Getting started with PackGuard

This tutorial takes you from a freshly installed plugin to your first box recommendation on a live order. It covers the minimal happy path — install, configure, add boxes, and see the suggestion card in action.

Time required: about 10 minutes.

What you need:

• PackGuard installed and activated (see below)
• At least one order in Shopware with products that have length, width, and height filled in
• Admin access with the ssd_packguard.creator role (or a full administrator account)

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Step 1 — Install and activate the plugin

1. In the Shopware Admin, open Extensions > My extensions.
2. Locate PackGuard and click Install, then Activate.
3. Confirm the plugin appears as Active in the list.

If you are installing on a development environment using the Shopware CLI:

bin/console plugin:install --activate SsdPackGuard
bin/console cache:clear

Once activated, a PackGuard section appears under Orders in the main navigation.

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Step 2 — Open plugin configuration

1. Go to Extensions > My extensions > PackGuard > Configuration (the three-dot menu next to the plugin).
2. The General Settings card opens.
3. Leave the defaults in place for now:
   • Tracking threshold: 30% — orders with less than 30% empty space are not recorded at all
   • Warning threshold: 50% — at or above 50% the order is flagged as a warning
   • Block threshold: 70% — at or above 70% box selection is rejected
   • Auto-calculate: on
4. If you want Declaration of Conformity PDFs to show your company name, enter it in Company name (for Declaration of Conformity).
5. Click Save.

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Step 3 — Add boxes to your catalog

PackGuard needs to know which boxes you actually stock before it can make suggestions.

1. In the navigation, go to Orders > PackGuard > Box Catalog.
2. If your catalog is empty, click Import presets in the centre of the page.
3. In the preset modal, tick the box archetypes that match your stock — for example Carton S, Carton M, and Polybag M.
4. Click Import 3 (the count matches your selection).
5. The three boxes appear in the catalog list.

After import, open each box and adjust the internal dimensions (L × W × H in mm) and the cost per unit to match your real stock. The internal volume is calculated automatically.

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Step 4 — Make sure your products have dimensions

PackGuard reads Shopware's built-in product dimension fields. Open any product, go to Specifications, and verify that Length, Width, and Height are filled in under Measures & Packaging.

If dimensions are missing, PackGuard cannot calculate the order volume. The order detail card will show an info alert prompting you to add dimensions.

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Step 5 — See the box recommendation on an order

1. Open Orders and click on any order that contains products with dimensions.
2. On the order detail page, scroll down to the Packaging Recommendation card (added by PackGuard).

The card shows:

• Total product volume — the sum of all line-item volumes
• A table of boxes sorted by ascending empty space percentage
• A Best badge on the first compliant row
• Green (compliant), amber (warning), or red (violation) status dots per box

3. Click Select on the row you want to use. If the box is in the warning range a confirmation dialog appears — click Select anyway to proceed.
4. The card updates to show the Selected box summary with the saved empty space ratio and an estimated cost saving.

Congratulations — PackGuard has recorded your first box selection. The compliance dashboard under Orders > PackGuard > Dashboard will start showing aggregated metrics as more orders are processed.

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Next steps

• Manage your box catalog — add, edit, and deactivate boxes
• Create a packaging profile — apply padding, orientation, and box-type constraints to product groups
• Generate a Declaration of Conformity — download the PPWR Article 11 PDF for a box type