Manual Cartoning Is Tying Up Cash Flow in Biscuit Factories
Alyssa/ January 5, 2026 Return
In many biscuit factories,
the biggest financial pressure is not raw material cost.
It’s inventory.
Products are made.
Primary packs are finished.
But cartons are not moving fast enough.
And that delay quietly locks up cash on the factory floor.Get A Quote
Why Inventory Pressure Often Starts at the Cartoning Stage
In biscuit production,
value is added step by step.
Once products are packed individually,
most of the cost is already in them.
But if cartoning slows down,
those products cannot become finished goods.
They turn into work-in-progress inventory.Get A Quote
How Manual Cartoning Creates Inventory Bottlenecks
Manual cartoning affects inventory in ways that are easy to miss.Get A Quote
Finished products cannot exit the line smoothly
When cartoning depends on people:
- Output fluctuates
- Daily completion volume is uncertain
- Pallets wait longer before shipping
Products are ready —
but not sellable yet.Get A Quote
Work-in-progress keeps piling up
As upstream processes continue:
- More semi-finished goods accumulate
- Space is taken up
- Handling increases
What looks like “busy production”
is actually slow conversion to cash.Get A Quote
Planning becomes conservative
When cartoning capacity is unclear:
- Shipping plans are cautious
- Production is slowed intentionally
- Sales commitments are limited
Inventory grows,
but revenue does not grow at the same pace.Get A Quote
Why This Directly Affects Cash Flow
From a financial perspective,
manual cartoning creates hidden cost.Get A Quote
Cash is tied up longer than necessary
- Materials are paid for
- Labor is paid
- But products are not invoiced yet
The longer products sit in WIP,
the longer cash is locked inside the factory.Get A Quote
Storage and handling costs increase
More inventory means:
- More space
- More movement
- More risk of damage
These costs rarely appear under “cartoning”
but they are caused by it.Get A Quote
Why This Problem Is Hard to See From the Floor
On the shop floor, everything looks active.
- Machines are running
- Workers are busy
- Products are everywhere
But from a financial view,
speed of conversion matters more than activity.
Manual cartoning slows the last step —
and that last step controls cash release.Get A Quote
How a Cartoning Machine Improves Inventory Flow
Here we are talking about secondary packaging—
cartoning after individual packs,
with no direct contact with food.
This is the point where WIP becomes finished goods.Get A Quote
Conversion becomes faster and predictable
- Stable cartoning output
- Clear daily completion numbers
Inventory levels become easier to control
- Less WIP accumulation
- Faster movement to shipping
Cash flow improves without increasing sales
- Shorter inventory cycles
- Faster invoicing
- Less capital tied up on the floor
This is not about producing more.
It’s about releasing value faster.Get A Quote
A Question Worth Asking
How many days does your product spend
waiting for cartoning to be completed?
And how much cash is sitting on the floor
because that last step is slow?
For many biscuit factories,
this is where reducing manual cartoning
starts to show financial impact —
even before sales increase.Get A Quote
| Industry | Decision Maker | Financial Scenario | Main Pain Point | Solution Keyword |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food | Factory Owner / CFO | High WIP & inventory pressure | Cash tied up in unfinished goods | Automatic Cartoning Machine |
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