On-demand protective structures for packaging items in a container

A method for on-demand packaging of at least two items, comprising:

• receiving, by a computing system, an order for at least two items;
• determining, by the computing system, characteristic-information for the at least two items, the characteristic-information including at least a size indication and a shape indication for each of the at least two items;
• processing, by the computing system, the characteristic-information based on one or more design criteria;
• based on the processing of the characteristic-information, determining, by the computing system, an arrangement of the at least two items within at least one container volume, the determined arrangement comprising a respective position and a respective orientation of each item relative to the at least one container volume;
• determining, by the computing device, a configuration of a protective structure to hold the at least two items in the determined arrangement within the at least one container volume, the determined configuration of the protective structure including at least two portions that are couplable to form the protective structure;
• operating at least one automated packaging manufacturing system to form the at least two portions of the protective structure according to the determined configuration;
• operating at least one of one or more robotic devices to place the at least two items into the protective structure according to the determined arrangement;
• and
• operating at least one the one or more robotic devices to place the protective structure, and the at least two items into the at least one container volume,
• wherein the protective structure is formed by reshaping a packaging material to form one or more internal cavities configured to receive the at least two items, the one or more internal cavities being configured to at least partially enclose the at least two items so as to fixedly retain, in six degrees of freedom, the at least two items in the protective structure relative to each other item and according to the arrangement.