Partner Article

How to pick the right packaging supplies

The type of business a person (or a company) runs is the defining factor in the kinds of packaging it (or he, or she) will eventually use. There are suitable sizes of order, for instance, from both ends of the spectrum – and likely suitable types of packaging, from large scale special packaging to generic postal protection.

Choosing the right packaging supplies for your needs is a decision made on cost, too. It’s important to balance the protection and branding requirements of your items and your business, with the amount of money you have available to spend.

Small Business, Small Orders

Small businesses are not always in a position to make large orders – and more and more internet companies in particular are small companies run from home addresses. The small business owner needs to find a way of balancing his or her packaging requirements with her or his budget - and also with the physical size of the space in which those packaging items are stored.

It’s likely that the small business will outsourceits packaging supply to a company capable of providing small order quantities without penalising the end user. Good rates or discounts of order quantities at the low end of the spectrum allow the small businesses to grow into a larger concern – at which point, of course, larger quantities of packing may be sought. The company that provides hassle-free small packaging quantities is more likely to generate and retain interest from businesses in a transitional phase.

Outsourced Picking and Packing

A growing business usually reaches a point where it must make a decision about its current order arrangements. Whereas before it may have been okay to source small quantities of packaging and do all shipping in house, the growth of a small company necessitates that existing staff focus more on product development and/or sourcing, and less on the supply chain. This is the “warehouse decision” – does a small business try to found its own warehouse and directly employ management and picking staff; or does it take advantage of existing expertise and outsource storage and shipment to another company?

Increasingly, the answer is the latter. For less money the small company is able to take advantage of bespoke warehousing and the number of staff it needs to match its demand. All round companies, which provide packaging design and delivery services and logistical assistance, may provide an all in one solution for the business in question.

Packaging choices

While the overall nature of a company’s packaging is dictated by the kinds of items it supplies, there is room for manoeuvre within the class. Some packaging is overtly environmentally aware, for instance – useful for companies promoting an ethical awareness factor alongside their funky, small or independent vibe.

At the other end of the spectrum, small companies providing special products and services to big industries need packaging capable of protecting their interests. The most immediately obvious example of this is medical packaging, which needs to be sterile and potentially capable of keeping vital organic supplies cold for a number of hours.

Patrick Griffith has been working as the manager of a leading packaging company for ten years now. He loves to inform her readers about various packaging materials. In this article he is providing us with some valuable information on packaging supplies.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Keira Rose .