Any business that sends out goods to customers will use packing materials. There are wide varieties of packaging, and the best choice will depend greatly on what is being shipped. Common packing materials include cardboard, bubble wrap, tin cans, and plastic containers.
Their purpose is to protect the item being shipped to a customer. For more information on the benefits of Contract Packing Services, visit a site like www.wyepak.co.uk/contract-packing
There are four stages of packaging – primary, secondary, tertiary, and ancillary packaging.
Primary packaging is used for perishable items such as food, drink, and medication. This packaging must be airtight, leakproof, and compact. Materials used include laminated pouches, plastic, thermoplastics, parchment paper, shrink wrap, glass, and tin cans.
Secondary packaging is used for any item that needs to be delivered in bulk. An item is wrapped with primary packaging, and different materials are used for the next layer. These materials include plastic trays or crates and wooden pallets that can be stacked to make delivery easier.
Tertiary packaging adds an additional layer of protection for the transportation of goods. This can be in pallets, crates, or corrugated boards.
Ancillary packaging includes the essential items that hold all the above together. These are materials like straps, tape, printing ink, labels, glue, caps, locks, and anything else that holds packaging materials together and securely in place.
There are many considerations for choosing materials including durability, affordability, compliance, quality, branding and sustainability.
