Shipping and logistics
Specifying the packaging.
Packaging is the part of the specification buyers leave blank, and the factory then chooses the cheapest option that survives their warehouse. It has to survive several weeks at sea, and in some markets it carries legal obligations of its own.
The four layers.
Each one fails differently, and each one is somebody's responsibility.
- Primary
- What touches the product. Food contact compliance for the destination lives here, and it needs a declaration rather than an assurance.
- Secondary
- The carton or box. It is doing structural work, especially for anything fragile or flexible.
- Tertiary
- Pallet, wrap and strapping. Wooden pallets carry their own treatment and marking requirement.
- The container
- Stow, dunnage and desiccant. A perfectly packed carton in a badly stowed container still arrives damaged.
What to specify and why.
Film or barrier for anything hygroscopic. Dried fruit, powders, crackers and flour all fail through moisture pickup, and the film is the entire defence.
Carton grade and construction. A single-wall carton that works for a domestic delivery collapses under stacking in a container after a humid voyage.
Pallet type and whether the goods are palletised at all. Loose loaded containers are cheaper to fill and much slower and more damaging to unload.
Void fill for irregular items. Carved goods, ceramics and glass move in transit and movement is what breaks them.
Labelling on the outer, in the format your warehouse actually scans. Getting this right removes a receiving problem you would otherwise have forever.
The obligations that come with the pack.
Food contact materials have to be compliant for the destination and evidenced by a declaration. Buyers ask for it late and then hold a shipment.
Wood packaging is regulated for plant health and has to be treated and marked. It applies to the pallet and the crate rather than to the goods.
Several markets place packaging waste obligations on whoever places goods on the market, which means the importer rather than the producer.
Some markets restrict specific materials or require recyclability information on the pack. Establish this before artwork rather than after.
Getting it into the order.
Write the packaging into the specification alongside the product, with the same level of detail. A line saying export standard packing means nothing and is what most orders contain.
Approve a physical sample of the pack, not a drawing. Substrate, print and seal all look different in reality.
Photograph the packed goods at inspection, before the container is loaded. When something arrives damaged, this is what settles whether it was packing or handling.
Questions buyers ask.
Can I leave packaging to the factory?
You can, and they will choose what is cheapest and familiar, which is usually designed for a domestic delivery rather than a six-week ocean voyage. It is the least expensive part of a specification to write and one of the most expensive to get wrong.
Who is responsible for packaging compliance?
For food contact and for packaging waste obligations, generally whoever places the product on the market in the destination. That is you rather than the Indonesian producer.
Do I need pallets?
It depends on your receiving operation and on the goods. Loose loading fits more into a container and takes far longer to unload, so compare the freight saving against the labour before deciding.
Read next.
Packing for a tropical voyage
Container sweat, mould, insects and crushing. Four failure modes that arrive as claims, and what stops each.
Container loading and what actually fits
The cubic capacity figures in circulation disagree with each other. What really decides a load is weight, geometry and the carrier's own specification.
Labelling for your market
Printed in Indonesia and judged in your country. What has to appear, and who carries the obligation.
Writing a specification suppliers can price
The document that decides what arrives. What belongs in it, what has to be measurable, and the words that cause disputes.
When the shipment is wrong
The first forty-eight hours decide what you can recover. What to do in order, and what destroys a claim.
ISPM 15 treatment mark
Solid wood packaging in trade has to be treated and marked. What the mark means, who applies it, and what falls outside the standard.
EU packaging obligations
Whoever first places packaging on an EU national market pays for its collection and recycling, and registers to do so. It is national, not one EU scheme.
Shelf life
A date on a pack is a claim somebody has to support. How it is set and when it does not apply.
Moisture and water activity
Moisture content is what you paid freight on. Water activity decides whether it spoils.
Packaging waste obligations
Bringing packaged goods into a market makes you responsible for the packaging. What that involves.
Retail or food service
Two channels with different packaging, margins and demands on your supplier.
Sourcing from Indonesia?
Tell us the product, the quantity and the destination. We come back with what it involves before anyone talks about money.