Packaging Management

Packaging

For finished products, if the data is specified on the packaging, it's possible to calculate :

packaging costs
tares, gross weight and type of packaging for each packaging level
dimensions by packaging level
claims, physico-chemical data and limited substances
materials

Cost

Two lists are available to manage your packaging costs:

The cost list for a simple calculation Click here for more information on costs.

In this list, indicate :

the price of the packaging in the "Value" column, and its unit in the "Unit" column
the "N-1" and "N+1" values, which refer respectively to costs in previous and subsequent years
"plants", to link the cost to a factory

Purchase price list in the case of advanced calculations

In this list, in addition to the data already present in the cost list, fill in :

costs linked to purchase volumes, year or supplier
cost hierarchy
cost start and end dates
geographical origin

Example: buying 100 boxes will not cost the same as buying 10,000 boxes.

Tare and gross weight

The packaging tare corresponds to the weight of the packaging. It is used to calculate the gross weight of finished products. The formula for gross weight is :

Gross weight = net weight + packaging weight

Type of packaging

The packaging type is a drop-down list in the Packaging Properties section, giving a short description of the packaging.

The drop-down list is initialized with GS1 values. It can be customized in beCPG administration Click here for more information.

NB: If the packaging is master on its level, this information is inherited on the finished product in the "Packaging" tab.

Size

The Size section of the Packaging Properties list allows you to enter the external length, width and depth.

These sizes are inherited by the finished product if the packaging is considered a master on its level.

If the Size section is not present, add the aspect on the Packaging entity model Click here for more information

Claim

The Packaging claim list indicates whether the packaging is :

cardboard containing more than 50% recycled fiber
compostable
SVHC-free
free of hazardous substances > 0.1% m/m
free of endocrine disruptors
mostly recyclable
fully recyclable

They spread to the finished product if the claim is added.

Packaging materials

The packaging materials formulation provides a list of packaging materials and their weights for each finished product. The drop-down list of materials is initialized with CITEO values. It can be customized in beCPG administration. Click here for more information.

There are two possible solutions for packaging:

The Material section, in the case of single-material packaging.

In the Material section of the packaging properties, you can enter the type of material used in the packaging.

Please note that the "Additional material" field is a free text field that will not be considered in the formulation.

If the material section is not present, add the aspect on the Packaging entity template. Click here for more information

Material list, in the case of multi-material packaging. The Material list must be added to the packaging entity model.

Formulation of the Materials list

On the finished product, add the Material list to the entity template, to view a summary of the materials used. Depending on use, it may also be important to add the list for semi-finished products and packaging kits.

If an entity (finished product, semi-finished product or kit) contains packaging with materials (in the Material section or list) then the entity's Material list is formulated taking into account per material :

its nature (name of material)
its quantity (based on the packaging tare weight or the quantity entered in the materials list, and the quantity of packaging used)

Percentage of Recycled materials management

If you use the materials list, it's possible to indicate the quantity of recycled material in using 2 lines:

Material X
Material X recycled

In advance, add the recycled plastic line to the administration's list of material values Click here

Example: if we consider a 10g plastic packaging which contains 30% recycled plastic

Packing of finished products

beCPG classifies product packaging into 3 levels.

Primary level

Generally referred to consumer sales unit (CSU) packaging. This may be the CSU itself, but more often it's a grouping of consumer units into a "commercial" batch (example: a carton pack of 12 plain yogurts). This level covers the minimum quantity of product that can be purchased by the customer. It will be eliminated by the final consumer.

Secondary level

This is a grouping of intermediate groupings of CSU for easy handling by distributor or point-of-sale operators (example: American case). The most common secondary levels are

cardboard
plastic seal
plastic crate
easy-open or flapped cardboard boxes
boxes or flow-packs (heat-shrink plastic film) for grouping during promotions
cardboard label
scotch tape
spacer

Tertiary level

This corresponds to logistics variant packaging. This packaging is used to transport large quantities of products to stores or manufacturers. The most commonly used tertiary levels are :

transport crates (american crates)
pallet
shrink film
pallet labels, etc.

Packaging list

Add packaging

To link packaging to a product, first click on the Packaging list.

if the packaging does not exist in beCPG, click on the arrow to the right and select "Packaging". Then enter the name (mandatory field), description and unit, and click on "Save".

if the package exists in beCPG, click on "Add" to select a package already created.

You can then navigate within each package by simply clicking on it.You can then access the properties and various lists linked to the packaging in question.

Register quantities

In the column "Qty" enter the quantity of packaging for a finished product.

If the finished product is:

a CSU, then quantities must be entered for 1 CSU. e.g. A Brick of Soup.
- Primary: 1p brick
- Secondary: 0.1 p cardboard = 1 cardboard /10 bricks ( 1 cardboard being composed of 10 bricks)
- Tertiary: 0.006 p Pallet = 1 pallet / ((1 cardboard /10 bricks) x 16 cardboard/pallet)
a cardboard, then quantities must be entered for one cardboard. eg: A carton of soup brick.
- Primary: 10p bricks (1 cardboard is composed of 10 bricks)
- Secondary: 1p cardboard
- Tertiary: 0.0625p Pallet = 1 pallet/ ( 1 cardboard x 16 cardboard/pallet)

In the "Unit" box, select the unit corresponding to the quantity previously chosen. This unit can be "Piece", "m", "kg" or "m²".

Master packaging on its level

In the "Packaging level" box, enter the packaging level: primary, secondary, tertiary, according to the description of the latter (described above).

Indicate in the "master" column the packaging with the largest dimensions. The finished product will then inherit information relating to this packaging (shape, type, name or dimensions). This avoids to enter the dimensions of each product, as the master package's dimensions are used.

example: Brick of soup

Primary: The soup brick
Secondary: The cardboard containing the soup bricks
Tertiary: The pallet

In the absence of a master packaging on a level, pack dimensions can be entered manually on the product's "Packaging" tab. example: Use of a plastic film which can have variable dimensions depending on the product.

If the dimensions of the CSU are greater than those of the packaging (e.g. chicken), add the "Dimensions on finished product" aspect to manually fill in the "Length/Width/Height" fields.

The Packaging Kit

Packaging kits group together a number of primary and/or secondary and/or tertiary packaging items. They are very useful in two cases:

Packaging grouping: packagings are common (qualitatively and quantitatively) to several products. example: there are 3 packaging kits for 1000 finished products.
Register palletizing data: palletizing is similar for several finished products. *example: pallet height, number of layers, number of cartons per layer.

Add a packaging kit

To link packaging kits to a product, first click on the packaging list.

If the packaging kit does not exist in beCPG, click on the arrow to the right and select "Packaging kit". Then enter the name of the kit (mandatory field), the description and the unit, and click on "Save".
If the packaging kit exists in beCPG, click on "Add" to select the packaging kit already created.

Packaging grouping kit

The packaging kit is the equivalent of the semi-finished product for packaging. First, add the packaging to the packaging kit, then a piece of this kit to all the finished products that use it.

Palletizing kit

The palletizing packaging kit enables palletizing data to be entered directly into the packaging kit. The finished product linked to this kit will inherit a wide range of information (number of products per package, number of packages on the pallet, etc.).

Add palletizing aspect on finished products template and packaging kit The palletization aspect lets you specify the number of packages per pallet, the number of layers per pallet and the number of packages per layer. It can be added by going to the Properties tab and clicking on "Add aspect", then selecting "Palletization". New properties are then available on the palletizing kit:
Complete information on palletizing packaging kit To complete them, click on "Edit" properties. You will then have access to the kit designation data (name, description, etc.).
Add packaging In the "Packaging" list, enter secondary and tertiary packaging.
Add the Palletizing Packaging Kit to the list of finished product packaging. The packaging kit is added to a product at the secondary level, with the unit "Product per package ". The value of the quantity in the list will be recognized on the product as the value of Products per package. All kit information will then be formulated on the product in the palletization information.