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Packaging Design for Export Markets & Products

Packaging design for export products is a critical factor in many businesses, and considering the multifaceted nature of packaging, lots of factors must be understood and dealt with in product exportation. Export packaging should, for example, help to facilitate expediency of packing, storage, and transportation. At the same time, it needs to ensure safe and secure deliveries that arrive undamaged and without unnecessary delays. These aspects of export packaging highlight the importance of knowing how to choose the right design, packaging materials, and packaging for different modes of transportation or geographical markets. In order to make informed decisions it’s also valuable to be able to actually test packaging products and validate their performance. Fortunately, businesses today have a broad selection of solutions, including customized packaging designs and specialized materials that are ideal for different types of products. You can also find export packaging which complies with all necessary government regulations and is also easily accessible by businesses.

Global Packaging Company Partnership Benefits

In order to meet the needs of global manufacturers, packaging designers need to provide complete packaging solutions optimized for transport conditions through the entire supply chain. This ensures that global manufacturers have more control over various factors impacting total cost of logistics. The most significant ways costs are affected are: packing and handling, administration, warehousing and transportation, product protection, environmental concerns, and attention to safety and compliance issues regarding potentially dangerous goods. A reliable and resourceful packaging design partner will devise a multipurpose solution to those challenges that is also appropriate for all markets where you operate.

 

Packaging Materials

Export packaging material plays a key role to ensure your product arrives safe and secure at its final destination, and there is a wide range of packaging product options from which to choose. There are innovative packaging products engineered to protect exports from stacking pressures, vibrations, drops, and climatic stresses or moisture– as well as from bending, cutting, or compression. Different kinds of blocking materials are used in order to immobilize products and assure the right cushioning, while void-filling materials totally fill the empty spaces around the packed product for secure transport. A skilled packaging design company can help you save on handling, loading, and unloading costs with a foldable package, or can provide returnable or eco-friendly reusable packaging. The options are numerous, adaptable, and flexible – based on your particular preferences, goals, and needs.

Dangerous Goods Packaging

Dangerous goods classes
Exporters of potentially dangerous goods and products must use appropriate packaging to protect these nine different categories or classes of hazardous goods:

Class 1: Explosives
Class 2: Gases
Class 3: Flammable liquids
Class 4: Flammable solids, which are substances liable to spontaneous combustion and substances which, in contact with water, emit flammable gases.
Class 5: Oxidizing substances and organic peroxides.
Class 6: Toxic and infectious substances.
Class 7: Radioactive materials.
Class 8: Corrosives.
Class 9: Miscellaneous dangerous goods.

Dangerous Goods Packaging Groups
In order to safeguard hazardous goods, a global packaging designer will offer a full range of products that cover each of these three primary categories of packaging:

Packaging Group I (X): This is the sturdiest packaging, for the most dangerous goods that would include such substances as cyanide or infectious viruses. To qualify as acceptable these package designs must pass a drop test from 1.8 meters.
Packaging group II (Y): Packages in this category, which require a drop test of 1.2 meters, are appropriate for such things as batteries and explosives intended for air freight shipping.
Packaging group III (Z): Category III package designs for expert can safely handle a drop test of 0.8 meters and may be used for flammable fluids and for batteries that will be transported by truck.

While it is acceptable to use packaging from Group I to ship less dangerous products such as those that only require Group II or III standards, provided gross weight limits are not exceeded, more robust and secure packaging designs typically cost more than those in less stringent packaging groups. But a resourceful packaging company will match packages exactly in order to control or reduce packaging costs.

Packaging Testing Standards

To ensure that package designs are safe and are in full export compliance, industry standards for performance testing are enforced. Some of the most common standards used internationally are:
  • American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
  • International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
  • International Safe Transit Association (ISTA)

International Security Protocols
Keep in mind that each nation will enforce its own standards, and in order to comply with those the export packaging company must stay informed and updated about the standards of any country where you intend to ship products. Without this knowledge, export products can be subjected to severe penalties and fines as well as the risk of having your entire cargo sequestered and delayed. The final destination customer can also be subjected to expensive litigation, which can damage his reputation. The potential for this process is prevalent while shipping hazardous materials and dangerous goods, which are under greater scrutiny. However, by using a fully compliant export packaging product you can quickly clear all inspections and arrive on time at the final destination.

Transport Modes

Optimized packaging solutions and cost factors that contribute to the total cost of logistics will, of course, depend heavily upon the mode of transportation used, whether that is air freight, sea freight, rail transportation, overland trucking, or a combination of different transportation alternatives. With each form of transportation there are unique packaging design factors to consider.

Air Freight
Air freighting is ideal for those exporters who are challenged by short lead times and more stringent levels of fast, convenient customer service. The downside is that air transportation is the most expensive option, and the larger and heavier a package is, the more expensive it is to ship by air. A resourceful export packaging designer can, however, help mitigate these costs by providing a sturdy but lightweight packaging that can withstand lifting, dropping, pitching, and jarring that can occur during air transportation. Air schedules and routes may be limited, and there are factors such as customs and excise restrictions as well as airport taxes that also need to be considered.

Sea Transportation
Sea transportation is the most popular solution for those shipping large, bulky goods with longer, more flexible lead times. Shipping on the water takes the longest amount of time, but is the most affordable way to move bulk shipments of large volume between long distances. Monitoring and tracking shipments is more difficult using sea transportation, as the routes and timetables may be less flexible and convenient. There are also port duties and taxes, and delays and expenses related to off-loading and then coordinating inland transportation for door-to door delivery. Sea shipments are especially subjected to rolling, lifting, pitching, yawing, and jarring. The export packaging design must be able to withstand those forces, and must also withstand the stresses of shipping by rail or truck once the cargo reaches port.

Rail Freight
Rail transportation is one of the most affordable options for inland transportation, because it offers fast delivery of large volume shipments and is readily available to many destinations. If the final destination customer is not located near a rail freight depot, arrangements need to be made for the final leg of the trip that can cost both time and money. Rail freight is also subject to delays with rail timetables, and packages need to be protected from shunting shocks, jarring, and centrifugal forces.

Road Freight
Road transportation is the most common form of freighting, and road freight will be required to move the shipment from an air or sea port to its final inland destination. Trucking provides fast delivery, is ideal for short distance shipments, and is very cost effective. Shipments can be easily monitored and tracked from Point A to Point B. Shipments may be delayed due to traffic, inclement weather, or mechanical breakdowns. Goods are susceptible to jarring, centrifugal forces, and bumping or dropping when loading or traveling, and should be packaged safely and securely to prevent damage or loss.

Nefab Can Help Guide Your Business

Nefab is one of the best export packaging companies in the world. Our global footprint and depth of knowledge ensures that customers receive expert guidance and tailor-made packaging solutions. All Nefab export packaging is compliant with the IPPC phytosanitary regulations, and we offer a full range of packaging solutions. Those include plywood boxes, corrugated packaging materials, reusable export packaging, and many other options to meet your specific needs for export packaging and materials. We assist in selecting the right packaging for your product based on the mode of transportation and all rules and regulations. A partnership with Nefab for export packaging ensures that at every level and step of the process, from packing to arrival at the final destination. Time and logistics costs are reduced, while adhering to regulations and a high standard of customer service and satisfaction.

Find more infroamtion on our Export packaging page or Contact us

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