

A Blog about Packing and Moving
2020 was a crazy year for everyone. Never before has our new age economy have to come to terms with such a daunting amount of changes and economic twists and turns. Consequently, the eCommerce industry has absolutely taken off in the past year. While this industry was steadily growing for the past 10 years or so, the pandemic and related factors have exemplified what it means to be an eCommerce business and shown how profitable and convenient this industry can be. One thing I noticed is that there were many small attempts at various eCommerce businesses, but many small business owners seemed to struggle with the details and complications that arise from attempting to own and operate your own eCommerce business. I’ve made this list as a few tips and tricks to help guide you in your first eCommerce business. Time to get in on the action!
My first tip to you is to invest in some quality packing and shipping supplies. I’m talking boxes, poly bags, packing tape, bubble wrap, all of that stuff. Obviously, you don’t need to buy all of these things, but I wanted to give you a few examples of how important your packaging and shipping supplies are going to be. After all, this package going out to your customers is likely the only physical interaction your customers will have with you; you need to make sure you get it right. Different packages or boxes are good for different products. For example, clothing or similar items don’t need a cardboard box or something like that. Just use poly bags and a weather proof package and that will do the trick! More fragile or bulky items may need a box of some sort, so be sure to pack lots of packing materials like bubble wrap or packing peanuts in the box as well. Remember, this is likely the only physical interaction you will have with your customer, and it’s important to keep a healthy relationship with these customers.
Another tip I have for you is to take advantage of all the resources available to you online. Since you are owning and operating your own eCommerce business, the internet is going to be your best friend! There are so many different ways to get started with your business and start selling things online to people all over the world. There are specific apps and programs that make building your website, platform, and business easier and more efficiently. Certain programs like Shopify are designed for people who don’t necessarily know how to write code or work with designing websites in any complicated ways. This program is perfect for me, since I am a complete neanderthal when it comes to working with computers.
Another helpful tip is to, once you’ve established your website and store online, enable tracking via google analytics or something similar. This can help you determine who your customers are and what they like about your product. Knowing more information about your customers will help you create ads that specifically target them and will generate more traffic on your website, which translates to more sales. Gathering data on your customers will allow you to create ads through Facebook, Instagram, or other social media that you know your customers are regularly using. This is a super good way to generate more sales!
Bubble wrap has long been one of the most important packaging materials for the past 60 years. Thanks to its flexible design, its flexibility ensures that you can use it as a protection device for valuables of any size or shape. Even though bubble wrap can protect goods from damage during transport, it is essential to consider its effects on the environment. Is bubble wrap able to be recycled, for instance? In this article, you will find a look at eco-friendly alternatives to bubble wrap and find out if bubble wrap is environmentally friendly.
Bubble Wrap: What Is It?
The product was initially named "Bubble Wrap," and many millions of shipments have been protected with it worldwide since then. The first computers that IBM shipped were expensive, heavy, and bulky. It was difficult to preserve these shipments from damage because the only protection available was paper, sawdust, and horsehair. All of which were unsuitable in a blatant manner. Developed by Sealed Air Corporation in 1957, Bubble Wrap, a trademark still used today, revolutionized the container packaging industry when thin sheets filled with air pockets were invented.
Bubble Wrap is Made of What?
It is important to note that innovation played a significant role in creating the trademarked product. It is not unusual for each bubble wrap sheet to have thousands of tiny air pockets sealed with plastic. To protect your valuables during shipping, a layer of air pockets serves as a protective barrier, shielding them from bumps that are inevitable while sending packages.
Is Bubble Wrap Recyclable?
It is possible to recycle bubble wrap in your ordinary recycling container, just like you do with any other plastic. As a result, it will be collected and delivered to a facility that will recycle it to make clothing and garden furniture. It is worth mentioning that plastic can even last for decades or centuries after it is created, even though it is recyclable and biodegradable.
Bubble wrap is one of the most reliable forms of packaging protection on the market today. It can be used to protect the latest technology as well as fine jewelry. There have been several changes in recent years that have increased the scrutiny of the industry. It wasn't long ago when Amazon, an international online retailer, introduced non-recyclable bubble wrap envelopes. This led to a media uproar in the U.S. Having endured heavy backlash from the public, and they changed their packaging from cardboard and paper to a more sustainable alternative.
Despite that, we remain faced with a problem: due to a lack of recycling and the proliferation of bubble wrap, we contribute to a plastic waste pandemic, a polluting effect on the oceans, and an escalating landfill problem.
Nevertheless, you should make sure that you consider the environmental impact before using oil-based plastics as a package protection material. With every package that you send, you can contribute to saving the planet. There are so many eco-friendly alternatives available that you can choose from, many of which are already made from recycled materials.
Predictive maintenance is something that the packaging industry absolutely needs. When you look at machinery maintenance for packaging, most think of preventative forms of this. This is of course, one of the most important parts. It basically helps you handle the problem before it become as a problem. When you work with this, it basically allows for the machinery to keep and start running once more. They also offer you the least amount of downtime as a firm, allowing you to get more packaging out than ever before.
Basically, predictive maintenance is a kind of packaging type of machinery that lets the machinery, along with the assets that are related, get monitored through a computerized, manual process that lets you predict the assets that will need to be repaired or maintained in some way or another.
Why is it important you might ask? It’s responsible for keeping everything up and running. That’s because, it lets you replace everything before it becomes an issue. So let’s say you’ve got two companies competing in consumer goods. You can use predictive maintenance to handle the problems before a packaging line goes down.
Instead of needing to shut down, contact someone to fix this, and then wait before it’s resolved, this maintenance plan beforehand all make sure that all of the dynamics necessary for a packaging line are implemented before you even start, offering the best, and most important predictive maintenance that’s out there, and that’s possible.
While there is some irregularity, if you monitor this, then everything runs under optimal conditions. You can put together the best equipment numbers, identify problems within the machines, and everything comes together at an expected baseline, and is adjusted before everything fails. This saves you major costs down the line, and also doesn’t delay shipment in businesses such as this.
There are a few ways for you to use this. First, you can set up machinery that has the predictive maintenance naturally built into there, and then, you can focus on the metrics that are necessary for identifying various issues.
When your computer is able to find the irregularities that are present there, and then, through the use of metrics, they can identify this, and then, when the anomalies are taken care of, then the operator is notified. Then of course, maintenance that’s done by technicians look to identify everything that must be replaced, or what needs to occur. Not every single packaging machinery uses the predictive maintenance that’s built within it, and sometimes, this is augmented, but that’s not always true.
The best way to actually handle this though, is through working with a technician, as they can look at the required metrics, and anything else that they need to watch out for, setting up the functionality of this, and also track performance metrics that you have. The numbers are then recorded, moving away from the baseline, identifying the areas of issue, and what changes need to occur.
This means that the technician helps to figure out the best repairs, tweaks, or your replacements that must be done before the item breaks down, offering you a chance to decrease this downtime along the line of packaging, saving you a lot in costs that are there, and also will help with decreasing a lot of problems down the road. So definitely consider this if you’re looking to beef up your system, as it can help with improving the whole thing, and also prevents the worst from happening as well.
The right packaging choices not only matter with customers, but also the warehouse that you ship out from. Your packaging choice impacts the floor design.
For instance, if you have ten different boxes of ten different sizes and shapes, it can be cumbersome to put this together. Having them lined up in a haphazard way will minimize efficiency and create problems with speed and flow.
The other problem is that if your packaging supplies are not organized, it impacts the stacking ability. When improperly stacked, the items will topple over, spilling before it even leaves the door. Packaging with the appropriate stacking abilities will make it easier to get things out the door.
In turn, this also improves the flow of goods, allowing for faster, efficient experiences that improve the speed of your items, and with packaging choices, impacting the flow of these goods and designs will ensure that the items are stronger, more fortified, and better for you to use as well.
There's some supply formats that are not properly optimized, and a lot of these need to be storage optimized.
Flat pack is the way to go. This is where the boxes are in a flat shape, and from there built to craft the item inside. a flat pack is faster, more efficient, but does require a labor station to put it together. However, when compared to built out boxes, it takes up less space.
Some companies have also used the built out dispensers that are ergonomic. It does save time on the assembly stage, so if you’re worried about it taking too long, then you might want to use this. If speed is more of a focus, have the boxes premade, but if you can sacrifice a little bit of speed for less warehouse space, then consider using the flat packed system.
A lot of auto labeling and packing stations have grown in many cases. There's now supplies designed for minimal motion.
Auto labeling allows for the products to be automatically labeled. Supplies and packaging stations are also making it so that the items get out to the customers without having to throw this around.
Another thing that’s also come out is mobile packaging carts and pods. These are pods and carts that drive around, getting everything that they need. This is good for those areas where you don’t want a bunch of workers trying to find the box. The cart just owes over, gets the right box, and goes from there. It also reduces errors too, since you can get the correct one, and also ensures that inventory is not compromised because one person is grabbing all of the boxes, making sure that’s there.
Putting together the packaging in a manner that makes it easy to go around and get packaging to the appropriate places is good.
Having it set up in a manner where people know where to go, and are able to effectively get the packaging put together, and organized in an appropriate way, is great. Doing so helps keep labor retention high, since people aren’t flustered by the current stream of packaging. It also ensures proper safety, so you’re able to minimize problems, and from there, improve the experience.
Your packaging can help improve efficiency in a warehouse, and offer faster outputs. Consider this when building your packaging experience, and choose your boxes wisely for your own success, and the success of the assembly line.