When packing and shipping is an immense part of your business, it’s important to have the finest materials to ensure product safety and increase customer satisfaction. From boxes to tape to protective materials, it used to mean what you need depended on what you’re sending. However, with advanced shipping materials and methods, you can send all types of products regardless of weight or value. Find out the must-have packing and shipping supplies that your business needs.
Corrugated Cartons For Reinforced Strength
When selecting the right packaging materials to ship your products in, it’s important to know what type of packaging you’re actually getting. If not, you may not be embodying your brand as well as you may have believed. Instead of using cardboard boxes, corrugated cartons offer businesses durability, cost-effective, product protection and offers a lightweight material with a high strength-to-weight ratio.
Corrugated is made up of three layers of paper that includes an inside liner, an outside liner, and fluting with a ruffled shape, which runs in between the two. While the differences between cardboard and corrugated may seem insignificant at first, corrugated is the packaging material of choice for shipping boxes. When formed into boxes, corrugated sheets are ideal for shipping because they are very strong and durable, as well as easily recycled.
Packing Fill To Cushion Valuable Materials
Before shipping out any product, invest in liners or cushion to keep the items safe. Interior packing materials such as air pillows or packing peanuts can be used to ensure that products inside the box are separated from each other and from the corners, sides, top and bottom of the box. Which packing fill should you use? Air pillows are not only more cost-effective than packing peanuts but also provide a more effective cushion for your products. This will ensure your products make it to the customer safely and without any of those annoying styrofoam peanuts that somehow stick to everything. Also, air pillows can be reused or deflated, which makes this material easier to dispose of when the customer is finished with it. In conclusion, air pillows will save you money, are easy to dispose of won't leave your customer with an annoying mess.
The Proper Shipping Tape To Ensure Security
Choosing the right tape for your carton sealing application is a critical piece of the customer satisfaction pie and for your corporate efficiency. The right tape can assure product safety, cost-effectiveness and can enhance your branding. In many instances, choosing the tape comes down to plastic, PST or paper, water-activated tape. Think carefully about the pros and cons of each before making your all-important carton sealing decision. Certain tapes such as plastic, pressure-sensitive tape are not strong enough to withstand heavier items and do not provide a tamper-evident seal. Water-activated tape is made primarily of white or natural color Kraft paper tape and starch-based adhesive. It’s usually available in various widths and thicknesses and may contain layers with fiberglass reinforcement. When the adhesive is activated with water, it penetrates the carton material and the tape forms a permanent bond with the carton. The following are the benefits of utilizing the paper shipping tape:
- Theft: WAT discourages theft because it is difficult to remove without leaving obvious signs of tampering. It literally bonds to the carton.
- Cost-effectiveness: Since you only need one strip of tape to securely seal a carton, the per foot differential usually disappears as packers often use two to three strips of plastic PST.
- Climatic Conditions: WAT performs well under the extreme conditions of cold, heat, light, humidity and dirt, maintaining its bonding properties and the carton’s seal.
- Branding: Branding is a critical element for businesses growth. By using water-activated tape, a company is easily able to print its logo or a message right on the tape in either full color or black and white. This keeps your brand front and center when your carton arrives at your customer’s home or office.
Labels/Printer To Display Your Logo
To effectively display your brand, it's important to have your logo on the forefront. Business can purchase labels but that can cost a significant amount of money, especially when regularly sending out several packages. Your marketing efforts can be enhanced with WAT because you can have your logo or message printed directly on the Kraft paper tape that seals your package. With custom-printed water-activated tape, your company’s branding will be the first thing your customers see when they receive their package from you. This becomes your company’s “billboard”; the initial experience your customer has with your products.
You want this initial experience to be positive, for this becomes your customers’ first impression. Using printed gummed paper tape and the correlating water-activated tape dispenser sets a positive stage for delighting your customers as they open the carton and receive your products.
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