UPS Compass - Winter 2014 - (Page 5)

COVER fiRsT sTOp paCkaging shipping sUCCEss sTORiEs piCTURE iT customize, in any size Get more corrugated box packing tips hErE. Each product is much more likely to arrive intact when it's shipped in a container designed for its unique needs. A product that is delivered in perfect condition ensures customers' satisfaction and reinforces your brand's reputation for quality from the outside in. Business owners typically spend more time analyzing their products than the boxes, bags or cartons that protect their merchandise on its journey to consumers. That's usually not a problem - until goods are routinely damaged in transit or breakage rates start eating into profits. Then it's time to think inside the box and take a closer look at packing materials. Pallets, PackaGes or both? To determine the packaging that will best protect your merchandise, consider what you're selling. "The more sturdy the product, the less packaging will be needed," says Quint Marini, a UPS package engineering manager. Bags of bolts are unlikely to be damaged in transit, but a plasma TV needs extra TLC. Size matters, too. Small parcels are jostled as they travel along conveyor belts and interstates from warehouse to consumer. "Packaging has to be pretty robust" to withstand that rocky ride, Marini says. boLDLy branDeD enveLoPeS boLSter your image. Freight shipments are handled less, but they're moved by forklift, so the stability of the pallet is vital. Boxes and protective material that's ideal for pallets might prove less durable when individual boxes are shipped to customers. That's what a major cookware manufacturer discovered after receiving complaints about damaged enamel cookware. Engineers at the UPS Package Design and Test Lab who analyzed the packaging determined that it was ideal only for pallet loads. The engineers created a more protective corrugated prototype that used less packaging. The result was reduced breakage - and, ultimately, lower shipping costs. FraGile: more than handlinG With care Fragile items require extra attention, too. Framed artwork, for example, is both large and delicate. To protect it, UPS's packaging engineers designed cushioning that suspends frames from the sides and middle of cartons, "like a corrugated spring system to isolate it from the surfaces of the box," Marini says. Among Marini's packing tips: High-performance interior cushioning is often worth the expense. The most basic interior cushioning, polystyrene, can endure only one impact. It may if your business "products" include tax returns, legal paperwork, schematics or marketing plans, you don't need to protect them against breakage when you send them to clients. but you should protect them against blandness. branding your uPs shipping envelopes with your logo makes a strong impression on your recipients before they even see the contents. correspondence that arrives in a custom envelope attracts attention and prepares customers to receive your work product. "if you're sending something, why not reinforce your brand?" says Jeremy melis, a uPS segment market manager for professional services. uPS can incorporate any logo, text or custom artwork on its standard and legal-sized express envelopes, including its ecofriendly reusable envelopes. melis has been seeing more universities choose custom envelopes to send season tickets to their biggest fans. "it's not just, 'Here is your seat,' " he says. "tickets are about that unboxing experience. when they get a delivery with the school's logo on the envelope, it gets them fired up that much more." compass.ups.com COMpass � WinTER 2014 � pagE 5  http://www.ups.com/media/en/boxinfographic.pdf http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/bussol/browse/industries/customized-express-envelopes.html http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/bussol/browse/package-engineering.html http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/bussol/browse/package-engineering.html http://compass.ups.com/spruceup/ http://compass.ups.com/spruceup/ http://compass.ups.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of UPS Compass - Winter 2014

UPS Compass - Winter 2014

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