One Report.
Zero Guesswork.
Know What's Broken
Before You Spend
Another Dollar Fixing It
A structured review of your packaging program — compliance, cost, retail readiness, sustainability, and system coherence — delivered as a written report with a prioritized action register.
The Seven Audit Dimensions
Every packaging audit covers these seven areas. Most brands have blind spots in at least three.
Structural Integrity
Board caliper, closure engineering, insert fit, transit protection, and whether the structure can survive the supply chain it ships through.
Compliance & Regulatory
SB 54, EU PPWR, FTC Green Guides, Prop 65, MoCRA, retailer-specific requirements. Mapped against every market the product ships into.
Cost & Landed Economics
Unit cost, tooling amortization, freight mode, dimensional weight, warehousing, and the total landed cost most brands never calculate.
Retail Readiness
Barcode grade, case pack configuration, master carton specs, planogram fit, and the retailer documentation that has to be right before the first PO ships.
Sustainability & Claims
PCR content verification, recyclability in practice, FSC chain-of-custody, and whether every on-pack claim can survive a regulator asking for proof.
Design System Coherence
Does the packaging system hold across SKUs, channels, and seasons — or has each launch drifted into its own one-off?
Quality & Specification
Written specs with tolerances, golden sample library, AQL levels, defect classification, and whether the factory is actually producing to the standard the brand approved.
Four Phases. Less Than Fourteen Days.
Scope & Intake
We define which SKUs, dimensions, and markets are in scope. You provide samples, supplier contacts, and the launch calendar. Days 1–2.
Evidence Gathering
Physical measurement, supplier documentation review, compliance mapping, cost modeling, and retail-spec cross-check. Days 3–8.
Findings Synthesis
Each finding classified by severity (critical, high, advisory). The action register is prioritized by risk and timeline. Days 9–11.
Report & Walkthrough
Written report delivered. Live walkthrough of findings, severity rationale, and recommended next steps. You decide what to act on. Days 12–14.
What a Packaging Audit Finds
The same patterns surface across beauty packaging programs. The audit catches them before a retailer, regulator, or production failure does.
Compliance Gaps
SB 54 recyclability claims that don't hold up under the actual EPR framework. EU PPWR recycled-content minimums the current spec can't meet. FTC Green Guides violations on “recyclable” claims where curbside infrastructure doesn't exist. These are not hypothetical — they are the findings that recur. Our claims and compliance guide covers the regulatory detail.
Cost Leakage
Most brands quote unit cost. An audit models landed cost — factory price plus tooling amortization, freight, duties, dimensional weight, warehousing, and waste. The delta between quoted and landed is typically where 10–25% in savings lives. Our cost, MOQ, and landed-cost planning guide breaks down the model.
Retail Readiness Failures
First-shipment chargebacks from barcode grade, master-carton labeling, case-pack configuration, or routing-guide misses are predictable and preventable. The audit maps every SKU against the retailer's actual requirements before the first PO ships. See our retail-ready beauty packaging guide for the full spec framework.
System Drift
Each launch inherits parts of the existing design system and improvises the rest. After three or four SKU launches, the “system” is actually five unrelated specifications. The audit identifies where the system has drifted and recommends the consolidation path. Our design system guide defines what a coherent multi-SKU packaging architecture looks like.
Quality Specification Gaps
If a retailer asked for your written spec on your lead SKU today — with tolerances, materials by supplier, finish stack, and acceptance criteria — could you produce it within 24 hours? If not, the audit is also the spec-building workstream. Our testing and quality control guide covers the full QC chain.
For the complete methodology, seven-dimension framework, and a 10-item self-assessment scorecard, see the Packaging Audit Guide.
Audit FAQs
Not Sure What's Broken?
That's the Point.
Most packaging problems are invisible until they cost you — a failed retail inspection, a chargeback, a reprint, a compliance letter. The audit finds them before they find you.