Helpful Insights

Pharmaceutical packaging has to do far more than protect a product during transit. It must maintain product integrity, meet strict regulatory requirements and safeguard medicines at every stage of an increasingly complex supply chain. From the manufacturing facility to the wholesaler, pharmacy, hospital or even the patient’s front door, every handoff introduces new risks that packaging needs to address.

Standard boxes and bubble wrap are often enough to protect straightforward products in transit. But what happens when an item is unusually shaped, particularly heavy, fragile or high in value? These are the products that can be difficult to pack properly, and where inadequate protection can lead to costly damage, customer complaints and returns.

Many companies are switching to paper packaging instead of plastic packaging to become more sustainable, especially with the new Plastic Packaging Tax Regulations. However, switching to paper also has its environmental issues.

As temperatures drop, pharmaceutical cold chain packaging faces a different challenge: keeping temperature-sensitive medicines cold enough without allowing them to freeze. While summer planning often focuses on preventing heat exposure, winter brings its own risks, from sub-zero temperatures in transit vehicles and distribution depots to unexpected delays and doorstep deliveries.

Tape might seem like a small cost on your packing line, but when you’re sealing thousands of cartons every week, even a little waste can quickly add up. From excessive tape tails and unnecessary overlap to machine misfeeds and incorrect settings, small inefficiencies can quietly increase your packaging costs without anyone noticing.

A pallet can be tightly wrapped, securely strapped and ready for dispatch, yet still arrive with crushed corners, damaged cartons or an unstable load. The reason? Some of the most vulnerable points in any pallet are also the easiest to overlook: its edges and corners.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is already changing the way businesses account for packaging, from the data they collect to the fees they pay. While much of the conversation has focused on consumer-facing packaging, there’s another category that warehouses deal with every day: tertiary packaging and transit packaging.

For decades, bubble wrap has been the go-to choice for protecting products in transit. It’s familiar, readily available and effective at cushioning everything from fragile goods to awkwardly shaped items. But the way businesses think about protective packaging is changing.

Peak season has a way of exposing weaknesses in a packing operation that go unnoticed for most of the year. A taping machine that handles your usual April workload without a problem can become the point where the entire packing line starts to back up when order volumes surge in November and December.