5 Automotive Packaging Solutions to Safeguard Your Products
When working in the automotive shipping industry, it’s important to ensure that any parts you ship arrive safe and sound. To do this, you’ll need to be careful when deciding which automotive packaging solutions your company will use.
Establishing safe shipping practices in the automotive industry is more complex than it may seem. You need to figure out what materials you want the shipping container to be made of, and what material you want to cushion the inside of that container with. To that end, we’ll be discussing some of the automotive packaging solutions, why your solution of choice is important, and how we at Ready-Made can help you.
Is Cushioning Automotive Packaging Necessary?
While forgoing cushioning automotive packaging as a cost-cutting measure may seem effective, it tends to cause more problems than it solves. Once a package has left your facility, you have no way to ensure its safety or that of its contents.
While nobody will damage your package on purpose, it could be dropped, tossed around by bumps in the road, or otherwise disturbed. If delicate auto parts are floating freely inside the shipping container, they’re in danger of breaking every time a disturbance happens. Cushioning packaging insulates the products you’re shipping, protecting them from the sudden shocks and constant vibrations that happen during transit.
Delivering broken parts can reflect poorly on your company, whether or not you were directly responsible. It’s best to prevent such incidents entirely by securing all of your shipments with the proper packaging
Types of Automotive Packaging Solutions
While there are a near-limitless number of automotive packaging solutions for you to pick from, there are a few that we feel work better than the alternatives. Keep reading for some basic information regarding five such options, as well as some extra details on the solutions we design at Ready-Made.
1. Air Cushions
Air cushions are a simple and effective automotive packaging solution, but they have a few shortcomings. They’re typically made of thin, disposable plastic and can be filled with air. When inflated, the packing does a surprisingly good job of absorbing sudden shocks, impacts, and vibrations that may occur during shipping.
Their main shortcoming, though, is that they’re prone to breakage. While they can absorb impacts, they’re still made of thin plastic, and that plastic will eventually tear or break. When this happens, the cushion will instantly deflate. If this happens to several cushions, your product may be left without protection mid-trip. While this is unlikely, it should still be taken into consideration.
Key points:
- Cheap and effective.
- Not built for durability, and don’t work at all when damaged.
- Though inexpensive to replace, they’re not reusable, either.
2. Packing Paper
Packing paper is another simple yet effective automotive packaging solution. Like air cushions, packing paper is affordable, but it’s much more sustainable for environmentally-conscious companies.
To use it, you just have to surround the product you’re shipping with paper, cramming extra paper into any remaining empty space. Because the paper is flexible, it bends and compresses as needed when encountering shocks during transit, keeping the auto parts inside perfectly safe. However, it may degrade if exposed to moisture during the shipping process, leaving your product far less protected.
Key points:
- Another budget-friendly option.
- Sustainable and eco-friendly.
- Can be compromised if exposed to moisture.
3. Wood
Though interior cushioning is a crucial part of automotive packaging, your choice of exterior shipping container materials is also important. Wood shipping containers are an excellent option for affordable shipping containers, but you will have to account for some of their weaknesses.
Though wood is generally durable, it’s important to inspect wooden crates for faults beforehand. If, for example, there’s a small crack in a key point on the crate, that crack will worsen every time the box is disturbed in transit. Over time, this could cause it to break entirely. This also means that wood containers can only be reused a limited number of times. Once a crack forms, you’ll have to retire it. However, their cost-effectiveness does still make them an appealing option.
Key points:
- Cheap and (generally) durable.
- Can be reused to an extent.
- Durability will be compromised after extensive use or damage.
4. Metal
If wood shipping containers are too fragile for your use case, consider opting for metal containers instead. The material is much more durable than wood, so it’ll last you far longer than just about any other shipping container on the market. Note, however, that this extra durability does make them significantly more expensive.
Key points:
- More durable than wood containers. (Will just dent instead of cracking.)
- A highly reusable, one-time investment.
- Much higher price point than some alternatives.
5. Thermoformed Plastic Trays
Finally, there are thermoformed plastic trays, our personal cushioning packing material of choice. Thermoformed plastic trays are affordable, extremely durable, and can be used inside shipping containers over and over to reduce waste. In addition, if you go with certain manufacturers, you can even have thermoformed plastic trays custom-made for your use case, ensuring that you have the best possible automotive packaging solution for the job.
Key points:
- Great cost-to-performance ratio.
- Fantastic durability and reusability.
- Can be custom-made to suit your needs.
Your Go-To for Automotive Packaging Solutions
If you’re interested in using thermoformed plastic trays for your automotive packaging needs, our team at Ready-Made can help. We offer only the best in American-made plastic trays, and allow you to choose from a wide range of options or create your own. If you’re interested in working with us, get in touch with us today!
Sources:
https://www.abbottaerospace.com/downloads/mil-hdbk-304c-package-cushioning-design/
