No Such Thing as A Free Lunch, or FREE SHIPPING!

Many people like the word “FREE”. Heck, who doesn’t? But when it’s all said and done, what in life is truly free? Take free shipping for instance, some of our competitors tout “FREEE SHIPPING!!!!” But if you take the time to compare total costs versus price, you will quickly discover that free shipping just might be costing you more in the long run. At PKGING.com we have taken the approach of offering the absolute best possible prices and charging for freight as a separate line item. Make no mistake, we know we aren’t selling diamonds; we are in a low margin, high volume business. The truth is we could NEVER afford to ship something free of charge and neither can our competitors’, despite what they might say. So in order to offer FREE shipping you simply average your shipping costs for a particular group of products to an average destination and build it into the price of the product. So my blog today is to inform you that costs are costs and for the most part in dealing with UPS and FEDEX we all receive very similar rates. So please don’t make a purchasing decision based on FREE shipping, take the time to calculate exactly what the total TRANSCATION COSTS will be, compare one to the other and I believe that you will soon see that FREE shipping isn’t so free after all.

If shipping costs are an obstacle for doing business with www.PKGING.com please call us, we are reasonable people and want to do everything we can to EARN your business.

Selecting the Best Box and Tape to Get the Job Done!

When trying to decide what box and tape product is best for your application please consider the following.

How much weight is going into the box? Fiber Box Association guidelines are as follows; 1 pound up to 50 pounds ECT 32 is recommended. Over 50 pounds but less than 80 pounds ECT 44 is recommended. It If it is over 80 pounds doublewall is recommended. Please keep in mind these are guidelines and other factors MUST be considered. There are variables like combined inches of the boxes outside dimension - length width and depth added together, shipping method UPS/FED EX versus palletized product that is stretch filmed on a pallet. Both UPS and Fed Ex have their own recommendations. Please check their websites for additional information.

Does the product help or hurt? (Think stacked paper versus marshmallows). If your product is fragile it is always better to be safe than sorry, and error on the side of caution by going with a heavier material. PKGING recommends when shipping items deemed fragile that either ECT 44C or ECT 48 doublewall material is used.

Shipping method, (UPS/Fed Ex versus stacked on a pallet, stretch wrapped and shipped carrier) This is a very important consideration when deciding what materials to use when shipping your products. There is a world of difference when boxed products are neatly column stacked on a pallet and then stretch filmed versus shipped one at a time via UPS or Fed Ex. In general, palletized products less than 50 pounds are fine with ECT 32C. However, if you are shipping your product via UPS/Fed Ex we recommend always using heavier material such as ECT 44C. When in doubt, always call PKGING.COM for assistance.

Climate, does your product need to be kept cold during shipment? Climate is another very important element when selecting the proper packaging materials. A cold climate has higher humidity and will weaken a corrugated box dramatically. The time under these conditions must be considered when selecting the proper corrugated material, as well as the proper tape. “Stock Boxes” are not available with high humidity adhesive (this is the product that bonds the different plies of paper together). In place of a high humidity adhesive we recommended upgrading the substrate by one factor, so if you were going to use ECT 32C we would recommend using ECT 44C. When considering tape for a cold environment we recommend using a high quality acrylic based adhesive tape. The selection of the proper tape is equally as important as selecting the proper corrugated material.

To give you an idea how cold conditions and humidity can affect the performance of your boxes, consider the following. “Loss” means performance loss of corrugated material.

0 to 50% relative humidity = 0 percent loss

60% relative humidity = 10 percent loss

70% relative humidity = 20 percent loss

90% relative humidity = 52 percent loss

Will your product be stored for a period of time prior to shipment? If yes, for how long? Storage time under load is another very critical element in selecting the proper corrugated material. The guidelines listed below can be used as a general resource. These statistics are palletized filled boxes on a pallet.

10 to 29 days = loss of 37 percent.

30 to 89 days= loss of 42 percent.

90 to 179 days=loss of 50 percent.

Will there be some type of inner packing that would provide additional support/protection to the product and box? Anytime you can add something to the interior of your corrugated box to increase the strength and protect your product at the same time, it’s a great idea to do so. PKGING.com has many products that will accomplish this. One example would be wrapping your product in bubble. Please always remember that “head space” (defined as the area between where the product ends and the top score of the box begins) is the enemy and must be avoided at all costs. Head space is sure to contribute to the damage of your product in transit.

What is the value of the product that you’re shipping? Too often the price of the product being shipped is not taken into consideration by the shipper, and if it considered the shipper will purchase expensive insurance. We are not suggesting insurance is not necessary, what we are saying is DON’T SKIMP ON PACKAGING WHEN SHIPPING EXPENSIVE PRODUCTS OUT. You do not want your customer to have to file a claim that could have been avoided if the product was properly packaged in the first place.

Is the product going to someone who might ship it again, like a distributor? It is always a good idea to keep in mind what will be happening to your products once your customer receives them. An example of this would be you are shipping products out in full pallets secured by stretch wrap, but your customer is going to break it down and ship one box out at a time via UPS/Fed EX. Another example is your shipping out a 4 pack of product but your customer is going to break it down and ship out single packs. These are all important factors to keep in mind as you want to assist your customers to be as profitable as they can be.

What is better for shipping a box, water activated reinforced paper tape, or pressure sensitive tape that can be applied with a tape gun? Call us a little old fashioned here at PKGING.com but when conditions are normal we like water activated reinforced paper tape, of course this can be the most difficult to apply as it requires some type of equipment, but there is no question it gives you the best bond to the corrugated and provides the greatest amount of tamper resistance. The downside is you need a work station and you lose the convenience of portability. So if you require portability then tape guns with a good quality tape is the way to go. Remember rubber based adhesive tape for room temperature and acrylic based adhesive tape for damper cooler environments.

Should I use a “C” seal or and “H” seal when closing my box with tape for shipment? What do we mean by “C” seal and “H” seal for box closure? “C” seal is the standard strip of tape down the length of the boxes top and bottom flaps. This seal is generally considered adequate when shipping boxes that are palletized and stretch wrapped. An “H” seal secures both the length and the width of the boxes top and bottom flaps. An “H” seal helps to eliminate torch or twisting of the box in transit. We recommend an “H” seal top and bottom for all boxes being shipped via UPS/Fed EX.

If available what is better a brown box or a white box? If you are a company in the food or food-related business, we would recommend using white boxes. If you’re a company in the healthcare business we would recommend white boxes. Over the years white boxes have become the ‘norm” for these industries. There are exceptions to the “norm”, white boxes that are shipped out via UPS/Fed Ex do not arrive very white. During the shipping process they become quite stressed and a brown box is far more forgiving from scuffs etc… If you consider your company environmentally friendly then by all means you will want to use brown and if you want to take it a step further check out our list of “green boxes” made from 100% post consumer waste. White is not the natural color of a box, in order to achieve this affect the outside liner of a box must be bleached using chlorine at the paper mill.

Enhance Your Image : Build Your Brand

Have you ever considered enhancing your companies brand by having your boxes printed? Did you ever consider that printing your boxes is one of the most cost effective ways in which to promote your company? Look at the side of your current box and if it’s blank, consider this as your personal “canvas” in which to tell your companies story. Have you ever considered how many people will actually see a box before it finally makes its way to the recycling center? Research has been done by the FBA (Fiber Box Association) and speaking in general, the number can be in the thousands! Wouldn’t you like your box with your company logo, website, phone number etc viewed by potentially thousands of people all while doing its job of safely transporting your product to its destination? It is time to start thinking of your box as a traveling billboard!

To date, no other packaging company that I know of has been able to offer custom printing on a wide variety of “stock boxes” in a very competitively priced manner. At PKGING.com we do and it is as easy as:

1. Send us your artwork. Please visit PKGING.com to see the wide range of formats we can use for this.
2. We will send you a proof to approve and send back to us.
3. Receive your customized boxes and let them help you build your brand.

Studies further indicate customized (printed) boxes are viewed more favorably by customers. Consumers feel companies that use custom printed boxes have more legitimacy and feel like a bigger company than they might actually be.

Please contact us to learn more about this exciting opportunity!

Moving On Up! (For the First Time)

Getting ready for a big move can be a daunting task whether you’re moving from a one bedroom apartment, or a large home. I speak from experience as I am doing right NOW! So I thought what a great blog this would make. A few friendly words of advice, give yourself plenty of time, you will need it. Sort, sort, sort! Don’t pack things that are not near and dear to your heart, when in doubt donate it, or throw it out. Try as hard as you possibly can to make it FUN, especially if you have a partner (and you want to keep them). Do not plan on doing too much in one day. Pack a little, play a little! If you have to pack like you just robbed a bank, well then you’re not going to have much fun. My wife and I have been packing up our house of 13 years for the past 4 weeks, and we still have about 15% REMAINING. Start with the most difficult rooms in your living space first, and save the easiest rooms for last (when you’re tired).

OK, now for the nitty gritty;

1) Use a high quality tape. We chose a 3 inch wide 3M 373 tape (T9055373). DON’T SKIMP ON TAPE! Buy the good stuff and you will be happy, buy the cheap stuff (yes we have it because we have to) and you will be sorry.

2) Put your heavy items in smaller boxes such as our 16 x 12 x 12; pack your lighter items in our big boxes such as our 24 x 18 x 24.

3) Use bubble wrap and tape to wrap your pictures and paintings, be generous with the bubble, why? Because we sell it (joking), because these items are fragile and likely some of your most valuable possessions. Then use our inner and outer mirror packs to put as many of these items that will safely fit without bulging. Start by taping up an inner mirror, place your items in a vertical orientation, then tape up an outer mirror box and place it over the inner. Don’t forget to use your good quality tape to seal the boxes together. I ordered a bundle of book folds thinking that I would use them for large pictures and prints. As it turned out, wrapping in bubble was far more effective than using the book fold style corrugated. When wrapping your items, keep in mind the size of the bubble required as well as the perforation and width of the bubble. What worked for us was having a narrow (BWUP316S12P) and a wide bubble (BWUP12S12P) in 12” rolls and 24” rolls (BWUP316S24P / BWUP12S24P ) perforated at 12”. The smaller bubble size, while easier to work with, offers less protection than the thicker bubble.

4) Foam in two widths, (FW116S12P) and (FW116S24P), also worked well for us. Be careful as this product can be a bit abrasive if you are moving a long distance.

5) Mailing tubes are great for unframed items that you want to roll up and keep from being damaged. They are re-usable and great for storage.

6) Kimpak (KIMDIS12) Awesome stuff! Again, I recommend two different widths perforated at 12”. This product, while a little expensive, is easy to work with and offers good protection.

7) Always a good idea to purchase a bundle of newsprint just to have you will know when you will need it.

8) Bike boxes are a waste of money unless you’re shipping a very expensive bike. Our bikes are inexpensive, so we just put them on the moving truck.

9) Lamp boxes can be a good investment if you’re moving some expensive lamps that are tall and need very good protection. We did not use them.

10) Padded mailers (B811SS25PK) - we found to be great to protect small nick knacks. If they are small enough, you can wrap in the protective product of your choice (bubble, foam, Kimpack or paper) and place them together in the padded mailer.

11) Wardrobe boxes (WARDCOMBO) were an absolute must, off the wracks on hangers and into the box. No muss no fuss. For 4 people (2 adults and 2 kids) we purchased 8 packs.

12) Dish packs 181828DISH (well frankly they’re not dish packs and we will be re-naming this to glass packs.) The partitions are great for protecting wrapped glasses from banging together in transit.

In closing make certain boxes are packed tight and items are well protected. You do not want any movement within the boxes at all. If after packing a box you have head space, use a product to fill the void. Make certain boxes are not too heavy!!! I would try to keep the boxes at 40LBS or less. Mark the boxes by contents and what room it is to be moved to. WATCH OUT FOR THINGS THAT CAN MELT!!! If there is a chance something could melt or leak and ruin the other items in the box, pitch it out and by it new once you reach your destination. If you’re moving across town, pack all of these items together and keep them in the air-conditioned car or truck.

I hope this recent and first hand information is helpful, if you have further questions you can call me during normal business hours at 708-458-7711 or visit us at www.pkging.com. Good luck and have FUN!!!

Going Green at PKGING

As a major distributor of packaging products we are always keeping our mission as a company in mind in everything we do. Being a green company means more to us than just simply offering products that have little impact on the environment, items such as stock boxes and mailers that are produced from 100% post consumer waste. At PKGING.com we look at it from the perspective of how can we stay in communication with all of our customers and prospects in an environmentally responsible way. The answer for us is delivering our message customized to our clients in an electronically via email messages. We know this is right for not only the environment, but also for our clients. Let me offer an example of how the typical catalog impacts the environment. As you likely know our biggest competitor continues to FLOOD the nation with catalogs that are unnecessary in our opinion. It is our hope that you will feel the same way after I point out to you the impact on our environment that the production of catalogs in general have on all of us as human beings.

• 1) Deforestation of trees to make pulp for the mills.
• 2) Paper mills are one of the single largest polluters in the nation; they are also one of the largest users of energy. How do you make pages nice and white? The mills use chlorine bleach to transform the paper from Kraft to white!
• 3) Transportation via rail or truck of the paper to the printer.
• 4) The printing process itself is responsible for leaking toxic fumes into the environment by its use of inks, coating and solvents.
• 5) Once produced catalogs are then delivered to distribution centers for sorting.
• 6) After the sorting process then they are sent via truck to the United States Postal Service for final delivery.

Once delivered fewer than 50% of catalogs are ever even looked at by the intended audience. More often than not they are disposed of improperly.

So in conclusion at PKGING.com we will remain committed to marketing our products to our clients electronically which we believe is the most environmentally responsible way to get our message out. So the next time you are searching for stock boxes, tape, mailers, protective packaging, safety products, totes, labels, UN packaging or any other related packaging products please keep PKGING.com a company committed to the environment, in mind, for all your packaging needs.

Promotional season is here! Receive 10% off any mailer. Go to http://www.pkging.com/Products/Corrugated-Mailer_2 and use code: MLR10

Perpetual Green Shopping

Being environment-friendly seems to be the biggest craze in every industry these days.

Here's why...

Our future resources and tax dollars may be affected by what we throw away today.
When a landfill is completely accumulated with trash, taxpayers [Yes, I am talking to you!] have to build a new one. This kind of explains the sense of urgency big corporations and small businesses alike are pushing the "Go Green Initiative". Many people underestimate the impact recycling can make to our lives both physically and financially.

PKGING.com has shown sustainability for more than a decade. We manufacture corrugated boxes that are 100% recyclable.