Gift Packing

Whether for Christmas, Easter or other special events, Gift Packing is a major part of our industry and is usually performed by hand. It requires a number of disciplines from providing skilled labour teams and sourcing components, to warehousing and distribution. Members can also advise on pack design and manage customer call offs.

Hand Packing & Rework

There are many packing projects where machine production is not feasible, so hand packing by skilled experienced teams is the most efficient answer. Re-work addresses pack quality issues such as incorrect labelling, damaged goods or missing components, or simply that the product needs to be relabelled or repacked in a different format.

Kitting, Collation & Assembly

This involves collating products/components, for example engineering parts or toy kits, into a single unit for distribution. Operations could include counting, bagging or placing products into specially designed boxes. Kit collation is usually performed by hand as components can be varied and may require an element of assembly work prior to packing.

Garment Processing

This involves the preparation of clothing for retail sale and includes segregation by size or colour, tagging, coding, labelling, poly bagging, converting to hanging, ratio packing, fold packing, pressing, ticketing, embroidery, quality inspection, remedial work, metal detection and default reporting for damaged stock.

POS Assembly

Point of Sale stands provide an excellent way of displaying products in-store with strong visual impact. They can be supplied flat packed or pre-assembled, although many retailers now insist on their POS display units being delivered to their stores pre-filled with product, a service which is ideally suited to the contract packer.

Shelf-Ready Packaging

Shelf-ready packaging (SRP) and retail-ready packaging (RRP) have been developed to get products from storage area to retail shelf in one smooth operation rather than shop staff having to decant single units. Predominantly made of corrugated cardboard, the merchandising unit consists of a tray and cover, with the latter being easily detached by a perforation.

Design & Print

Good pack design can be vital to a product’s success. An exploratory discussion between client and contract packer at the concept stage of a project is essential to ensure the packaging not only looks appealing but fulfils its role to protect the product. Contract packers can also help with design and production of labels and leaflets.

Labelling/Barcoding

Product labels, price labels, best before dates, bar codes, RFID tags etc are critical for identifying and tracking products throughout the supply chain, and ensuring that finished packs comply with the relevant legislation. Whether applied by machine or by hand, labelling is an integral part of the packing process.

Sleeving

Sleeving is a process for combining products using film, for example with multipacks or two-for-one promotions. Some applications are suited to stretch sleeves, however most (including tamper-bands) use shrink film, applied in hot air or steam tunnels. Sleeving can also provide a high quality 360 degree labelling solution for bottles and containers.

Shrink Wrapping

This process utilises clear plastic film which shrinks snugly on to the product by applying heat, usually by passing the wrapped product through a heat tunnel on a conveyor.  Polyethylene shrink film is mainly used for transit purposes or for collating products such as 6-pack drinks cans. Higher quality display films can enhance the look of and protect retail products such as games boxes.

Flow Wrapping

Flow wrapping, also known as horizontal form-fill-seal, is a process that wraps film around a product, initially crimping a fin seal along the length of the pack and then crimping it each end. The system can handle a very wide range of products from crisp packets and confectionery to packs of scratch cards.

Bagging/L-Sealing

Vertical form fill seal machines (VFFS) construct plastic bags out of a flat roll of film, while simultaneously filling products into the bags from above and sealing them. Volumes can be controlled by weighing or counting.  L-Sealers form and seal bags horizontally from centrefolded film and are often used for lower volume runs, where the operator inserts the products manually.

Cello/Over Wrapping

Over wrapping is a system where high quality heat-sealable film is wrapped over square or rectangular products and finished with neatly folded ends. Applications include perfume cartons, DVDs, reams of paper and cigarette packets. The film often incorporates ‘tear strips’ for easy opening

Blister/Clam Packing

Blisters are widely utilised in the pharmaceutical industry for packing pills. The other application used in retail is where the product is securely displayed beneath a clear thermoformed blister, fixed to a pre-printed backing card. Clam Packs are fully encased in a tough two-cavity blister and high frequency welded, to minimise the risk of theft with high value small items.

Netting/Clip Stripping

Netting provides a low cost way of collating and displaying products from tangerines or potatoes to bird food and beach toys.  Clip Strips offer an eye-catching method of hanging small bagged products in-store or in the pub where space is at a premium.  The clip strips can be pre-loaded with product by the contract packer ready for the customer to display.

Palletising

Pallets are a vital component both in warehousing and transport. Important considerations in this field are product security, stacking compliance, compatibility with racking systems and optimisation of vehicle or freight container payloads. There may also be special requirements for food applications or international transport.

Export packing

Via Road, Rail, Sea or Air, it is essential that shipments conform with the relevant regulations, are properly packed & labelled and are accompanied by the correct documentation, thereby minimising risk of delays at border crossings, ports and airports, and ensuring that goods arrive in perfect condition. Temperature controlled or hazardous consignments will require special attention.