Packaging Mistakes to Avoid
October is officially here and that means it’s the spookiest season of the year. As you carve your pumpkins and go door to door seeking out sweet treats, you’ll also keep an eye out for ghouls and goblins lurking in the shadows. This time of year, things that go bump in the night are certainly frightening, but we can name one thing that’s even scarier: packaging mistakes. While there are a few packaging mishaps that won’t cause too much trouble, there are others that can become devilishly disastrous. Check out these spooky packaging mistakes and our tips on how to avoid them.
Bigger Isn’t Always Better 
As you prepare to package and ship out your items, you’ve probably considered buying just one box size. You’re likely thinking that if you just get the largest box available, you can throw anything you sell inside and it’ll fit, right? Technically, yes. But what happens to your smaller items as they sit inside that large box as it rides in a semi-truck trailer or in the back of a delivery van?
Oversizing your boxes is actually one of the biggest packaging mistakes to avoid. Even the gentlest journeys over land or sea can be tumultuous for your packages. If your products are sitting within an oversized corrugated container, they’ll be tossed all over the box, slamming into the sides each time the truck hits a bump or takes a sharp turn. You could solve this by stuffing the box with extra void fill – like kraft paper or air pillows – but those costs add up quickly when you don’t need them. Instead, right size your boxes for each group of products. In the long run, this reduces your expenses by minimizing product damage and allowing you to use only the appropriate amount of void full.
Tape Should Be Sticky, Not Tricky
As a distributor of all things packaging, we’ll be the first to tell you that there are many, many varieties of tape available to you. Hot melt tape, rubber tape, water-activated tape – the list goes on and on, so you might get overwhelmed with all the options and just choose something at random. We understand the desire to get the decision over with, but it’s also important to know that using the wrong adhesive is one of the spookiest packaging mistakes out there.
When you ship your items in corrugated boxes and cartons, the correct tape is essential to keeping those containers sealed tight. Different tapes are intended for different applications. For example, some tapes are better suited to sealing recycled corrugated material and others are designed to work best with virgin fibers. Thankfully, our team of dedicated account managers can help you find the ideal tape for your specific needs. This ensures that your boxes stay shut during the entire supply chain process and that you don’t lose money and products to shipping damage.
Think Inside the Box
In some ways, it feels like it’s human nature to over or under pack a shipping box. If a company or shipper is concerned about product safety, they tend to overstuff the box with void fills like kraft paper, air pillows, or even those pesky foam packing peanuts. While this may seem like the safest bet to avoiding that ghostly product damage no one wants, it also leads excess material cost in terms of packaging supplies and higher box and pallet weights – which mean additional shipping costs and less ability include more boxes on a pallet.
On the flip side, we find individuals who frequently under pack their boxes in order to reduce the cost of packaging materials and shipping weights. Oftentimes, an employee will simply place the product inside a box with no thought for in-transit protection or protective packaging supplies. This may save a few dollars and cents right away, but will almost certainly result in destroyed or broken items, and we all know how our customers feel about that. Save yourself the headache and heartache of angry clients, damaged products, insurance claims, and wasted time and money by utilizing the proper amount of void fill to protect your items each time they hit the road, air, or sea.
Treat Yourself to Good Packaging
Packaging mistakes can add up quickly and become a ghoulish burden on your business. We hope that after reading about these common packaging mistakes, you aren’t too scared and can ensure that you adjust any current practices that may be costing you. With a thorough understanding of your own packaging supplies and how to use them effectively, you'll be able to easily treat yourself to strategies that protect not only your products, but also your bottom line.
