The process to safely ship household appliances is complex and picking the right industrial packaging can make all the difference, as it allows for safe and efficient transportation. We analyze how to pick the right industrial packaging solution in order to ship household appliances. 

Requirements to ship household appliances

• Security: packaging must protect goods during the distribution cycle. This includes resisting shocks, vibrations, and other potential risks because of the unit’s manipulation, transportation, and storage. 
• Efficiency: this means to transport and storage spaces are optimally used. It also means the right packaging solution allows human staff to smoothly move the goods around, which saves time and adds extra security. Using pallets to unify and protect goods is a common solution to achieve efficiency.
• Flexibility: customized packaging for household appliances means an extra layer of protection and efficiency. For instance, the number of packaging materials can be optimized in order to minimize costs.
• Sustainability: the right packaging solution to ship household appliances should be reusable or recyclable, as well as causing a minimal carbon footprint impact. In order to minimize packaging waste, companies should also look for packaging solutions that are included in circular economy models. 

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4 tips to ship household appliances and avoid cargo damage

• Avoid loose parts inside appliances. Pack them separately.
• Secure and disconnect power and water lines. Dry any potential humidity.
• Protect fragile surfaces (such as those made of stainless steel) from abrasion and scratches using the right protective packaging materials, such as expanded plastic foam.
• Make sure appliances are in the right position at all times. Typically, this means keeping them upright. In order to guarantee this, make sure the right instructions are given to staff in charge of manipulating goods. An ergonomic, customized packaging solution (for instance, a palletized packaging system) also facilitates the right position for transport is kept at all times. 

Types of packaging to safely ship household appliances 

Edge guards

Shipping voluminous and fragile items such as household appliances require using specific protection within primary and secondary packaging solutions. The use of customized EPS edge guards helps absorb potential shocks and avoid the goods’ depletion. 

These plastic edge guards are lightweight and keep the cargo from moving when transported or manipulated. 

Pallets

Pallets are platforms on which cargos are placed in order to ship household appliances and store them. It’s the most common method used in logistics in order to guarantee smooth manipulation and storage, as it allows for cost optimization and time-saving. 

Other optimization solutions

Custom EPS parts can be made so that household appliances receive the right protective packaging, as well as guaranteeing the efficiency of transportation. This comprises the inclusion of optimization, stacking, compensation, consolidation, separation, and palletization. 

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Industrial packaging solutions by Knauf Appliances

Knauf Appliances offers packaging solutions that help companies ship household appliances in a safe, cost-efficient, and sustainable manner. 

Among our packaging solutions, we offer customized EPS parts for packaging optimization and protection, as well as lightweight pallet solutions that are efficient and maintain packaging protection.

We choose EPS because of its many advantages to shipping household appliances. This material is made of 98% air, produced from the expansion of solid beads of polystyrene. Because of this unique manufacturing process, it’s lightweight, easily customizable, and offers strong mechanical resistance and shock absorption. 

At the same time, we incorporate eco-design parameters into our processes, thus taking into account the potential environmental impacts of our packaging solutions and trying to minimize them. 

Looking at EPS from an environmental perspective, this material’s carbon footprint is smaller than other materials perceived as more environmentally friendly. It’s also 100% recyclable using mechanical methods and is incorporated into our Knauf Circular program.

Taking further steps to guarantee our solutions’ sustainability, we’ve developed NEOPS®, an innovative bioplastic that reproduces EPS performance while minimizing this material’s carbon footprint. 

Want to learn more about how to safely ship household appliances and how the right industrial packaging solutions help you optimize costs? Get in touch with us and let’s talk about how we can help you.