The challenge
Online retail is subject to constant change: current trends and seasonal fluctuations influence the product and order structure in mail order. With the increasing variety of products and the varying order structure, the range of shipping cartons is also growing over time. Although the available packaging is becoming increasingly diverse, the degree of volume utilization is often decreasing. This is mainly because packaging is not adapted to the changed requirements, such as the dimensions and weight of the products.
The solution
The CASTN (Carton Set Optimization) optimization software offers a solution by determining a customer-specific trade-off between the number of cartons and the achieved volume utilization rate. The calculation is based on the item and order structure, the available packaging range, and use case-specific conditions. For customers, this results in an optimized shipping carton set including relevant key figures and visualizations.
Photos: Fraunhofer IML/Vinzenz Neugebauer
