Quantity planning
Working out a first order quantity from your actual usage, and the two mistakes that cost the most: ordering too little and running out, or ordering too much and storing it for a year.
Custom packaging is manufactured to your specification rather than pulled off a shelf, so the quantity is part of what gets built. That makes the first number more consequential than it would be for a stocked item: it is not just how much you buy, it is how much gets made.
The two failure modes are symmetrical and both expensive. Order too little and you are back for a second run before you planned to be, which may not match the first if anything has changed in the meantime. Order far too much and you have paid for packaging that then occupies your stockroom, sometimes for longer than the design stays current.
The useful approach is to start from how fast you actually use the packaging, not from a round number that feels safe.
Four steps, in order. Each one takes a minute and they can be done roughly, which is good enough to start a quote.
Pick a normal week and count what you actually use, not what you think you use. If your service varies through the week, count a busy day and a quiet day separately.
Worth knowing
Most businesses overestimate steady usage and underestimate peaks.
A week times fifty-two is a starting figure for annual usage. Adjust it for any closure weeks so you are not ordering for days you are shut.
Worth knowing
Write the number down. It is the one that anchors the whole estimate.
If trade is seasonal, the annual figure is misleading on its own. Your peak month may need a third of the year's packaging on its own.
Worth knowing
Estimate the busy period separately from the quiet one.
How long do you want one run to cover before you order again? That answer, not the annual total, is the quantity you ask to be quoted.
Worth knowing
Longer runs mean fewer orders and more stock on your floor.
These figures are illustrative only, to show the arithmetic. They are not a benchmark, a recommendation or an industry average.
| Cups used on a normal day | 200 |
| Days open per week | 6 |
| Weekly usage | 1,200 |
| Weeks open per year | 50 |
| Annual usage | 60,000 |
| Run length wanted | 4 months |
| Quantity to ask about | 20,000 |
The same arithmetic works for any format. Substitute your own count and the rest follows.
Four things push a first order away from the simple arithmetic above. It is worth knowing which of them applies to you before you settle on a number.
This is the part of quantity planning that gets skipped, and it is the one that decides whether a large order was actually a good idea.
Your order is delivered to you. Where it lives between orders is something you plan for, because holding customer stock is not a service this business offers. That is worth knowing before you commit to a quantity rather than after it arrives.
Packaging is bulkier than most buyers expect. A quantity that looks modest on a quote can arrive as a significant number of cartons, and if the format does not nest, it does not compress. Before you settle on a run length, check that you have somewhere dry to put it and that you can move it when you need it.
You do not need a final figure to ask. The numbers below are enough for a specialist to work with, and the quantity in your quote will be confirmed against the product rather than assumed.
Minimum order quantities vary by product and are confirmed in your quote. No minimum is stated here, because it depends on what you are ordering.
What buyers ask about quantity before a first order.
Tell us your usage estimate and how long you want a run to cover. We will confirm what is available for your product, and you will receive a free digital mockup before production.
