When you think about all the mail circulating worldwide, from businesses transporting goods for sale to individuals and companies ordering products, you will start to understand why packaging is so important. Every item must be handled and packaged for transport before it arrives at our doors. Here are four methods of packaging goods that help keep your products safe.
Packaging Specifically for Metals
Because metals have a special composition, they must be packaged in a specific manner. Not all metals are made the same; some are more corrosive than others. There aren’t as many non-corrosive metals as there are corrosive ones, so almost all metals will be packaged in a way that prevents corrosion as much as possible. You’ll find that some metals are packaged using bubble wrap, paper, and even oils.
Packaging for Medical Supplies and Drugs
Medical supplies and drugs are part of a unique category that must adhere to specific packaging and shipping requirements. Plastics and paper are most often used when wrapping disposable and non-disposable medical supplies, as these materials keep the medical tools sterile. Pharmaceuticals are packaged on a time scale, which affects how their packaging is classified. This is due to the half-life and shelf stability of most drugs. The materials used to package these items include plastics, paper, bubble wrap, or a combination of them all. Time-related packaging is mainly classified as primary, secondary, or tertiary, depending on the order of importance.
Plastic Packaging
Plastic packaging is used universally for anything and everything you can imagine. All plastic packaging is separated into one of two categories: food-grade and non-food-grade. Food-grade plastics are used for storing and packaging foods, whether they are canned goods that have long shelf lives or fresh vegetables, meats, and other food products that have short shelf lives.
Flexible Packaging
When you consider how to ship items that are oblong or need to travel quickly, you might think about flexible packaging. Anything that can be stretched, flexed, or folded can be considered flexible packaging. Shrink wrap and thick sheet plastic are often used to wrap packaging tightly to keep the items in place or act as a buffer against outside elements during transport from one location to another. Choosing flexible packaging is one of the most successful ways of making packaging more efficient.
These four methods of packaging goods are utilized by various industries worldwide. These methods are necessary for our goods to remain as secure, safe, and fresh as possible.