Content

• To step
• Tips

Pack volume is a measurement used when purchasing and shipping bulk packages. The package contents indicate how much volume, or three-dimensional space, a package of a particular item will occupy in a warehouse. Pack contents can be measured in cubic feet or cubic meters. In both cases, the dimensions tell you how much space a package takes up, but not how that information is expressed in three dimensions. For example, how long, wide and high each box is. So it is also useful to know the actual dimensions of a box, which are usually stated in the package specifications.

To step

1. Measure the length, width, and height of a unit in inches or meters.
   • Whichever unit of measure you use, use the same unit of measure for all dimensions.
   • You can also measure the unit in centimeters, but converting from cubic centimeters to cubic meters (the final measurement) can be very tricky. Instead, divide the centimeter by 100 to convert it to meters before continuing.
   • The word "unit" refers to any quantity in which the item is sold / packaged. A single bottle, box or bag is therefore one unit. But if, for example, bottles are sold as a 3-pack, then you have to measure all three bottles, since they are packed together, to get the dimensions for the pack volume calculation.
2. Multiply the unit's length, width, and height.
3. Divide the result by 1728 as if your measurements were in inches. The resulting number is the pack size in cubic feet. If your measurements are in meters, no division is necessary; the result is the package volume in cubic meters.
4. Ready.

Tips

• Other information that is usually included in the specifications of a bulk pack is: unit of weight and weight of the pack, dimensions of the pack, unit dimensions or volume, and contents of the pack, or how many units are in a pack.
• If the company or distributor you are purchasing from trades internationally, specifications will likely include package contents, dimensions, weight and other specifications in both metric and imperial dimensions (cubic meters, kg cubic feet, pounds).
• Knowing the package contents of a particular product is especially useful when you are saving packages, rather than opening them and saving the contents or saving individual units. But it is useful when calculating shipping costs, or the amount of space that a certain number of packages fallen into a given container.
• Any further padding or other materials needed for packaging / shipping must also be taken into account.
• Most wholesalers offer discounts for box-to-box purchases. But that is of no use if you don't have space to store the product because of its size, or if you have to pay extra shipping costs because of the actual space the whole box takes up in the container.