Businesses need to be transparent, that’s for sure. Informing customers about any delays and setbacks builds trust.
• Stocking up will help keep the deliveries going without any unnecessary delays, which are not related to courier partners.
• Prepare a special customer journey for those, whose packages were delayed. Explain the situation and offer them something special to make up for the inconvenience.
• Prepare a more efficient cost strategy. You can increase the prices, which might cost you a few customers, but it will increase the AOV (if it’s an applicable metric for your business) and help you cover unexpected costs related to deliveries.

Can coronavirus be contracted via a package?

The reason why coronavirus spreads so fast is because it’s transmitted by respiratory droplets while coughing or sneezing. This was first confirmed by Chinese experts, and now is the official standpoint of WHO and CDC.

While nobody knows the temperatures that kill the virus yet, and it’s likely that it survives summer heat. A recent study conducted in Italy on more than 300 casualties indicated that the virus attacked, with severe symptoms, people with existing health issues — diabetes and hypertension are among the most common.

There is, however, a lot of confusion as to whether the coronavirus can be contracted by touching a delivered package.

Let’s analyze what various sources indicate.

According to The Journal of Hospital Infection, this type of coronavirus can survive on surfaces up to 9 days, which is long in comparison with a regular flu virus lasting up to 48 hours. The study indicates, that the virus can be inactivated with household disinfectant formulations. This suggests that disinfecting a package upon arrival helps to minimize the risk of infecting.

It is also explained by Elizabeth McGraw, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics at Pennsylvania State University, in an interview with Business Insider:

“If we had transmission via packages we would have seen immediate global spread out of China early in the outbreak, we did not see that and therefore I think the risk is incredibly low.”

According to McGraw, the virus can survive in higher humidity, moderate temperatures, and on non-porous surfaces. Deliveries are kept away from higher humidity as it might destroy the package. Moreover, many packaging materials — like corrugated cardboard — are far from non-porous surfaces. A higher risk is related to plastic and metal surfaces.

This is also indicated by The New England Journal of Medicine.

In a study of SARS-COV-2, the name of the new virus, experts measured how long the infectious titer remained on various surfaces — the materials used for comparison were copper, cardboard, stainless steel and plastic (aerosols were also used, but I will leave this one out of the discussion in relation to packaging). The conclusion was that the virus titer lasted no longer than 24 hours on cardboard, and up to 48 hours on plastic and stainless steel.

Therefore, in order to further minimize the possible danger of contraction, sanitize the package at the moment of arrival.

I hope that this slightly eases the minds of people afraid of buying from Zalando or other e-commerce brands.

Few words to sum up

These are just some of the things that are related to packaging supply chains and e-commerce, all in the shade of COVID-19 epidemic.

In this form, as of 25th of March, I tried to gather various sources, so that my comments are backed up by actual data and scientific research. Our team at Packhelp will be updating this post as the outbreak evolves. That way, we will help you stay on top of the news regarding the packaging industry and COVID-19.

Take care & stay at home.

Story written by Kajetan Wyrzykowski, Head of Content at Packhelp.

The influence of COVID-19 on packaging supply chain was originally published in Packhelp on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.