Your Entire Packaging Ecosystem.
One Clear View.
Every SKU, spec, supplier, and shipment across your network — rationalized by PackageIQ and sourced nationally by Packaging Exchange.
How PackageIQ works
Three easy steps.
One smarter report.
From the data you already have to a clear, customized plan for containing packaging cost.
The true cost of packaging is hidden.
1 P. Tamminen, “How packaging choice affects costs in retail value chains,” Aalto University, 2010. 2 Globality, 2023 Research Insights for CFOs.
Why it stays hidden: the old way to find it.
A true total-cost equation used to mean a team of people, months of manual work, and results you could not fully trust. PackageIQ turns scattered data into one clear answer.
The old way
- Hire analysts or consultants to pull data by hand from every site
- Weeks of spreadsheet work: about 38% of analytics time goes to just preparing and cleaning data3
- Accuracy limited by messy data: poor data quality costs organizations $12.9M a year on average4
- A one-time snapshot that is out of date by the time it is finished
- Hard to justify the cost across many locations and thousands of SKUs
With 
- Send what you have, in whatever format it is in
- AI reads and organizes thousands of messy records, from invoices and POs to PDFs and ERP exports, in a fraction of the time
- Expert skill sets apply 30+ years of packaging, freight, and sourcing knowledge to every line
- Connected to your systems for ongoing visibility, not a one-time report
- Finds cost savings and sustainability gains in the same pass
What’s under the hood.
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Reads messy data at scale
Invoices, POs, spreadsheets, PDFs, and ERP exports in any shape. Supplier names, units, and SKUs are matched and normalized automatically.
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Expert skill sets, built in
Packaging engineering, freight and logistics, and sourcing and sustainability models, applied the same way to every location and every line.
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Connected to your systems
Secure connectors into ERP, warehouse, supplier, and carrier data keep the picture current, so it is a living view, not a one-time study.
3 Anaconda, State of Data Science 2022. 4 Gartner, Data Quality research, 2020.
Expert in the loop
Deep learning. Deep context.
Every PackageIQ model is wrapped in a layer of human expertise. We’ve invested in supply chain analysts with deep industry experience who help build the models, then guard them, checking every output for hallucinations and verifying accuracy across all of our services and products.
8 servicesEngineering & Design · Supply Chain Optimization · Logistics & Fulfillment · Kitting · Automation · Cold Chain · Damage Prevention · Sustainability
12 product categoriesCorrugated · Moving & Storage · Beverage · Shrink Film · Stretch Film · Void Fill · Tape · Bubble Wrap · Protective Foam · Rigid Containers · Flexible · Paperboard
Hallucination detection, built in.
AI can sound confident and still be wrong. Our analysts design the checks that catch it, so questionable answers are flagged and corrected before they ever reach your report.
Why human context pays off.
- Human context
- Fewer hallucinations
- Higher accuracy
- Better margins
- Stronger viability
- A better packaging process
5 Shuster et al., “Retrieval Augmentation Reduces Hallucination in Conversation,” Findings of EMNLP 2021 (human evaluation, 68.2% vs. 7.9%). 6 Magesh et al., Stanford, “Hallucination-Free? Assessing the Reliability of Leading AI Legal Research Tools.” 7 McKinsey, The state of AI in early 2024.
Three steps to your true total cost.
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01
Share the basics
Send us what you already have, like your packaging inventory and purchasing for the last 12 months. No new systems and no heavy lift for your team.
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02
We apply 30+ years of intelligence
PackageIQ runs your data through more than three decades of packaging industry knowledge plus our artificial intelligence, surfacing cost-containment opportunities that typical spend reports miss.
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03
Get a smarter report, fast
A customized report delivered in a short window, at high velocity, with clear and accurate recommendations your team can act on right away.
Every report is customized and backed by 30+ years of packaging experience, packed into one machine learning model built for packaging spend.
- Supply chain management
- Packaging engineering
- Sales & operations
- Distribution & logistics
Case studies
What PackageIQ finds, in the real world.
Case study
One plant. One location.
$326K a year, found.
A multi-billion-dollar manufacturer with plants across multiple locations asked us to start with just one. Every figure below comes from that single plant. PackageIQ turned a year of its scattered inventory and usage data into a total-cost model, and found value the invoice never showed.
Scope: 1 plant, 1 location. Every other site in the network is still untapped.
The headline find
PackageIQ found 84 dormant SKUs.
Of the 199 SKUs the plant was maintaining, 84 had zero usage during the entire reporting period, yet were still sitting on shelves, about $217K of stuck inventory. Under the managed program they’re cleared at the start and only the 115 active SKUs stay in rotation.
115 active84 dormant
The $217K of dormant stock is not included in the $326K or $468K figures above.
How we built it
- 1Executive alignmentLeadership agrees on the six categories of total cost of ownership.
- 2Data pullThe plant sends ending balances and 12 months of usage from its existing systems.
- 3PackageIQ analysisAnalysts use PackageIQ to organize, validate, and produce the total-cost model.
- 4Plant confirmationOutputs reviewed and confirmed with plant-level contacts on the ground.
- 5Findings & pricingFindings and formal pricing delivered to the executive and plant teams.
What PackageIQ found
- 199SKUs maintained across 5 warehouse zones, 143 duplicated across locations
- 84dormant SKUs with zero usage, about $217K of stuck stock
- ~8 wkof inventory on hand, against a 1-week managed target
- 25active SKUs with zero stock, creating stockout risk
- ~1,114procurement events a year absorbing planner time
- ~8,145sq ft of production floor holding packaging
Where the value comes from
Total potential recurring annual value$326,086
What changes day to day
- 199 SKUs to track and reorder115 active SKUs in rotation; 84 dormant items eliminated
- Reactive ordering as stock runs lowScheduled deliveries, 3 trucks a week
- 5 zones, 143 SKUs in multiple locationsOne consolidated receiving location
- ~8 weeks of inventory tying up capital~1 week of safety stock; capital redeployed
- 25 SKUs at zero stockVendor-managed; stockout exposure eliminated
- ~1,114 procurement events a yearA single PO; planner time freed
- Damage and obsolescence absorbed by the plantRisk transferred; pay for consumed stock only
Right-sizing delivery
Six delivery cadences tested against actual demand. Three trucks a week meets demand at 75% truckload use, without the premium of daily delivery.
- 451%Bi-weekly
- 226%Weekly
- 113%2x / week
- 75%3x / week
- 56%4x / week
- 45%Daily
Truckload utilization by cadence. Over 100% means demand isn’t covered.
Methodology. Values were calculated per SKU from the plant’s own inventory and usage data and Packaging Exchange quote pricing. Industry rates: obsolescence 33%, damage 2.5% (AIDC/MHI), carrying-cost handling 3.5%, cost of capital 7.5%, industrial floor space $10/sq ft. Figures are opportunities identified in the analysis of a single plant; client name withheld.
See what PackageIQ finds for youCase study · Food manufacturing
A multi-location food manufacturer.
$3.1M+ a year, plus $5.35M in cash.
For a large, multi-location food manufacturer, PackageIQ rolled every value driver into one framework: what the packaging costs to buy, to store, to move, and to finance. The result is a recurring savings picture plus a one-time cash release.
How the recurring savings build
The one-time working capital release (~$5.35M) is separate from the recurring total.
Where it comes from
- $1.8M+Product. 5%+ unit-cost savings from substrate and spec optimization, supplier benchmarking, and SKU consolidation
- $820KOperations. Inventory comes off the floor and into a managed program
- $508KWorking capital. Interest on cash freed at a 9.5% cost of capital
Two levers free up $5.35M
Film is excluded from the Net 60 benefit; it was already on Net 60 terms.
Operational savings at the main plant
- Warehousing$636K
- Shuttle freight$137K
- Receiving & labor$48K
CurrentWith Packaging ExchangeAnnual savings
What on-site discovery turned up
- TapeUp to an estimated 30% of tape wasted on the roll from mismatched tape, use, and machine, a direct, correctable loss.
- Stretch wrapMany gauges in use; right-size the spec and match it to the machine to cut cost and waste.
- FilmVendor material scientists optimize film specs and formulations and consolidate SKUs.
- CorrugatedDigital print removes plates and preprinted roll stock, so branding, seasonal art, and new designs need no minimum runs.
Methodology. Product savings estimated at 5%+ from a competitive sourcing exercise. Interest at a 9.5% cost of capital. Operational savings reflect the main plant; warehouse rate assumed at a market estimate. Figures are opportunities identified in the analysis; client name withheld.
Case study · Engineering
One more layer.
33% more on every truck.
A large, multi-location automotive manufacturer was shipping kits stacked three layers high. PackageIQ flagged the wasted space in the data, and our packaging engineers redesigned the pack: glue the foam directly to the tray bottom, drop a pad, and stack four layers per pallet instead of three.
- 90 → 120parts per kit, with one more layer in the same footprint
- ~33%more product moved per load, from spatial layout alone
- 25%fewer kit sets a year for the same product volume
- ~12%less total packaging material
No new supplier. No new material.Just the data showing where the space was going, and engineering that turned it into recurring freight savings on every truck.
Case study · Beverage
A national craft brewery.
$200K a year, out of the can supply.
A multi-location craft brewery operating in two U.S. regions and shipping to 20 states was buying cans the way most do: full truckloads, monthly price swings, and a supply chain stitched together vendor by vendor. PackageIQ modeled its true cost of can supply across 27 active SKUs and six cost categories.
Smaller orders, less stuck inventory
One full-truckload minimum was building years of can inventory at the supplier, enough to block rebranding on SKUs being phased out. Right-sized orders cut the minimum nearly in half.
Minimum order size per SKU run.
A warehouse 30 minutes away
Our regional warehouse sits about a 30-minute drive from the brewery’s main production facility, so just-in-time pallet delivery is simple and issues get fixed the same day. Our own drivers and warehouse staff, no third-party carriers.
Today vs. a managed program
- Order sizeOne MOQ: a full truckload, building years of excess stock that blocks rebrandingCustom MOQs per SKU, from half-truck runs and digital print; no obsolete build-up
- Pricing$0.10–$0.15 increases pushed through right before peak seasonTransparent model; every cost built into the analysis up front
- Price protectionMetal rates change monthly, passed through at the supplier’s discretionQuarterly changes tied to independent indexes (LME aluminum + MWP)
- DunnageReturned in full truckloads at the brewery’s expense; 8–12 weeks to creditFree pickup in any quantity; we sort and return it at our cost
- VendorsCans, decoration, freight, and dunnage each managed separatelyOne partner for cans plus corrugated, PakTech, kegs, and carton
* Annual cost reduction reflects ongoing-volume SKUs only and excludes SKUs being phased out, where the brewery already holds supplier inventory through 2028. Figures are opportunities identified in the analysis; client name withheld.