Packing process audit: 14 seconds of savings on each package
In October 2024, we entered a warehouse near Pruszcz Gdański that handled 483 orders a day. The owner wanted to buy a new machine for 87,000 PLN, but we proposed something else: precise measurement of every hand movement. The numbers speak for themselves – the problem was not a lack of equipment, but 14 seconds wasted on every carton.
Where does time leak during packing?
During our first visit to the warehouse, we spent 6 hours straight standing with a stopwatch at packing station number 4. It turned out that the employee had to walk 3.2 meters away from the table just to pick up a printed shipping label. During one shift, such a person covered almost 1.8 kilometers on foot completely unnecessarily. This is not just fatigue; it's a real labor cost that the company pays for without getting anything in return.
Analysis showed that the biggest problem was the location of auxiliary materials. Adhesive tape lay on the left side and filler on the right, which forced unnatural movements and arm crossing. We measured 12 different people working on two shifts. Each had their own way of working, which made any control over the order fulfillment time impossible. A lack of standard is the first step to chaos in costs.
At the Pomeranian Audit Center, we don't judge people, only numbers. Actual state, not wishful thinking – that's how we approach every assignment. We noticed that searching for the right carton size took an average of 11 seconds. With 483 packages a day, that gives over 1.5 hours of lost time every day. This is time during which no one is packing orders, yet the electricity in the warehouse is still on.
The warehouse worker covered 1.8 km a day just to pick up labels from a printer standing too far away.
Numbers speak for themselves: 14 seconds is a fortune
We introduced a simple change: we moved the label printers directly above the packing tables on special arms. The cost of purchasing the holders was exactly 342 PLN net per unit. The result? The label pickup time fell from 9 seconds to 1.5 seconds. The change seems cosmetic until we multiply it by the scale of the company's business. This is exactly what a specific plan is, zero fluff – you invest pennies in ergonomics and see the result in an Excel sheet.
The next step was reorganizing the carton shelf. We divided it into sections according to the most frequently ordered products. Instead of searching for a box, the worker now has them at eye level in 87% of cases. These small improvements shortened the packing time of one package by a total of 14.2 seconds. Over a month (21 working days), we recovered 28.4 hours of labor for one station for the client. That is almost four full day shifts.
Savings in black and white are visible only in the financial report. Thanks to these changes, the company was able to send 47 more packages a day with the same team, without taking overtime. With an average margin per order of 34 PLN, daily profit increased by 1,598 PLN. The return on investment in the audit and small equipment changes occurred as early as 6 working days after implementing our recommendations.
How we changed the table layout in 4 hours
Many companies are afraid of changes because they think an audit will stop their work for a week. We at the Pomeranian Audit Center work differently. We planned the reconstruction of the stations for a Saturday when the warehouse is not working anyway. A team of 3 fitters and one of our auditors rearranged 6 stations in exactly 4 hours and 20 minutes. On Monday morning, employees came to a completely new, optimized reality.
Each table received a permanent place for tape, bubble wrap, and cutters. Everything is now at hand, and the tabletops were raised by 4 cm, which reduced the back pain reported by 64% of the staff in an anonymous survey. Work comfort translates into a smaller number of packing errors. Before the audit, the client noted 3.2% incorrect shipments; after the changes, this indicator fell to 1.1% in the first month.
To avoid a return to old habits, we prepared a one-page pictorial instruction for each station. There are no long descriptions, just photos showing where everything belongs. This is the specific plan we always talk about. The employee doesn't have to think about where to put the wrap – they just know it. Thanks to this, the process is repeatable regardless of who is at the table.
Shipment errors fell from 3.2% to 1.1% simply thanks to tidying up the workplace.
Results after 3 months since the changes
Three months have passed since our recommendations were implemented in this warehouse. The average order packing time remains at 112 seconds (previously it was 126 seconds). The company handled 2,914 more packages in this time than in the same period a year earlier, without hiring a single additional person. This is pure profit that stays in the owner's pocket instead of leaking through process gaps.
The most interesting part is that employees are less tired. Previously, each of them had to fight with a mess and tape shortages. Now everything works like clockwork. Consumable costs also fell by 9.4%, because thanks to better table settings, employees use less packing tape – they no longer have to wrap cartons 'just in case' for fear of them falling apart.
If you feel that your warehouse works slowly, don't buy expensive machines right away. Start with a process audit. Often the solution to the problem lies in a bad table setting or too long a walk to the printer. At the Pomeranian Audit Center, we will show you the actual state and give you solutions that work immediately. The numbers speak for themselves – 14 seconds of savings is not a theory, it's money.
