So, you have found yourself in the position of purchasing shrink film for your business. Perhaps you are fresh out of college and are beginning your career in the purchasing department or you are a veteran purchasing manager who has been tasked with buying shrink film for the first time. Either way, you have quickly discovered that buying shrink film is not as simple as going to an e-com store, choosing a roll of film, and clicking "buy". Or, if you did that, you have now perhaps come to the realization that you purchased the wrong type of film for your machinery. Maybe the film you chose works but isn’t the right gauge and you can see that you are wasting dollars with each product packaged. Then again, perhaps you choose a film that does not possess the right heat resistance and you now have a melted mess on your products and inside your heat tunnel. Regardless of the issues that have brought you here, it’s very clear to you that you must answer several questions prior to ordering shrink film for your business. Knowing what to ask will help you ensure that you are in fact buying the correct film for your packaging needs. At Industrial Packaging, we have helped thousands of businesses over the course of multiple decades choose the best type, size, gauge, and formulation of shrink film for their packaging needs. When new customers come to us, we walk them through the questions they should ask and make sure they know how to best optimize their packaging lines.

Various trends in the realm of packaging are expected to be hot-button topics in the new year. One of these topics is sustainable, recyclable, and environmentally friendly packaging materials. There has been a growing demand from consumers worldwide for companies to seriously consider the shift from single-use plastics to what many consider to be more environmentally friendly materials. But, as many consumers are slowly finding out, what is actually "environmentally friendly" and what is not can often be confused. This is the result of various forms of green-washing and carefully crafted corporate marketing materials. So, how do you know this article itself is not in fact a green-washing attempt? Well, for one thing, we are going to show you how compostable packaging materials can be properly implemented. We will show you how they can be earth-friendly alternatives while also providing other sustainable packaging options for those you who are unable compost properly. In the end, you can decide for yourself. One of these future potential packaging materials is compostable items such as biodegradable shrink films, biodegradable flexible pouches, and various other types of bio-plastic materials, which are often made at least in part, from plants. This article will help you identify when compostable packaging materials may make sense for you and those situations in which traditional packaging materials are the more environmentally-friendly choice.

Do you spend a ton of time counting your inventory and still don’t feel confident you have the right numbers? Do you have extensive product downtime due to inventory being received with the wrong product code, date code, or item totals? Does your shipping department cut orders due to not being able to find a product on the floor? If you answered yes to any one of these questions, you could benefit from creating an inventory team in your organization. Here at Industrial Packaging, we were experiencing all 3 of the issues above. By creating an inventory team, we’ve leveraged our inventory software system to manage our inventory. In this article, we’ll share some secrets to success in forming and running an inventory team that will save you a lot of hassle, reduce wasted time and money, and streamlines your inventory processes.

We get calls all the time from people who tell us they can’t get their product to come out the way they want it to on their packaging machinery. We hear and understand the frustration when your final product does not look anything like what you thought it would look like. That being said, I’m happy to help anyone who is having a problem, it’s what I do, and I enjoy solving problems. And so, I often find myself consulting customers and trying to help them with their packaging machinery and materials problems. But, then I realized that sometimes when people do online research, they might not fully understand how different machines and materials will react to their products. When I hear someone say: "I purchased a machine from here", another machine from there, and my materials from yet another supplier", my mind starts spinning with all kinds of questions and concerns. For example, we provide technical service for many of our clients. One day, we got a call about a machine purchased overseas that the customer could not get started. The machine did not have a manual, so we had to send away for it. When it came in, our tech started going through all the steps only to find out one of the boards was bad. The time spent on calls and waiting for parts to come from overseas was so frustrating for the customer. Not only that, but the expense to have us come out several times to make repairs on a machine that was purchased online was very costly. While the machine they bought online was less expensive than one bought in the states, it was now costing them almost as much. When ordering online, there is more thought that needs to be given to what your expectations are which include, your desired outcome and the capabilities of each aspect of your process when everything is in place. Having worked at Industrial Packaging and by extension, within the packaging industry for over twenty years, I have come to realize that many consumers often make mistakes when buying machinery and materials on-line and then trying to make adjustments themselves. In this article, I will break down some common issues and help you to better understand how to execute the packaging design you have inside your head. You will be able to translate that idea into a reality with the information presented below.

Industrial Packaging Is The First Packaging Company In The World To Be Pandemic Prepared Certified By AIB International! In addition to the above's most exciting news, we are also the first company in the United States to achieve this certification! When the COVID pandemic hit the USA, we, like many companies, were not ready for the brave new world that had begun to rear its head. With that being said, we wasted no time in the process of adapting to the challenges before us. Our supply chain team, headed by then General Manager and our current Vice President Jarrod DiZazzo, worked quickly to implement the recommended guidelines brought forth by the CDC and the WHO. From the implementation of thermometers and thermal imaging technology to advanced social distancing and sanitization practices, the Industrial Packaging team worked tirelessly to meet the demands of a most unexpected global emergency. With protection being the forefront in our mission of “Protecting People, Products, and Brands throughout the Supply Chain”, we had to act quickly while also being extremely careful to ensure that the safety of our customers and employees was at the heart of our efforts. That is why we are extremely excited to announce this huge achievement!

Are you thinking about purchasing a cheaper piece of packaging machinery from overseas in an attempt to save a few thousand dollars over buying domestically? Here is a bit of advice. Don't do it unless you have to. While it may seem like a good idea at first, it will most likely end up costing you way more in the long run. While foreign made packaging machinery may cost less at the initial purchase of the machinery itself, there are often times unforeseen additional costs that come along with the total cost of ownership associated with buying equipment from overseas. From quality issues to the ability to source quality manuals in a language that you understand, there are some risks involved when trying to save money by purchasing machinery made overseas. Repair services and preventative maintenance options can be slim and often costly for what ultimately started as a way to save money. Items such as parts availability, electrical requirements, and material options can all impact the cost of the machinery and the ease of procurement. Now, this is not to say that buying packaging machinery from overseas is a bad idea. Instead, it is a process that can often be complicated and includes potentially unwanted headaches. Regardless of where you buy your machinery from, these helpful tips and tricks will help you make the right choice regarding buying packaging machinery. Here at Industrial Packaging, we’ve been selling machinery from various geographical locations for decades. In this respect, we can help you navigate the challenges of purchasing packaging machinery from sites outside of the USA. In this article, we will give you some useful information that will help you to figure out if buying packaging machinery from another country makes sense for you or not.