Extra hands at the packing station: how to train someone in an hour
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
6 min reading time
Organize your packing station efficiently, write work instructions on an A4 sheet, and order consumables per hundred packages. This way, you can quickly train extra staff for the autumn peak.
In October, the rhythm of your workday changes. Where in the summer you dispatched twenty packages a day, during the weeks around the autumn sales, it can easily become sixty. Then you bring someone in: a family member, a student, a temporary worker. And then it turns out that the knowledge is in your head and nowhere else. Which box for which order, how much tape, what if something is broken — you explain it three times and end up packing it yourself again.
It doesn't have to be like that. With half a day of preparation, you can train someone in an hour, and they can then work independently. Below is how you approach this, with a work instruction that fits on one A4 sheet.
Set up the station before you train someone
A new packer is primarily busy searching. Every second you save from that counts sixty times a day. Therefore, set up the station in order of operation: order and item on the left, boxes and filling in the middle, tape and label on the right, waste bin underneath.
Give each item one fixed place and label that place. Stack boxes by size, not mixed up. Keep consumables in duplicate: one in use, one as a reserve within reach. An empty tape roll can otherwise mean three minutes of searching.
If you work with fixed box sizes, it helps to have an example package ready for each size: this product goes in this box. That's quicker to explain than any diagram.
The work instruction on one A4 sheet
Write down the steps in the order they occur and hang the sheet at eye level at the station. Something like this:
Take the packing slip and place the items next to it. Count them and check them off.
Briefly check each item for damage. In doubt? Put aside, do not pack.
Choose the box: the item must fit with room for filling on all sides.
Place filling on the bottom, then the item, then filling along the sides.
Gently shake the box. If you hear or feel movement, add more filling.
Tape the box using the H-method: one strip over the seam, then both short seams.
Place the label on the largest flat surface, not over a seam or edge.
Place the order on the "ready" stack and put the packing slip in the bin.
Eight steps are enough. If it becomes twelve, no one will read them.
Four mistakes almost every new packer makes
A box that is too large. Space means movement, and movement means damage. Too much space also costs more filling and sometimes a higher shipping rate.
Too little tape. One strip over the center seam won't hold if the box ends up at the bottom of a roll container. Hence the H-method from step 6.
The label over a seam. When opening the box, the barcode tears, which is problematic for returns.
Filling only on top. Those who work hastily cram some extra filling on top. The bottom and sides are precisely where impacts occur.
Review these four points twice in the first hour. After that, someone corrects themselves.
What does 100 packages consume?
For your order, it helps to estimate your consumption per hundred packages instead of per week. For an average box, count on approximately 1 to 1.5 meters of tape per package. A roll of KINZO packaging tape 50 meters x 48 mm (€3.00) is then good for roughly 35 to 50 packages.
Two people sharing one tape dispenser spend half the day waiting for each other. Count on one dispenser and one knife per person. A Kinzo tape dispenser with 2 rolls (€9.95) is a cheap second workstation, and a set of 8 utility knives (€4.95) is enough for the entire season. Loose replacement blades, 3 pieces (€1.95) should be in the drawer.
Agree on two rules for knives: the blade goes back into the housing after each cut, and you cut away from your body. A dull blade causes more accidents than a sharp blade, so replace it as soon as someone has to apply force.
In the first week, take five packages per day as a sample: open them, check if the filling is correct and if the label is properly placed. This takes ten minutes and prevents an error from repeating a hundred times.
If you ship valuable items, a security seal with VOID sticker, 60 pieces (€9.95) is a cheap extra step: you can see afterwards if a box has been opened en route. Make applying this a fixed step in the instructions, otherwise it will only happen on quiet days.
How to start this week
Tidy up the station and give each item a fixed, labeled place.
Write the eight steps on one A4 sheet and hang it at eye level.
Prepare an example package for each box size.
Order consumables for the entire peak, not for the coming week.
On day one, pack ten packages together, then you only supervise.
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