Every item you create that leaves your facility is meant to eventually land in the hands of a happy customer. If you have products getting damaged either in transit or before the customer takes a product home from the store, it is a good sign that you need custom protective packaging. Take a look at some of the questions you should answer before designing custom protective packaging for your products. 

What are the weaknesses of the product?

Products tend to have specific weaknesses or points that are most vulnerable to damage. A phone would be most vulnerable around the screen, a package of light bulbs would be most vulnerable around the bulbs, and so on. Look at the weak points of your product and consider how these points would likely be damaged. Use this information to move forward with picking a custom-designed package for your product. 

Does your product have multiple parts that need protection?

Some products have multiple parts, and each part needs to be protected. Custom foam cushioning is an example of a type of protective packaging that can be used to protect a product that has multiple parts. However, other protective measurements can be taken as well, such as air cushions between pieces. 

Will the product need protection during shipment or display or both?

Think about when your product would be the most vulnerable to damage. Will it be most vulnerable during transport or shipment, or would it be most vulnerable when it lands on a store shelf? Or, would the product need to be protected during both scenarios? For instance, a case of glass vases would need protection during shipment and when the products end up on display. Therefore, the shipping carton would need a certain protective design to house multiple units and the units themselves would need to be protected with individual packaging. 

Does the product need suspension packaging?

Suspension packaging is one of the more specialized types of protection. This kind of packaging holds a product in a central position in a box or container so it is essentially suspended with space on all sides. The point of this kind of packaging is to make sure that if the product were impacted from any point of the package, it would not involve a direct hit to the product. Certain product types need this form of protection. For example, a laptop or tablet would need suspension packaging.