Types of Secondary and Tertiary Packaging, Essay Example

Packaging is an integral part of logistics in the transportation of commodities from one geographic location to another. However, in achieving this, different types of packaging is employed for different purposes. Secondary and tertiary packaging are both integral in the transportation of commodities. As such, there exists different type of secondary and tertiary packaging.

Secondary Packaging

Secondary packaging entails packaging items that are similar for easier movement and handling at the point of sale.

Shrink Film packaging

This type of packaging is mainly employed for commodities whose primary packaging is bottles. This type of packaging has been developed from polymer plastic and tends to shrink tightly around the commodity that is being packaged. The shrink film is wrapped around the commodities, mainly bottles, and heat is applied to the wrapping to make it shrink tightly. This can be achieved using a heat tunnel where the wrapped commodity will pass through, or an electric or gas powered heat gun.

Box or Case Packaging

This entails the use of a large box or case, in which the commodities to be transported are placed. There are two types of box or case packaging; (1) the American case uses three machines to set up the box and insert the contents, like containers, into it. (2) The Wraparound Case entails cardboard wrapped around a group of commodities to be transported using a single machine (Fernie & Sparks, Logistics & retail management : emerging issues and new challenges in the retail supply chain, 2014).

Tertiary Packaging

Tertiary packaging is mainly used in the case of goods that have to be transported over significantly long distances.

Corrugated Carton Boxes

These kind of boxes have been made out of tough and durable cardboard boxes to withstand pressure and impact during transportation. This is one of the most common types of tertiary packaging (Fernie, Logistics and Retail Management: Insights Into Current Practice and Trends from Leading Experts, 2008).

Shrink Film

Shrink film is also used as a tertiary packaging technique. Here the shrink film is wrapped around a number of box packages and passed through a heating tunnel. The film shrinks tightly around the boxes to hold them in place.

References

Fernie, J. (2008). Logistics and Retail Management: Insights Into Current Practice and Trends from Leading Experts (2nd ed.). London: Kogan Page.

Fernie, J., & Sparks, L. (2014). Logistics & retail management : emerging issues and new challenges in the retail supply chain (4th ed.). London: Kogan Page.