PACKING AND PACKAGING

Meaning of packing and packaging

Packing implies the act of covering up the item or product, to protect it from any damage,
whereas packaging refers to a set of activities, which involves designing a proper cover for the
product, which not only stores the product and protects it from any damage, but also attracts
customers with its appearance and instigates them to buy it.
What is packing?
Packing can be several things.
 Packing is the material used to pack and protect goods in a container especially in the
shipping world.
 Packing is the act carried out by a person or machinery to pack items for delivery.  A
person can also pack clothes and other goods for a holiday or moving to a new house.
 Packing is used in medical situations when hemorrhaging can be stopped by packing the
wound with gauze or other surgical materials.
 In the packing industry there are products like ‘packing tape’ that assist with the process
of packing.  Packing boxes and packing trays and pallets are also used.
 Packing refers to the process of packing certain products like meat, fruit and vegetables,
ready for future sales in the food industry.
 Packing provides the pressure required round the cylinder in the printing industry.
 Packing prepares a product for storage and a packing unit fits into a shipping container
ready to hold a standard size quantity of product.
 Packing is the act of packaging or preparing a product to be delivered, stored or sold.
Packing takes place to protect goods with packing or cushioning for protection.

What is packaging?
Packaging is not quite the same as packing but the two do go hand in hand sometimes.
 Packaging can also be used to protect products as they are being transported and
packaging will take place before packing the items into containers for shipping.
 Packaging is used to present goods in an appealing way to attract customers.  Goods that
are in eye catching packaging often sell better than the goods that are not in beautiful
packaging.
  Packaging can have specific purposes like sealing goods with other forms of protection. 
There are various products that are used for this kind of protective packaging like bubble
wrap, corrugated card, shredded paper and foam cushioning.
 Packaging is also the process of preparing goods to be wrapped ready for shipping or
other forms of transportation.
 Packaging is a specialised industry involving protection of goods and advertising of their
value through clever marketing tools.  Special packaging will consider the size of the
container and the needs of the contents for its protection.
 Packaging will take place in the factory before delivery to the shipping container for the
packing process.
 The function of packaging is to contain the goods, protect or preserve them and
ultimately to present them for the retail market.

Materials for packing and packaging

Packing materials
When you need to send a package or a pallet, you want of course to be sure that it is carefully
packaged, so the risk of damage is minimized. HST Groep has written the most used types of
packing materials down, so you can make an informed choice about which materials suit your
shipment best.
Cardboard
Cardboard boxes are probably the best known and most used type of packaging. Boxes made of
cardboard are available in many different shapes and sizes: from small boxes that are made to fit
through the mailbox, to big moving boxes and pallet boxes. In addition to boxes, use is often
made of (corrugated) cardboard on a roll. This kind of cardboard is often used to package
products that have an unusual size. Moreover, cardboard is often used to separate different
articles within a box, for example several bottles in one box.
Seal
The best known example of sealing material is plastic film. Stretch foil and shrink foil are often
used to seal a plurality of articles. Stretch foil owes its name to its elasticity: the products that are
sealed with stretch foil are tightly pressed to each other. Shrink foil gets heated when it is
wrapped around the product, causing the foil to melt around the products. This process is also
referred to as shrink sealing. Besides individual products, pallets are also often sealed before
loaded into a truck.
Plastic bags
Apart from the conventional plastic bags, there are also many different types of plastic bags that
have an easy closing mechanism. There are plastic bags with a zip or zipper, snap fastening,
adhesive closure or drawstring. Pouches that can be sealed are often referred to as “baggies”. In
addition to these various types of plastic bags, there are also isothermal pockets that are used to
maintain a products temperature. Sometimes, for the packaging of relatively small and/or fragile
products, so-called “foam sachets” or air cushions are used. These small bags look like bags
made of bubble wrap, with the main difference that the bubbles are on the outside of the bag, so
the products can be put easy into the bag, with the protection of regular bubble wrap.
Paper
Paper has many advantages as a package material: it’s easy, inexpensive and also
environmentally friendly. There are many different types of wrapping paper as a package
material:
 Bleached kraft is strong and versatile white paper which is suitable for almost all types
of shipments.
 Crepe paper is very thin and is often used to separate and/or to pack extreme shapes
easily and quickly. Although this type of paper is also suitable as box stuffing, this is
hardly done because it is relative expensive.
 Natron kraft is the well-known traditional brown packing paper and is still frequently
used to pack packets because of its robustness.
 Grey paper is the best known form of wrapping paper and is often used to pack packages
in an easy, fast and inexpensive way. In addition to this, grey paper is also regularly used
as stuffing material.
 Brown paper is basically the same as grey paper, except that it is a lot more robust and
has a different color.
 Oil paper is a kind of paper that has been impregnated with paraffin natron kraft, making
it waterproof. Oil paper is often used to package products which are sensitive to
corrosion.
 Courant paper is, as the name suggests, similar to newsprint. This kind of arborbent
printing paper is often used to package fragile products and fresh products in a safe,
hygienic and inexpensive way.
Stuffing materials
Sometimes it is not possible to find a box that is small enough to pack the article(s), but it is also
not desired that the product are lying loosely in the box and start moving during transport. In this
case, there is often chosen to use stuffing material to fill the rest of the cardboard box and to
minimize the chance of damaging the products. Below are the most commonly used filling
materials set put:
Foam-in-bag is a practical and compact foam protection that is precisely tailored. Foam-in-bag
is a closed pocket that automatically inflates. After a product is placed on the inflated bag, it
becomes a solid shape, the precise shape of the object that is placed on top of it. Some variants of
foam-in-bags work with heat, so that the bag hardens in the desired shape within fifteen seconds.
Foam-in-bag is a luxurious packaging method and is often used for expensive and fragile
products.
 Filled air is the famous plastic are bags or air cushions. These air bags have a buffering
and protective function and can be used quickly and easily.
 Styrofoam is a very well-known kind of stuffing. Many products, for example
televisions, are packaged with styrofoam wrapped around the corners or borders to
protect it. Styrofoam, or polystyrene, is a light and durable stuffing material.
 Foam chips or foam peanuts, are perhaps the best known form of loose stuffing material.
The eight-shaped foam chips are being produced in a biodegradable way more often and
are therefore more environmentally friendly than they used to be.
 Wood wool or excelsior is also a loose filling material, but it is more environmentally
friendly than most other forms. Besides this, is wood wool an economical and decorative
stuffing material and is often used to stuff luxury products, for example wine boxes.
 Paper wool is the cheaper version of wood wool. Like the wooden version, this material
is also environmentally friendly, but is less luxurious.
 Paper fiber or fiber board, are zigzag folded paper strips. These are recyclable and
environmentally friendly.
 Silica gel grains are grains that can often be found in small bags in shoe boxes. These
granules have a high degree of moisture absorption, making them a popular item to put in
boxes that need to travel long distances.
Bubble wrap
Bubble wrap is a foil that is often wrapped around fragile products for protection. Because
bubble wrap foil can be reused often, it is a sustainable packing material, as long as you don’t
pop the bubbles of course.
Foam foil
Foam wrap is just like bubble wrap a shockproof and scratch-resistant coating that is often put on
or around fragile products and delicate surfaces, such as mirrors, before they are packed in
boxes. Foam foil is elastic, allowing it to be wrapped around any shape, making it a popular
packaging material.

Rigid boxes
I’m sure you’ve always wondered the type of box they used to package iPhones or those luxury
retail products such as Rolex, Tiffany & Co and Marc Jacobs. You have a sense that it’s a type of
cardboard but still wasn’t sure because of its durable and premium appearance. This type of
cardboard material is called a rigid box.
A rigid box is made out of highly condensed paperboard that is 4 times thicker than the
paperboard used in the construction of a standard folding carton. The easiest real-world example
of rigid boxes are the boxes that hold Apple’s iPhones and iPads, which are 2 piece setup rigid
boxes.

Compared to paperboard and corrugated boxes, rigid boxes are definitely among the most
expensive box styles. The rigid boxes usually do not require dies that are expensive or massive
machinery and are often hand-made. Their non-collapsible nature also gives them a higher
volume during shipping, which easily incurs higher shipping fees.

These boxes are commonly used in merchandising cosmetics, jewelry, technology, and high-end
luxury couture. It is easy to incorporate features such as platforms, windows, lids, hinges,
compartments, domes, and embossing in a rigid box.

Need for packing and packaging materials

Provides Physical Protection
The primary purpose of packaging is to provide physical or barrier protection for your food
products. This may include:
 Protecting against breakage from being dropped, crushed or vibrated during transport.
 Guarding your products from the effects of the environment, such as changing
temperatures, humidity and light.
 Preventing an infestation from bugs or micro-organisms and contamination from
chemicals or toxins as well.
Your packaging must also protect your food products from premature spoilage, which can
shorten their shelf life. If you’re trying to identify the best packaging for candy or the best
packaging for snack goods, consider an advanced packaging process that will prolong the shelf
life of your products. We use nitrogen flushing to remove oxygen from our packaging, which
prolongs the time your products will stay fresh on store shelves.
This innovative technique has an added benefit as well. Air can make certain individual food
items such as nuts stick together, which can be problematic if your snack food product line
includes bags of peanuts or cans of cashews. When we remove oxygen from your packaging and
flush with nitrogen, it prevents your snack goods from sticking to one another so your customers
can enjoy a bag or canister of individual nuts instead of a cluster of them.
Prevents Loss
In addition to keeping your candy and snack foods physically safe, your packaging has to keep
your products safe from theft and must deter people from altering your products without your
knowledge before they are purchased. This means your packaging must be tamper-resistant to
guard against loss.
Consolidation:
It is the main reason for packaging, when you have lot stuff or a product you have to pack it to
take it to the retailer. For example you have 12 cans of any beverages, how you would take those
12 cans to the consumer, so you consolidate those cans into a nice 12 pack packaging. It is easier
to ship, to store, to display this kind of product on a shelf rather than as the individual cans.
Protection:
The second reason of packaging is protection, it is very important to save your product from
breaking, being tempered or getting bad. Many products would have spoiled if they were not
packaged properly. For example milk, if you left milk on the counter without good packaging, it
will go bad very quickly, therefore it is important to put it into packaging to stay for a longer
period of time. You can bubble wrap packaging, put them in to form, plastic or Styrofoam
containers.
Information:
The other major reason for packaging is to convey information to the consumer. Law requires
many information and labels on food packaging. Producers will provide this information on there
on but they also have to put on food packaging an ingredients, nutrition information, name and
address of manufacture, universal product code, net quantity of the product, serving size, how to
store product, best before date, cooking instructions and health warning. All of these are the
requirement of the food packaging.

Brand identification:
Very effective branding will include packaging and thus certain package products even without a
label you cannot identify the brand. For example you can identify Coco cola is the bottle
anywhere because that is very distinctive. So packaging identify the product for the consumer, it
stands out from the competition and when you are able to do this you have a proprietary design,
that protected and no other manufacturer can copy that.
So when you want a package that stands out, that catches the consumer’s eye and that identifies
the product, you should make it colorful and eye catching. Make the product name prominent on
the label or the package itself and by doing so you can effectively identify your brand. The other
way is to use the language of the area where you are selling your products, it is essential to create
several language versions of the packaging content by taking help from certified language
translation company that offers Thai Packaging translation services online for you to translate
your content accurately into any language you demand for.
Sales promotion:
The last reason for packaging is promotion; it acts as a silent sales person. Packaging can be that
last piece of promotion to encourage the consumer to purchase the product. it is another way to
promote and advertise your brand. Limited additions packaging is also promotional tools, this is
the way to make the urge of the consumer to buy your product.
Another way to encourage the consumer to buy your product is to state that your packaging is
environmentally friendly. Now days many consumers are looking for environmentally friendly
packages, they are not looking for packaging that have fifteen layers of plastic, that is annoying
for consumers.

Selection for packing and packaging materials

Packaging Budget
Before you begin any packaging endeavor, you must determine the scope of your budget. This
will determine what kinds of materials you can use, and what you can spend making your design
as enticing as possible.
Materials like glass and natural fibers look terrific and are visually appealing to consumers, but
are not cheap, either to manufacture or to ship. Glass is heavy and breakable, leading to shipping
and storage concerns, and may lead to increased consumer prices. Sometimes a consumer is
willing to pay more for greater perceived value, but sometimes that increase in price is not worth
the cost of additional packaging.
There are many budget-friendly packaging options, too. Food-grade cardboard is a relatively
inexpensive material that offers reasonable crush protection and interesting design opportunities.
Plastic is not the most environmentally-friendly option, though is often recyclable, can be made
from recycled materials, or both. Talking that up on the packaging itself can be an incentive to
the consumer to feel good about buying your product.
Finding the right balance of what you want to spend on creative and in production versus what
you’ll need to spend on materials will largely affect the success of your project.

Packaging Transportation
Once you have decided on the package design, it’s time to consider function. No matter how
amazing the design, if the package doesn’t function properly, it will do you no favors.
An amazing design that tells consumers it was made for them but can’t travel from your facility
to the shelves without being damaged is a package that is worthless.
If your product is bulky, delicate, or any kind of unusual shape, it’s important to consider
materials that are designed for strength.
 
Products with a long shelf life that need to stand out even after a long time on the shelf need
special considerations, too. A superior print finish, such as with a UV treated high-gloss, liquid-
based coating could do just the trick.
It’s always more cost-effective in the long run to pay for adequate protective package design in
the first place than to replace damaged goods later on. Shoot for the middle ground sweet spot
between when the cost of product damage equals the cost of protective packaging and you will
be in good shape to satisfy your production budget as well as your customers.

Packaging Materials & Sustainability

When it comes to packaging materials, it’s a good rule of thumb to treat your products like you
would treat yourself. Just as you would not want to live in a home that is too big or too small, the
right space for the right packaging has great effect on the end result.
Shrink Films and many other flexible packaging materials are lightweight and most yield
excellent printing results. The cost from a freight and shipping standpoint is also ultra-favorable
for businesses when compared to heavier, bulkier packaging. Additionally, there are film options
available to help your brand promote sustainability with recyclable packaging and less packaging
waste.
Flexible films are best used for food, dairy, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, hardware items and
retail products to protect, extend shelf life and provide an attractive package on and off the shelf.
Carded packaging options are flexible and ideal for produce, fragile or items that need to be seen
to assist in a sale. They are also an excellent option for hang-tab displays in the retail
environment. They included the following types;
 Blister Packs
Blister Pack is the name associated with several types of pre-formed plastic packaging which are
commonly used in the packaging process of products such as consumer goods, perishables, and
pharmaceuticals.
  Clamshells
Of all the carded packaging supplies, clamshell packaging is perhaps the easiest to use.
Clamshells look a bit like their namesake as they are made from two identical "shells" that are
connected on one side with the other having small hinges that allow it to lock shut. 
  Skin Packs
Skin packaging (also known as skin packs), is a carded packaging supply that places the product
contained within on a piece of corrugated cardboard. A slim sheet of see-through plastic which
covers the product and cardboard backer is then applied.
E-Commerce packages are all about ease of use from the consumer standpoint. There are
excellent flexible bagging options available today that can protect your product in transit while
being easy to open and dispose of.
You will not regret taking the time to get a feel for the different materials available to you. Find
out works best and make it one of the foundations of your packaging decisions.
 
Packaging Size Matters
If you have a product that comes in four different sizes, you may well be able to reduce costs by
designing two different sized packages instead of four individual sizes by being economical with
the dimensions and design.
Being creative in this way and incorporating cost saving measures such as this can ensure the
integrity of the product you ship. As an added bonus, you will save both time and money, and
will also ensure consistency throughout your products.

Packaging Design and Branding

While it’s important to consider budget, transportation, materials, and package design and to
incorporate each of these elements into your overall package design, it’s key to keep your
audience at the forefront of each of these decisions.
Keeping your target audience at the forefront of your design along the way will help you meet
overall success with package design.
The type of material you choose to use in your packaging design is a part of your brand, so any
disconnect between your materials or design and your brand’s message will confuse consumers
and make them lose trust.
To appeal to your customers, you have to research and understand them enough before you make
these key marketing and branding decisions.
Market research is a great way to learn what your target audience values and decide how to pair
those details with your budget, transportation, and sustainably needs and goals. Always listen to
your key demographic and cater to their needs specifically.
Packaging Possibilities
There are endless options for packaging material available. The only limitations are those of
budget, sustainability, and perhaps your imagination. Be sure to review all aspects of packaging
material options and come up with a workable plan that keeps your key demographic as its
center.
 
Most importantly, make sure your brand’s message is conveyed to your audience with any
package you put on the shelf.
By taking all of the dynamics above into consideration, you will be well prepared to create
beautiful, sustainable, eye-catching and quality packaging. This will ensure that the entire
process of choosing the right packaging for your company is a seamless and productive process.
In the end, you will be sending out only the best packaging for your company’s high quality
products.
 

Methods of packing and packaging materials

Methods
 Field Packing – products are placed in their shipping materials during the harvesting
process. The filled containers are then taken to a precooling facility where field heat is
removed. Field packing is a common practice for strawberries as this method ensures
optimal freshness.
 Shed Packing – products are processed and packed indoors at a central location. Produce
is brought in from the field to the packing shed in field crates, bins or trucks. Products are
precooled at the shed.
 Repacking – products are taken out of one container, regraded and placed in another.
This might often occur at store or distribution warehouse level, when smaller containers
are required for consumers.

Different Types of Packaging Methods

Different types of packaging methods are:
     Anti-corrosive Packaging
     Pharma Packaging
     Plastics Packaging
     Flexible Packaging
 
1) Anti-corrosive Packaging
Anti-corrosion refers to the protection of metal surfaces from corroding in high-risk (corrosive)
environments.
Products can be protected against corrosion and avoid the tedious sequences using anti-corrosive
packaging. Materials such as VCI bubble film, paper, oil, chips, and bags that are used as a part
of anti-corrosive packaging helps to prevent goods from exposing to various climate zones.
Moreover, this packaging can be used in the scenarios such as export of goods over long
distances, long-term storage of metal goods, and metals that are sensitive for corrosion. Several
companies including VCORR Packsys Pvt. Ltd with product range VCI Oils, Stretch Films, and
Bio-Degradable VCI Film etc provide anti-corrosive packaging.

Methods used for Anti-corrosive packaging are:

•    Volatile Corrosion Inhibitors (VCI) Papers and Films
•    Aluminum barrier foil in combination with desiccants
•    Coating methods (oils or liquids)
Anti-corrosive Packaging can be used in the following cases:
•    Exporting/shipping goods by sea or moisture prone environments
•    Storing metallic goods for extended periods of time
•    Manufacturing metal goods sensitive to corrosion
•    Shipping any unassembled parts
•    CKD shipment e.g. of cars
•    Temporarily laying of machines, planes
2) Pharma Packaging
Pharma Packaging, also known as the drug packaging, is the packaging processes used for
pharmaceutical operations involving production through distribution channels to the end
consumer. The packaging of Pharma products provides containment, drug safety, identity
convenience of handling and delivery. The major role of pharmaceutical packaging is to provide
life-saving drugs, surgical devices, blood and blood products, nutraceuticals, powders, liquid and
dosage forms, solid and semisolid dosage forms. This kind of packaging is involved in dosing,
dispensing etc.
Some companies such as Groninger & Co. GmbH with a product range of Syringe Filling
Machine, Filling Line Isolators, Filling Pre-Sterilized Containers, and Vial Processing Machines
etc provides Pharma packaging.
Methods used for Pharma Packaging are:
Different methods used for Pharma packaging are:
•    Primary Packaging
•    Secondary Packaging
•    Tertiary packaging
We can find Pharma packaging in a wide variety of packages. Some of the common primary
packages are:
•    Blister packs
•    Bottles
•    Timed Dosing
•    Counterfeiting
3) Plastics Packaging
Plastics Packaging is used for packaging a variety of items i.e. fragile or non-perishable
products. Plastics packaging materials are used to cover the plastic related materials or products.
Most Plastics Packaging companies recycle waste or scrap plastic for re-use in their own
facilities, and even offer alternatives.
Without packing, these sophisticated goods with low shelf life will be easily affected by climatic
conditions and eventually result in their malfunction or destruction. This packaging is done in
such a way that no air or dust can sneak in and affect the goods.

Trends in Plastics Packaging are:

   •   Changing consumer habits
   •   Increased urbanization and growing young population
   •   Increased use of home and personal care products
   •   Developments in the field of polymer science
   •   Increased investment in food processing and production in China
   •   Increased preference of plastic pouches, by consumers and retailers
Benefits of Plastics Packaging:
Here are the benefits of choosing plastics packaging:
•    Lightweight
•    Durable
•    Sustainable
•    Cost-effective
•    Versatile
4) Flexible Packaging
Flexible packaging can be made with flexible materials that can be packed, sealed and can retain
the freshness of its content. Be it moulding the packages into a variety of shapes or preserving
the flavor and safety of food or logistical aspects, all are covered under the flexible packaging.
This is the major benefit that makes flexible packaging the first choice for food packaging. The
package can last for a very long time; if it is stored in the right conditions. Flexible packaging is
environmentally friendly as it uses less material and less wastages to make it.
Why Flexible Packaging?
Flexible Packaging can be defined as any package whose shape can be readily changed.
Choosing the flexible packaging,
•   Adds value and marketability to food and non-food products alike from ensuring food safety
and extended shelf life by providing heat seal, barrier protection, ease of use, press-to-seal and
high-quality print finishes.
•    This type of packaging produces a fraction of waste during the printing process, overall
reducing landfill discards.
•    Improvements in productions processes have reduced water and energy consumption,
greenhouse gas and emissions and volatile organic compounds.
•    Finally, lighter-weight flexible packages result in less transportation-related energy and fossil
fuel consumption, and environmental pollution.
Choosing these methods will provide the ideal results for your products. Keeping abreast of these
packaging methods will give your products a better shelf life and a competitive edge in the
market. Many companies are using these methods to create awareness among their customers
and help them in increasing their sales. Adopting these packaging methods can draw attention to
latest trends to attract the consumers. Innovative packaging designs can also maximize the
profitability of the product.

Packing and packaging machines

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Marking and labelling

Marking and labeling are important steps when preparing a dangerous good package for
transportation. Labels often communicate the hazards associated with the package, and markings
ensure the shipment is handled so that spills, accidents and exposure are prevented. As such, they
must be applied appropriately, reflect correct information, and comply with the regulations.
Marking
Marking means a descriptive name, identification number, instructions, cautions, weight,
specification, or UN marks, or combinations thereof, required on outer packaging of hazardous
materials or dangerous goods.
The marking required:
1. Must be durable, in English, and printed on or affixed to the surface of a package or on a
label, tag, or sign.
2. Must be displayed on a background of sharply contrasting color;
 3. Must be unobscured by labels or attachments; and
4. Must be located away from any other marking (such as advertising) that could
substantially reduce its effectiveness.

Specialized markings

There are specialized markings that you should be aware of as well. Among them are:

For liquid hazardous materials or dangerous goods:

Labeling
Labels identify the specific primary and subsidiary hazards posed by the materials in a dangerous
goods package. These methods of communication rely on specific colors, codes, and pictograms
to clearly and immediately identify the type of materials in the package.
49 CFR 172.406 states labels must be printed on or affixed to a surface (other than the bottom)
of the package or containment device containing the hazardous material and be located on the
same surface of the package and near the proper shipping name marking, if the package
dimensions are adequate.