When calculating proposed shipments, Smart Packing will always pick the smallest packing material (material containers), that can fit the items in the order.

By default, Smart Packing algorithm will pick from the enabled boxes based on container size. However, there are certain instances when shippers may want to transform or modify a material container to optimize package size. Telescoping and Cut Down are two ways to transform containers to reduce package sizes.

If Smart Packing is able to fit all items into a single material container that is less than three cubic feet, ShipHawk will recommend using that container for packing. Smart Packing will never try to transform material containers of less than 3 ft³.

For larger shipments and packages, Smart Packing can be configured to automatically recommend that packers “cut down” larger boxes to reduce the package size, which may reduce shipping cost. This approach will recommend reducing the height dimension only, based on the common practice of cutting box edges and scoring sides to reduce box size.

Determining Whether Box Will Be Cut Down

The following determines whether a box will be “cut down” for a given shipment:

• Account is configured to allow boxes to be cut down (contact your ShipHawk account manager to enable this for your account).

• The starting volume of the selected material container is at least  3 ft³. 

  • Volume = length / 12 * width / 12 * height / 12.  Length, width, and height are container dimensions specified in inches. 

• There is at least 5-inch of height to be cut down.   Smart Packing assumes that the time to resize the container for less than 5-inch reduction will offset any savings in shipping cost. 

• Smart Packing will only recommend cutting down a box if there is at least 5-inches of space to cut down.  Boxes with less than 5-inches of open space will not be cut down.  The formula to calculate is: material_container.height - occupied_height > 5.

The Order Details page will display the standard material container name for the Package to ensure that the packer selects the right box, but shows the “cut down” height in the dimensions:

How a Packer Knows when Smart Packing Recommends to ‘Cut Down’ a Box

If Smart Packing calculates that a box can be cut down, it will inform the packer in two different ways. 

(1) First, the Order Details page will display the standard material container name for the Package to ensure that the packer selects the right box, but shows ‘cut down’ height in the dimensions, as shown here:

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(2) Second, the Smart Packing modal window displays the standard container name along with a description indicating that the box should be cut down as shown here:

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See Also

Smart Packing and Product Catalog

INTERNAL: Packing Material Transformations - Telescoping and Cut Down Settings