The output of designing and manufacturing a material that will keep a product secure and identifiable throughout transport is packaging.
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There can be hundreds of points of interaction with your product's packaging before it gets from the point of manufacture to the final consumer.
Furthermore, the path from manufacturer to final consumption may extend around the globe and take several months, or it may be a few meters and span no more than a minute.
This makes eco-friendly packaging even more important
Your packaging needs to be designed to fulfil all these functions in that process, no matter how long it is.
Using packaging supplies that fit all these functions is crucial for saving money on packaging and getting products where they need to be prompt.
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There are several roles that packaging needs to fulfil to successfully do its job. These functions are presented in no particular order.
Packaging's first and foremost function is protection.
The most important function of packaging is to keep the product safe and secure from the outside environment, but also the other way around, packaging needs to keep the product away from the external environment, too.
See how Aleks Ko used multiple products to fulfil multiple functions of packaging.
In doing so, your product is protected from damage in the form of being dropped, but also the weather, like rain, sun, dirt and dust.
This is where products like polymailer bags are used alongside traditional cardboard packaging.
Protective packaging also has to stand up to both static and dynamic forces during the shipping and delivery process.
It has to keep the product safe while other items are being stacked on it to save space - both in shipping and in storage.
Packaging is often paired with the product within the manufacturing process, especially in the form of liquids and foods.
It's from this point that the packaging must start fulfilling its role.
The next function of packaging is to keep the packaging contents safe during storage. This storage time may be a matter of years or minutes - possibly even seconds.
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In this function, the packaging needs to ensure that the product is safe from dust, debris and other environmental hazards for the amount of time that it will be stored.
Packaging has a massive effect on the efficiency and speed of transportation.
Being able to physically handle a product and get it from point A to point B is the most often associated function of packaging.
In this role, packaging needs to be easy and efficient to lifted, held, moved and stored easily.
Secondary layers of packaging may be needed to make it easier to handle smaller units of grouped products - for example, a large shipping box that contains multiple six-packs of beer.
Transport packaging needs to be designed in a way that it can be easily handled and moved by both man and machine, on a larger and a smaller scale.
For transport reasons, your packaging supplies may need to be of a certain size to meet set delivery guidelines, such as royal mail package dimensions.
Sales as a function of packaging enable the product to be promoted. It's at this point where visual identification of the product beings, as the buyer needs to recognise what the product is.
See how Coco & Eve work sales into their packaging design.
This is also where visual packaging design starts to play a role in the functions of packaging.
Sales and promotions work hand in hand as the first point of physical contact with your customer and your packaging bundle.
Promoting the product on its packaging is an integral function of packaging.
It's at this point where the final customer will first see the product for sale, therefore the packaging needs to have a positive influence on the buyer's decision.
Especially in industries like cosmetics or wellbeing supplements, the overall packaging aesthetic might encourage you to buy one product over the other.
See how Yope uses sales as a function of their packaging design.
From this point, transport of the product is still important, but only on a single-unit level.
This function of packaging involves placing various information and specific details about the product on the packaging.
This includes ingredients and nutritional information if talking about food, as well as dangerous and hazardous materials.
Note: One promotional aspect of packaging may be that storing the product in its packaging is simple for the end-user.
This means that another level of storage needs to be considered when designing packaging.
This function of packaging is to ensure the consumer that the product of the intended quality.
The structural integrity of the packaging means that the product inside, for the most part, is undamaged and ready to use as it was intended.
Providing this assurance with packaging is a decision that's made when picking the right type of packaging for your product.
Use packaging tape and packaging paper to assure your customer that your product is in the same condition it left the manufacturer in.
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The final function of packaging is to inform the user how to dispose of it.
If the packaging is sustainable, this may mean disposing of it in compost or recycling it, rather than traditional waste.
Packhelp works with One Tree Planted to help regenerate forests for each packaging order placed. Click here and learn more.
The disposal function may also mean telling the user that the packaging can be reused for another intended purpose.
Packaging is an all-encompassing element of every brand. The function of packaging often begins before the product itself is made, and continues well after the product is consumed.
Packhelp's range of packaging supplies can help you create a complete packaging solution that fulfils all roles you've just read, as well as many many more.
Click here to explore our range or get a quote on your personalised packaging supplies!
The main role of packaging is to protect the product from Point A (usually the manufacturing plant) to Point B (the ultimate user!).
But that’s not its only task. Packaging designs also serve as an advertising medium, letting manufacturers describe and promote their products with eye-catching words, colors, and fonts.
Packaging can even extend shelf life. It also allows oddly shaped items to stack neatly in a display and makes possible the use of machines to move pallets loaded with goods.
Additionally, packaging is a reflection of the manufacturer’s budget, advertising technique, and environmental awareness.
The type of packaging a manufacturer chooses depends on what they need. For something lightweight, paper and plastic fit the bill. Materials like metal or glass are heavier but more durable. Ultimately, choosing a packaging type comes down to stylistic choices, shipping conditions, shelf stability, and the product’s end user.
What are your choices? Here are five common packaging materials to choose from:
A nonporous, nontoxic material made from sand, glass is infinitely recyclable. One of its downsides is breakability — glass products may shatter in transit, costing the manufacturer money in the form of lost products and time spent cleaning up. It’s also heavier than plastic and requires substantial heat (energy) to produce.
But glass is an excellent barrier material, preserving the flavor of foods and drinks without leaching particles into them.
Manufacturers may design colored or textured glass containers with aesthetic appeal, encouraging people to buy the product inside. This is often the case with alcohol, soda, or candles.
Glass packaging is also reusable.
Polymers are the main ingredient of this synthetic material. When it comes to packaging, plastic may be flexible — as is the case with bags, wrappers, and stickers — or rigid — such as bottles, jars, and tubs, holding foods, drinks, detergents, pharmaceuticals, and more.
Plastic is also used inside other types of packaging in the form of packing peanuts or bubble wrap.
Plastic is lightweight, inexpensive, and strong enough to protect items during shipping. As a tape, it can bind packages together. Manufacturers can make it in a variety of colors and opacities.
However, it’s could be difficult to recycle plastic, so most of it ends up in landfills or the environment. It could break down into tiny pieces called microplastics that often contaminate waterways and food.
Researchers have discovered a way to turn some plastics into fuel, which could hopefully make it a more sustainable material in the future.
Pulp from wood or other sources, such as hemp or bamboo, makes up this type of packaging. Manufacturers often use it as a wrapper, paper box, shredded packing material, or in the form of paperboard. Corrugated boxes are made of two or more layers of paper stuck together by adhesive.
Paper is 100% recyclable, which can make it a sustainable choice of packaging material. Making it out of wood is less eco-friendly, but there are numerous up-and-coming alternatives that have a smaller carbon footprint. Bamboo, for example, grows quickly and comes back repeatedly after being cut down.
Paper can be less sturdy than other packaging materials, but it is durable in the form of board, and it’s lightweight.
Aluminum, steel, and other types of metal packaging are made by mining raw materials from the earth, then refining them. Metal can be more durable than glass or plastic, although thin metal is usually pliable and subject to bending out of shape.
Manufacturers use metal cans to package products as diverse as soda, green beans, paint, and shoe polish. Metal cans prevent food from spoiling, allowing it to be stored longer. Steel drums also transport large quantities of liquids, such as oil, for commercial use.
Metal can be dropped or subjected to high heat without breaking. Obtaining metal by mining is often an ecologically destructive process, but it’s easier to recycle than plastic. Metal packaging ranges from light to heavy depending on its thickness.
Also called multi-layer packaging, multi-material packaging is just what it sounds like — a combination of different material types. For example, juice boxes are made of layers of polyethylene, aluminum, and paper. Fertilizers and cement may be packaged in a structure made of paper and plastic, since paper by itself cannot withstand being wet.
Multi-material packaging can be engineered to guard products from moisture, like a metallized plastic bag that keeps potato chips crisp.
Unfortunately, this type of packaging is hard to recycle due to the mix of materials unless specifically designed to be easily separated.
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