Details to Include When Requesting Tertiary Packaging Solutions
Are you requesting bids from potential contract packaging partners? Get the most accurate quote by including these details in your request.
Are you requesting bids from potential contract packaging partners? Get the most accurate quote by including these details in your request.
Tertiary packaging is critical to ensuring products arrive on time, without damage, ready to use or sell. This type of packaging also requires careful planning. When you’re requesting bids from various contract packaging partners, make sure you include this information:
The exact product or products you’re shipping largely determine the size, cost, and type of tertiary packaging needed. Specific industries also have compliance standards for safe shipping, especially aerospace manufacturing and military/defense contracts. Meeting mil-spec standards can affect everything from the materials used for the packaging to the markings on the exterior. Even if you’re not shipping your products to the defense industry, you don’t want insufficient designs putting your products at risk.
The physical characteristics of the product also guide the design of the packaging, including its:
Since tertiary packaging is used for bulk transport, it generally contains multiple units or products in each compact design. Combining items in the same crate or pallet can help reduce shipping costs, not to mention the security of each primary package.
Consider your overall volume and the size of each package, too. If you’re shipping large products in small volumes, it may make more sense to limit the number of combined items per package. For small parts, you may be able to combine hundreds of individual units per crate or pallet. It’s all about balancing the weight, protection requirements, and the size of each product you’re shipping.
If you’re shipping the same products, it’s worth designing custom packaging that can be easily reused. You can enjoy savings on design work for disposable packaging and from reuse opportunities for more durable materials. Making the most of every dollar in your shipping budget means getting creative, and that starts with assessing how many unique designs are needed to protect your products. You may be surprised at what small tweaks your provider can make to create a nearly universal design that fits most or all of your product line.
Most manufacturers have tight budgets for packaging materials, but working around these limitations shouldn’t put your products at risk of damage. The key is balancing the necessary features with optional upgrades, such as reusable materials or extra labeling. Mention your budget from the beginning to avoid extensive reworking later to meet any significant restrictions.
Each shipper has their own restrictions and requirements for tertiary packaging. Choose a packaging partner that already meets the standards of the major freight carriers. This is especially important for products shipped through any defense channels, since many mil-spec packaging codes are relevant to shipping requirements.
Dealing with surges and lulls in demand isn’t always easy. It’s best to ship finished products for the final staging process before they’re needed, especially if you need assembly and/or kitting services. However, you can’t ship all of those completed packages back and forth and still maintain healthy profit margins. Interim storage at the point of final packaging is the most efficient way to prepare every product for its final destination when it’s needed most. So, find a provider that offers additional value-added services, including warehousing and inventory management.
Export Corporation is your solution for custom tertiary packaging. We hold multiple certifications, including CMMC Level II and ISPM-15, follow an ISO 9001:2015-compliant quality process, and have nearly 80 years of experience designing solutions for challenging products. Every design is custom-built, compliant with industry standards, and tested in-house for quality. Plus, we provide industry-leading turnaround times, competitive pricing, and value-added capabilities, including inventory management, assembly and kitting, and warehousing. While we don’t offer logistics/shipping, we have experience working with most major freight carriers.
Visit our website to learn more about our packaging solutions, or contact us today to get started with a project consultation.
Send us details about a packaging project you need, and a member of our expert team will be in touch.
