Packaging For Shipping: A Complete Guide
The cold supply chain is full of risks. That’s why it’s very important to choose the correct packaging for shipping products.
Temperature-controlled packaging solutions play a crucial role in managing these risks by safeguarding products from physical harm and damage caused by various external factors, including temperature fluctuations, vibration, humidity, and more.
As your package travels through various stages before arriving at its intended location, there are numerous chances for perishable goods to be subjected to unsuitable temperatures, rough treatment, falls, squeezing, and force, which raises the risk of harm. Therefore, the task is to safeguard your items efficiently while also keeping expenses under control.
Avoiding Hazards
To gain a deeper understanding of the risks involved and the correct packaging for shipping, it is essential to recognize the significant hazards associated with shipping temperature-sensitive products. Industries must be acutely aware of these risks to ensure the safety of patients and customers. Meats, medications, cheese, flowers, and other perishables are particularly vulnerable to temperature fluctuations that can compromise drug efficacy, reduce product shelf life, or even foster bacterial growth, leading to potential danger.
Even items like chocolate have specific temperature sensitivities to consider. With a melting point between 86°F and 90°F, significantly lower than the average human body temperature (98.6°F), chocolate can experience blooming and loss of quality when exposed to higher temperatures. While chocolate blooming and melting may be visually evident signs of temperature damage, some drugs and foods may not exhibit immediate visible indications of harm but could lose their effectiveness, posing risks before their expected expiration dates.
It is essential to have a guarantee that your perishable products will be shipped and stored in temperature-controlled conditions. In the absence of such assurance, the use of cold chain technologies becomes vital. Insulation plays a crucial role in safeguarding the contents from temperature fluctuations during transit, reducing the likelihood of harm.
Keep It Cold
Refrigerants, typically in the form of gel packs, aid in maintaining the temperature of the product. By correctly using insulation and refrigerants, the likelihood of product defects or spoilage diminishes significantly. However, achieving optimal protection often requires a combination of laboratory and real-world testing.
When it comes to temperature-sensitive products, various types of protective packaging for shipping solutions are available, each with its unique purpose and characteristics. Gel packs, water blankets, PCMs, and insulated coolers are among the many options designed to regulate product temperature during shipping. Additionally, some shipping supplies necessitate protection from rough handling, shocks, vibrations, compression, and even changes in aircraft pressure.
Packaging For Shipping
Additionally, determining the appropriate packaging for your shipment may not be a straightforward task and may require expert guidance regarding rules and regulations. It is important to strike the right balance and avoid over-specifying packaging, which could increase costs due to excessive material usage and added weight, or under-specifying, which can result in damage during transit.
Insulated packaging plays a vital role in preserving the integrity of temperature-sensitive products. The aim is to prevent or reduce heat transfer during transit, ensuring that the product remains within an acceptable temperature range. At the molecular scale, heat is a form of energy that causes the molecules of a substance to vibrate at various rates when supplied with energy. This molecular vibration transfers energy to surrounding molecules, allowing them to vibrate as well.
The study of methods and techniques used to manage heat energy transfer is known as “Heat Transfer.” Insulated packaging serves multiple purposes, such as keeping products refrigerated, frozen, warm, or minimizing the effects of extreme temperature changes.
Cold Storage Warehouse Logistics In Los Angeles
Evo Logistics’ cold storage facility is over 32,000 square feet and consists of four separate coolers. This modern temperature controlled warehouse is able to monitor and store our customer’s temperature sensitive products.
We Provide The Following Handling Needs:
- Palletizing
- Re-Weighting
- Re-gelling
- Re-packaging
- Re-icing
- Dry Storage
- Cold Storage
- Cross-docking
- Quality Report Inspections
The team at Evo Logistics understands the importance of being committed to ensuring the quality of their customer’s product. Our dedicated staff are trained to monitor and operate around the clock 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.