Software partnership aims to tackle packaging overuse

Macfarlane Packaging has partnered with Lancaster University to design software intended to help customers reduce excess packaging by an average of 15%. 

The software was developed with backing from a UK Government Applied Research Collaborations grant and is the backbone of a new Packaging Minimiser service – available exclusively to Macfarlane customers.   

It uses an advanced algorithm to pinpoint exactly where businesses are shipping empty space and using too much packaging, or the wrong kind, in the process. This allows Macfarlane to recommend solutions that cut costs, material weight and carbon emissions in a single move, significantly reducing the amount of time required and enhancing accuracy.   

The service is expected to reshape how manufacturers, distributors, third party logistics companies and retailers with multiple packaging needs and high volume, complex packaging requirements ship their products.  

Results from Macfarlane’s Innovation Labs indicate that the company’s Packaging Minimiser service can reduce packaging material use by an average of 15%, cutting empty packaging space and costs.  

Dr Jamie Fairbrother, Lecturer in Operational Research (Optimisation) at Lancaster University who led the team that created the software, comments: “This software optimizes packaging options for dispatching orders which helps businesses reduce their packaging and courier costs, and in turn is good for the environment. Macfarlane Packaging’s extensive expertise in this field will enable them to maximize these benefits for their customers.”  

Rachel Fellows, Sales Director at Macfarlane Packaging, adds: “This is a gamechanger for customers shipping at scale. With our new Packaging Minimiser we can now assess their needs in days, not weeks — saving them money, cutting their carbon emissions and helping them to stay compliant with every relevant regulation.” 

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