Whether you realize it or not, how your sheet metal product is packaged is a critical element of its success. Damaged products from underpackaging or, conversely, excessive packaging waste from overpackaging can turn customers off. Those customers may share their experience with others, which can cost you sales.
If your product has a polished or painted surface that can easily be scratched, proper packaging is even more critical. When it comes to packaging, you typically have two choices: you can package it yourself or send it to a contract packager.
Impact Of Packaging In-House
Packaging your own products may require higher upfront costs if you need to purchase packaging machines for automated packaging. If you have the money to invest, you can purchase a converting machine to turn corrugated sheets into boxes. If you aren’t packaging thousands of parts, purchasing boxes and manually packing them is also an option. Choosing to package in-house requires having adequate space to have a packaging line and to store packaging materials. It also involves hiring staff and training them to do the packaging.
Impact Of Using A Contract Packager
Using a contract packager is great if you don’t have the space, resources, and know-how to do your own packaging. It also means that you will be working with experienced packaging experts that can ensure your product is properly packaged to avoid damage. There is much more to packaging a product than just placing it in a box.
Packaging that is optimized uses less packaging materials (less cost and better environmentally) and protects the product from damage through its anticipated journey. Less packaging can also reduce shipping costs.
One downside of using a contract packager is that your products have to be moved from your sheet metal manufacturer to your contract packager without being damaged. This also can add days to your time-to-market.
But what if there was another way?
Sheet Metal Manufacturer With Packaging Expertise
If your sheet metal manufacturer has packaging expertise, you can have the benefits of a contract packager without losing time or risk damage shipping between two companies. At Tusco Manufacturing, we have these capabilities.
We have invested in a Packsize EM6 that allows us to create packaging specific to your product. The machine allows us to make boxes of any size to fit your immediate packaging needs. Boxes will be properly sized for packaging your products for shipment, and therefore, less void fill is needed (better for the environment). Reducing wasted space inside packages means that more boxes go on a skid, and more boxes fit on the truck for shipment, reducing the effective shipping costs. With properly sized packaging, there are fewer shipping damages to the products inside. And on-demand, as-needed boxes allow us to meet tight turnaround delivery times and quick ship schedules.
For extra time and cost savings, we also offer complete fulfillment services, including processing, warehousing, and maintaining inventory, so it can ship when you need it to.
Are you interested in learning more about this or any of our services? Contact us; we are ready to talk about your next sheet metal project. Connect with one of our experts today ar 716-250-7813.
