Many companies have hundreds or thousands of different SKUs. Variety in product lines is necessary, because clients and consumers demand it. But, at what point does variety become too much? Offering every possible size combination, variety, and color may lead to operational problems. Varying run lengths, job changes and equipment changes also add complexity and inefficiencies to the operation and utilization of assets. More products do not always lead to more profit, and in fact, may lead to less.
Faced with tighter margins, increased competition, and slow organic growth, the food and beverage packaging industry has the unique challenge of analyzing an often unwieldly product mix to achieve higher levels of profitability. In these situations, using new, more granular metrics to gain additional insights can make a big difference to a company’s profitability.