Ross Diamond, MD at Grenadier Packaging, explains why corrugated packaging helps to enhance resilience in supply chains around the world
CORRUGATED packaging has traditionally found itself underestimated as a commodity.
Despite this, its role has always been more important than a simple supporting player. From protecting goods to supporting operational agility, corrugated packaging is an influential part of the modern supply chain. And, with global supply chains facing unprecedented challenges, that role is only becoming more important.
Now is the time for businesses throughout the supply chain to focus on corrugate, taking it from supporting player to headline act.
The invisible infrastructure of global trade
The best way to think about corrugated packaging is not as packaging at all, but as essential infrastructure. It is the most frequently used shipping material in the world thanks to its light weight, durability, and cost-effectiveness, and, as such, it touches every stage of the supply chain, from producer to consumer.
This makes it a uniquely powerful lever at a time when businesses need all the help they can get to navigate the global supply chain. Cost volatility, evolving sustainability mandates, and conflict in key shipping routes are just three of the issues businesses must face every day. Simply getting products from point A to point B cost-effectively can no longer be taken for granted.
This is where corrugated solutions show their value. Corrugated material is a structural enabler of trade every bit as crucial as fibre optic cables and GPS satellites, but unlike most infrastructure, businesses can take control of it to optimise operations strategically.
Engineering resilience into physical supply chains
While generic solutions exist, corrugated experts can tailor structural designs to specific products and logistical conditions. Compression, vibration, humidity, and handling all need to be considered in what has become an incredibly complex worldwide network.
By thinking carefully about flute profiles, board grades, and other structural elements, businesses can reduce costs stemming from product damage, protecting margins that are being squeezed like never before.
This flexibility matters because the modern supply chain is defined by variability. Even without unpredictable disruption, businesses still need to adapt to fluctuating demand, expanding product portfolios, and evolving routes to market. ‘Business as usual’ does not really exist anymore.
Those enjoying the most success are those who have realised that corrugated packaging does not have to be a cost centre to account for. It can be a strategic asset that boosts commercial performance.
From commodity to strategy
As it sits at the intersection of circularity and functionality, corrugated packaging can deliver on multiple fronts.
In a world where sustainability legislation is increasingly widespread and complex, fibre-based solutions like corrugated packaging can support compliance with sweeping legislation such as the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). It also aligns with retailer goals to reduce reliance on plastics and consumer preferences, with recyclability being the number one priority for European consumers.
Investing in corrugated makes good business sense, too. Flat-pack efficiency helps reduce storage and logistics costs, while easily customisable sizing can minimise void fill and cut shipping inefficiencies further. Perhaps most crucially for us at Grenadier Packaging, ongoing work on new materials and structural innovation is helping to develop lighter-weight solutions that can reduce transport costs.
The demand for increased customisation in logistics, and the innovations being produced to meet these demands, are driving exciting growth in corrugate.
Total cost of ownership matters much more than unit cost in this environment, and it is here where corrugated packaging delivers consistent benefits on a system-wide scale.
In a volatile world, resilience is not something that happens by accident. It is precision-engineered through a series of interconnected decisions. Some are complex and capital-intensive. Others are already in place, waiting to be optimised. Corrugated packaging falls firmly into the latter category because, in the end, resilience is not just about how goods move. It is about how they are protected, presented, and delivered at every stage of the journey.
