As 2021 comes to a close, a new year starts full of opportunities to not only grow your business, but to optimise your processes to reduce costs and maximise your returns. Without the right foundation in place, the cost of your processes may become overwhelming, and saving on these should be pretty high up on the priority list.
When it comes to reviewing your processes, regardless if you’re an online shop, shipping company, or warehouse, the first place to start is your packing process. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you packing your pallet, box, or container in the most efficient way?
- Is there any unused space?
- Could this pallet, box, or container be packed into one, instead of two?
Ultimately, every inch of unused space will result in costing you more money on storage and shipping costs. This is where the 3dbinpacking.com’s algorithm comes in.
What is 3dbinpacking.com?
3dbinpacking.com provides software to companies that reviews the quantity and dimensions of your goods. This software then provides a step-by-step packing process on how to optimally pack your pallets, boxes, and containers in the most efficient way. In result, this will help ensure you are not overpaying on any storage or shipping costs.
3dbinpacking.com packing process example
Below we go through a typical example of how this software works:
As you can see from the first step above, the user can define the dimensions of the ‘Container’ and all of the ‘Items‘ that need to be placed within.
In the image above, we can define the following container dimensions:
- ID
- Wdt (container width)
- Hgt (container height)
- Dpt (container depth)
- Wgt. (maximum container weight)
For the individual items/products that need to be packed, we can define:
- ID (individual item ID or SKU)
- Wdt (individual item width)
- Hgt (individual item height)
- Dpt (individual item depth)
- Wgt (individual item weight)
- Qty (individual item quantity)
- VR (can the individual item be vertically rotated)
Once you have entered your container and individual dimensions for each of your items/products, you can select the ‘Pack’ button to view your packing result. Within this section (image below) the software will show you a visual step by step of how best to place all of your individual items within the container (or pallet in some cases) to make the best use of all available space.
3D Bin Packaging Products
1. Single Container Packing
This is their basic algorithm, which aims to find the best way to pack your items or products in one container, box or pallet.
2. Multi Bin Packing
The ‘Multi Bin Packing’ algorithm aims to find the best way to pack all of your items to make the best use of all available space. However, this version allows you to define multiple containers, boxes or pallets.
3. Find Third Dimension
The ‘Find Third Dimension’ algorithm allows you to define a third dimension that may need to be checked. For example, a shipping company may need to calculate the height of their pallets once packed to ensure they fit within the loading area of their vehicles.
4. Container Adjustment
The ‘Container Adjustment’ algorithm takes an item/product lead approach by advising on the best size box or packaging needed for your items.
5. Maximum Filling of Containers
The ‘Maximum Filling of Containers’ algorithm calculates the maximum number of identical items/products that can be placed into one package, ensuring these all remain together when being shipped.
6. Stack Pallets (coming soon in 2022)
3dbinpacking.com is also set to launch a new tool ‘Stack Pallets’ in early 2022. This algorithm will assist with the packing of any type of pallet. Although unconfirmed, we expect this feature may launch with their new website around 1st February 2022.
Integrating 3DBinPacking.com API
If you’re looking to optimise your packing process to maximise your costs, using 3DBP is a great place to start! We suggest first starting a 30-day free trial, which will allow you to access their API and test the integration.
Step 1: Finding your 3D Bin Packaging API Key
Once you have you account setup, you will be able to access your API key in ‘My Account’ > ‘ My Profile’ > ‘API key’ as seen in the screenshot below.
Step 2: 3D Bin Packaging Documentation
When you are read to implement the API to your web-based project (this could be a simple PHP website), you can find all documentation within the ‘Developers zone’ – this is located in the tab at the top of the page.
You will then be able to select the product/algorithm you require and then view the relevant API documentation. The documentation includes basic data required for setup, available request parameters (required and optional parameters), response parameters and some examples in various different programming languages (JSON, Curl, PHP, Python, JAVA, C#).
Step 3: Integrate the API or hire a trusted developer
Now is the time to start integrating the API into your web-based project using the documentation mentioned above as support. You’ll be able to trial different products/algorithms to find the best-suited version for your company. Once you have the functionality in place, you will also be able to style the API – this is helpful if integrated within your website to ensure the look and feel is in line with your brand guidelines.
Need help integrating the API? No problem! Our award-winning development agency has extensive experience in integrating the API – see our Tower Cold Chain case study. Contact us today for a free no-obligation quote.
Let us know in the comments below if you found this article helpful in optimising your processes and integrating 3dbinpacking.com’s packing algorithm. If you need any assistance in integrating this algorithm or looking to start a new web development project, then get in touch with us today to see how we can help get your project off the ground!
