Analytics, meet the Cardboard Box

Here is an forgotten piece of the supply chain.  I removed a dozen or of these ancient ideas off the front porch already this holiday season.   So how do we address the problem?   Optimize the use?    Some of our very earliest assignments in the enterprise.    Some thoughts:

Analytics Meets the Cardboard Box    in Statistics.com

“Do you have a bag?“ or “Would you like a bag?” have become common parts of the brick-and-mortar retail transaction.  Reusable bags, or simply doing without, have reduced the flow of plastic and paper into recycling.  

E-commerce is a different matter.  I just unpacked a box of wine, and dealing with the protective spacers and heavy-duty box took 10 minutes and consumed most of the space in my recycling bin. 

The shipper, NakedWines.com, is a California startup that “disintermediates” the wine business, the way Uber and Lyft disintermediated the taxi and limo businesses – by substituting analytics and AI for middlemen.  For example:

recommender systems boost sales
network flow algorithms optimize shipping routes
linear and integer programming algorithms optimize fulfillment center operations
predictive models anticipate demand, permitting optimal stocking of inventory at fulfillment centers

The (over)use of packaging materials has not, I think, received such attention.  ...