Negosentro.com | Packaging often fulfills an important role in any business. It protects technical and perishable products from the moment they have been manufactured to the time they reach the end consumer. The packaging is essential as it eliminates or reduces wastage through damages and ensure the safety of products. Additionally, packaging helps to minimize spoilage and increase the shelf life of products for the customer. Other important roles played by packaging include providing information about the products, allowing for easy handling of the items, and enhancing safety and hygiene of the contents. If you are run a business, then you understand how significant packaging can be. The right packaging medium is important when it comes to shipping especially when the contents are dangerous and sensitive. In the freight industry, specific containers have been designated for the sole purpose of carrying certain products due to their volatile nature. Nonetheless, it is easy enough to simply put materials in their containers or packaging medium and leave them at that. As a business person, it is imperative to be cognizant of the packaging design and materials you are using especially when you are transporting technical products such as batteries among others. One of the things that most businesses tend to forget when it comes to packaging is that the packaging materials are not necessarily safer compared to the contents of the package. In any case, if you are not careful enough, your packaging material, or the way you choose to package your contents, could result in contamination or the creation of hazardous situations. With that in mind, here is a business guide to packaging your products safely and securely.
Why Packaging is Important
In general, the packaging for your products must meet the standard guidelines to ensure safety at all time. Also, apart from the standard guidelines, there are other types of considerations for your packaging which will assist with storage, disposal, and the shipping of your products. While some considerations may not be needed to meet the shipping guidelines, they go a long way in helping to enhance the overall customer experience in addition to saving you time and unnecessary expenditures in the future. You need to remember that all your products should be labeled, so you need to review that to ensure an excellent customer experience.
If your products aren’t stored in cases, they need to be concealed in their package. If there are openings that reveal what the package contains, it should be concealed using clear plastic. This step is necessary because while the storage houses are often clean, cardboard packaging often breaks during the shipping process and creates dust elements which settle in the products. Protecting your contents from exposure will mean a much better customer experience when they finally receive their products.
You also need to consider the size of the package if you are looking to secure your products. Depending on where you intend to sell your products, smaller or bigger packaging may be appealing to the customer. In some countries, the distributor is usually responsible for collecting, categorization, transporting and recycling the materials used for packaging. As a result, this makes packaging a very important aspect of marketing and cost-saving strategy.
Packaging of Batteries
The packaging of lithium-ion battery is important due to their volatile nature. Although they are common today, batteries of any kind can cause sparks, heat, and fire when they are not properly packaged for shipping. As a business, it is imperative to follow the applicable safety regulations as well as the appropriate precautions when preparing lithium ion batteries for shipping. Custom battery packaging is, therefore, important when it comes to ensuring the safety of your products during the shipment process. Battery shipments can be subject to both the United States and the international safety regulations. Due to the dangers, these products pose, people who don’t abide by the rules and regulation when packing batteries for shipping can be subjected to penalties and fines.
There are illustrative guidelines on how you can safely pack and ship different kinds of batteries. In certain cases such as some non-spillable lead-acid batteries or alkaline batteries, your role as an individual or business may be limited to simple steps like protecting the terminals of the batteries, choosing strong outer packaging, and preparing the interior package components carefully to ensure metal objects do not come into contact with the batteries.
When it comes to the packaging and shipping of batteries, you need to make sure that all the terminals are protected against short circuits that could lead to fires. You can do this by covering your batteries using insulating, non-conductive materials. You can also achieve this by packing each battery in packaging that is fully enclosed to ensure the protection of exposed terminals. To prevent the occurrence of fire, any device that uses batteries must not be turned on during transport. You need to protect the switches which can be activated by accident. The simple devices such as rechargeable drills and flashlights can generate so much heat which could result in fires when accidentally activated.
Securing Your Products through Packaging
Utilizing the right materials for packaging your products is only one part of the process. The other part involves putting in place safety measures to ensure the guidelines and standard or packaging are met. In the end, being careful about your packaging criteria will help you to save so much wasted time and money which shouldn’t have been used in the first place. Here are other considerations to have in mind to ensure your products are securely packaged.
- Wrap Each Item Separately
If you want to include multiple products within a single package, you need to ensure that every item is individually protected. Frequent contact when handling items will increase the possibility of items breaking during transit.
- Utilize Multiple Packaging Layers
Generally, product distribution is done in three packaging layers. The first is the packaging that is applicable in warehouses where products are shipped in big boxes for further distribution. The next layer is the distribution packaging which is seen by the customers when products are delivered to their doorsteps. The last layer is consumer packaging which involves the wrapping of individual items. As a business, you may decide to have additional layers, but these three are the main layers in which commodities are protected.
- Shock-Resistant Packaging Materials
The use of shock-resistant packaging materials is important as it allows products to remain braced in the box, protecting it from sudden shocks. Additionally, shock-resistant products ensure the product retain their shape by prevention compression over time. The use of these packaging materials is especially useful when placing multiple products in the same package. By ensuring a distance of about two inches from each other and the walls of the box, your products will be protected from each other as well as the impact that could cause damage.
- Climate and Contaminant-Resistant
If you are shipping your items through a route which experiences extreme changes in temperature, pressure, or humidity, there is a possibility that the outer packaging, the material cushions, or the products themselves could undergo undesirable changes. The product cushioning could be compromised and this could lead to degradation of the items being transported.
This concept is also applicable to businesses that receive these materials on a regular basis. You’ll need to come up with a special procedure to make it possible for you to test and analyze the common packaging contaminants to avoid spreading the materials around your facility. Tests will need to be conducted by qualified and certified individuals while implementing preventive approaches to stop the occurrence of chemical contaminants.
- Do not Use Labels Excessively
When transporting a product that could endanger the life of the receiver, there should be clear instructions that inform the user about the contents of the package and how they are to be handled. That can be difficult for them to know if your package is filled with multiple labels. To make this an easier process for the recipient, you can use one or two labels which outline everything the user will need to know.
If there are additional boxes within a single package, you can have a single label for all the boxes contained in the package. Put down only the handling and safety information which the recipient should know, and include nothing else.
The Bottom Line
When it comes to packaging, you will need to utilize techniques that ensure the security and safety of products as well as handlers and users. There are so many considerations to have in mind, but this guide offers some of the most essential pointers you need to know about packaging. Technical and volatile products require quality packaging to prevent them from becoming hazardous. Additionally, all packaging materials must comply with the environmental protection guidelines to ensure they are not harmful to the environment. Highly volatile materials such as batteries must be securely packaged and handled with care to prevent them from causing fire and explosions.
