5 ways to get the best from your packing station
- , by Jo Hilton
- 6 min reading time
This article is all about how to pack boxes efficiently and making your packing station the best version of itself.
There are a few ways to pack boxes efficiently. Choosing the right box being one. Selecting the right packaging materials to go with that box being another. But once you’ve done both these things correctly—and let’s face it, there are enough articles about how to do so, read two of ours here and here—you might think your work is all but done. The bad news is, it’s not.
The good news is, we’re here to tell you about a way in which order fulfilment can be streamlined and overall efficiency improved to the max: the packing station – that last destination within your company that your product is subject to before it waves goodbye and wings its way to its new home.
What is a Packing Station anyway?
In the simplest terms, a packing station is the designated space given over to where orders are packaged ready for posting. Packing stations vary enormously and can be anything from the corner of a desk, to a dining room table, an area of a warehouse or indeed, an entire warehouse filled to the brim with automated machinery and sophisticated label and wrapping machines.
The Packing Station: an integral component of e-commerce success
Any shrewd e-commerce business will consider its packing station an integral component of its success, even if it seems as though the hard work—gaining consumer attention, convincing them to buy a product, producing beautifully branded boxing—has been done and dusted. The thing is, it’s not enough to sell a product and send off an order. The way in which that order is prepared for despatch as part of warehouse operation also deserves attention. It might be considered the least interesting part of order fulfilment, but it's still integral to business strategy.
Everything needs an overhaul occasionally and packing stations are no exception. It pays dividends for a company to regularly analyse how each part of their business is working in order to maximise both profit margins and employee satisfaction. And that includes packing stations. A well-designed packing station increases employees’ productivity and leads to fewer errors, lower shipping costs, employee efficiency and contentment and ultimately, that all important customer satisfaction.
Learn from the best – how are others doing it?
Amazon, that e-commerce behemoth, has re-defined the humble packing station to meet the scale and breadth of its enterprise. That’s no mean feat considering the sheer quantity and variety of the products it promises to deliver to its customers, many of those in under 24 hours. Amazon is a company known for using technology as the bedrock for everything it does in order to facilitate its goals, but experience proved that a human element is just as vital and Amazon was happy to admit it.
Initially, the online giant aimed at making its packing stations wholly automated. This worked incredibly well for books, but when it came to the more oddly shaped items, things started to go pear-shaped. Consequently, Amazon had a re-think and acknowledged that it needed to “keep the humans for high-value, complex work and use machines to support those tasks.” Now, this is exactly what Amazon does and it does it so well that it's worth looking at in a bit more detail.
Firstly, Amazon fulfilment centres have at least 100 dedicated packing stations allowing for flexibility during seasonal variances. Secondly, human packers scan orders and, aided by specialist software, they can see via display monitors exactly which packaging option is best for a particular order. Void fill materials are close at hand, as are machines programmed to automatically dispense the exact length of tape needed. It takes seconds to package an item and seconds to send it on to another team who scan, label, and manifest the parcel, ensuring it’s trackable and ready for delivery.
Ultimately, each Amazon package is weighed. If there’s a discrepancy between the product’s recorded weight and its packaged weight, that all-important human will carry out a manual check.
Amazon's fulfilment system is practically an art form as explored here. It’s thanks to continuous analysis, a philosophy of improvement, and lean manufacturing principles. But there’s no reason why any e-commerce business—regardless of size—can’t apply a few of Amazon's principles to improve their own packing station.
The 5 key ways to ensure an optimal packing station
1. Make sure the right products get to the right station at the right time
Orders need to arrive at the packing station complete and confirmed as ready to ship. If items are missing or the delivery address is incorrect, valuable packing time is lost. Packers shouldn’t have to figure out problems—they need to focus on packing efficiently.
Systems like colour-coded bins or clear packing lists can eliminate confusion. A packer's role should be to pack economically, appropriately, and swiftly.
2. Dedicate enough space to your packing station
The packing station should be proportionate to the number of employees using it and the types of products being handled. For larger or heavier items, ensure there’s space and tools like hoists or lifts.
Plan for seasonal peaks. Can you accommodate extra staff? Can your station scale to meet demand without sacrificing speed?
3. Design your packing station ergonomically and consider automation
Everything should be within easy reach. Keep frequently used items in prominent positions. Consistency in layout means packers don’t have to think—just act.
For void fill, consider automated machines like programmable paper dispensers. They cut waste, improve speed, and reduce repetitive strain.
4. Pick the correct packaging
Keep it simple. Use crash lock boxes or peel and seal mailers that fit your products perfectly—no extra tape or void fill needed.
Also, reconsider traditional tape guns. Water activated tape machines provide stronger seals, improve security, and are more eco-friendly.
5. Train your packers and let your packers train you
Proper training is essential. Even experienced packers need to understand your brand’s unique fulfilment standards.
Equally important: listen to your packers. They’ll know what slows things down and where problems arise. As Amazon’s Marc Onetto says, "You have to ask people to use their brains and their imaginations to solve problems."
Encourage feedback and innovation from those working hands-on with your products daily.
We hope that this article has been useful in helping you establish—or re-assess—how to run your packing station. The success of any e-commerce business comes from the sum of all its parts, and your packing station is a vital part of that equation. Want to talk packing stations or packaging strategy? Contact The Packaging Club today. We’d love to help.
