Proper packaging tips can help logistics companies avoid financial loss and reputation damage due to shipping damage, and customer returns on goods in the supply chain. Even if the cases are few, when customers receive their shipment cartons with incorrect labels, or poor packaging resulting in damaged products, it’s your company that will suffer the most in the end. If you’ve experienced problems like these, here are several helpful ways to improve your repackaging in the supply chain so that product return rates and item damage can be significantly reduced or eliminated.
Packaging Types to Consider
When choosing the right packaging and shipping materials, there are several factors to consider. Good packaging should have cushioning, water resistance, rigidity, and void-fillers, especially when transporting fragile items. Some examples include polybags, jiffy bags, and corrugated boxes for the exterior, and bubble wrap, brown paper, single-ply corrugated rolls, and air cushions for interior impact protection.
Packaging Tips to Secure Goods against Possible Damage
The following tips will help you prevent possible shipping and warehouse damage by securing your goods carefully and with the right materials and strategies.
Individual Packaging
When packaging individual goods in a box, it is important to limit the item’s exposure to cardboard dust. The carton will breakdown slightly during transit, which will leave flakes of dust on the item as it travels. Make sure the item is covered in some type of paper or plastic casing to the end-user or customer so it can be received in the best possible condition.
Inner Carton Packaging
Each item transported within one carton should be individually organized in boxes to minimize excess space and bouncing items during transit. This will prevent units from crashing into each other or shifting around in the carton. Padding such as foam, popcorn, craft paper, or air bags can be added inside the cartons to fill up the space. The less those goods move around, the better; however, be careful not to overstuff and cause the carton to buckle outward. Gently move the box in hand after packaging, and if you hear the items rattling or shifting too much, add more padding.
Master Carton Packaging
Make sure your master carton is corrugated and structurally strong to absorb the weight of other cartons if they are stacked, or in the event of a drop. There are specific guidelines fulfillment centres follow that decide how thick the carton walls should be depending on the items being shipped.
Package Closing Tips to Avoid Damage
It is vital to secure the box or padded envelope correctly to prevent it from opening during transportation. A simple solution is to use a tape gun to efficiently apply proper packing tape along the seal. Packing tape is strong, durable, wide, and waterproof, so nothing will get in the cracks of the carton seal.
Let Lean Supply Solutions Help You
If you’ve missed out on e-commerce cost savings due to damaged or lost items and customer returns, now is the time to change how your team is packaging products. There are several ways to improve this process, but solving the packaging problem is the first step.
By outsourcing your third-party logistics to Lean Supply Solutions, you will get expert and quality packaging, shipping, and handling that saves you money and improves your reputation with customers. Our team of experts can walk you through your supply chain processes and help you find the weak areas and bring you solutions to improve them.
We live by the Lean Methodology, which is a proven philosophy focused on eliminating any operations, equipment, or resources that are not capable of adding value to clients’ supply chains. We strive to make sure the right products are made available to the right customers at the right time, and we aspire to always offer consistent, accurate, and quality solutions. To learn more, contact us at 416-748-8982.
