A packaging budget request gets approved or rejected largely on its shape. One page, five sections, no adjectives, and a stated downside. Requests that fail usually fail because they are long, optimistic, or silent about what happens if the numbers do not come good.
Section one: what is happening now
Current annual spend on the packaging being replaced, with the source – purchase records, not an estimate. Plus the problem: cost rising, damage rate, a regulatory driver, or a customer requirement. One paragraph, and be specific about which of those it is, because a request driven by a customer requirement is a different conversation from one driven by cost.
Section two: what is proposed
The item, the quantity, the supplier or shortlist, the conversion plan. Whether this is a pilot or a full deployment – and if it is a pilot, the threshold that decides the next step. That threshold is the single most useful sentence in the document; it converts an argument into a measurement and it means the approval is for a decision, not a gamble.
Section three: the money
Total spend, phased by month or quarter, showing the trough. Annual saving once fully converted. Payback period in months. And a sensitivity line: what the payback becomes if the trip count comes in at the low end of the range, or the loss rate at the high end.
Use the conservative end throughout. A case that survives pessimistic assumptions gets approved; one that needs the optimistic case gets a second meeting and a loss of credibility.
Section four: what could go wrong
Write it yourself. Loss rate, throughput falling short, resin price movement, the return arrangement not working. For each, one line on what you would do. This section is what makes the rest believable, and it is the one most requests omit.
Include the point of no return, if there is one – usually tooling. If a mould has to be cut, say when that commitment happens and how much it is, because that is the real decision the approver is making.
Section five: the ask
One sentence, one number, and what happens if the answer is no. Literally: if this is not funded, we continue buying single-use at X per year. That line does more work than any projection.
What to leave out
Market background. Supplier marketing copy. Sustainability benefits expressed as cash. And any saving you cannot point to on an invoice – mention it qualitatively in one line and move on.
Consumption figures you can use in section one are in estimating monthly sheet consumption, and the approval reasoning is developed further in building a business case that survives scrutiny.
Length and tone
One page. If it needs an appendix, the appendix is the assumptions and the sensitivity table – not more narrative. Requests get read quickly and on a phone; the version that fits on a screen is the version that gets a decision.
Avoid adjectives entirely. “Significant saving” invites a question; a number does not. The strongest requests read like an engineer wrote them, because the reviewer’s job is to find the flaw and a claim-free document gives them less to find.
What to attach
Three things, no more: the quote or quotes, the assumptions with owners, and the sensitivity table. Anything else goes in a file you can produce on request. A lean pack reads as confidence; a thick one reads as over-explaining.
What we can do
We supply PP corrugated sheet and will give you the numbers for section three in writing – spend, phasing, payback, and the sensitivity – so you can paste them into your own format. Tell us your annual volume and we will work it out honestly, including the pessimistic case.