Blow Molding & Hollow Plastic Products worked example

Container Cube Utilization at 98% target cube utilization: a worked example

Push target cube utilization up to 98% and the picture changes. This example computes every intermediate figure at that operating point. a packaging or logistics team needs to check cube utilization for bottles, containers, drums, tanks, or ducts

The inputs for this scenario

  • Occupied hollow-product cube: 920 ft³ or m³ (unchanged)
  • Available pack or shipment cube: 1,200 ft³ or m³ (unchanged)
  • Target cube utilization: 98 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 85)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Container cube utilization = occupied hollow-product cube ÷ available pack or shipment cube × 100) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 76.67 % cube utilization for container cube utilization, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 21.33 points for cube utilization gap to target.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 920 ft³ or m³ for occupied hollow-product cube.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 1,200 ft³ or m³ for available pack or shipment cube.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where target cube utilization sits at 85% and the headline result is 76.67 % cube utilization, this scenario lands almost exactly on the baseline at 76.67 % cube utilization.
  • It divides occupied hollow-product cube by available pack or shipment cube, expresses it as a percentage, and reports how many points short of your target you are. The value of this scenario is the size of the gap it exposes: that gap, priced out over a year, is the budget you can justify spending to close it.

Results at a glance

  • Container cube utilization: 76.67 % cube utilization (headline result)
  • Cube utilization gap to target: 21.33 points
  • Occupied hollow-product cube: 920 ft³ or m³
  • Available pack or shipment cube: 1,200 ft³ or m³

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Container Cube Utilization calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.