Commercial item transport and distribution Essay

There has been a gradual change in the mode of packaging for last years.For instance, earlier fruits and vegetables were used to be transported in wooden boxes but today cardboard crates are used .This is mainly to reduce the cost. Obviously,a cardboard crate would cost less than wooden crate. Moreover,using cardboard crates is more eco friendly than cutting trees and making wooden boxes and supporting an environmental cause helps firms improve their goodwill and eventually their sales. Similarly,selling of milk,first in glass bottles,then in packets, then tetra packs and vending machines is all to reduce costs or improve their goodwill by innovating the mode of packaging. Tetra pack keeps the milk safe for months and is made of paper and can be recycled. Plastic packets incur lesser costs and vending machines in itself have no packaging cost. So,companies use new and unique mode of packaging to ,one,reduce their costs,two,to promote the product. Packaging refers to the container or wrapper that holds a product or group of products. Most commercial packaging serves two basic functions: protecting the product from damage during shipping, and promoting the product to the ultimate consumer. Some common types of packaging include shipping cartons, containers for industrial goods, and bags, boxes, cans, and other holders for consumer products. Packaging is of great importance to both sellers and buyers of products. It can prevent spoiling, breakage, tampering, or theft; enhance convenience in use or storage; and make products easier to identify. A significant improvement in packaging can even create a â€Å"new† product by expanding the ways in which it can be used, and thus its potential markets. For example, a soup that is packaged in a microwavable bowl might suddenly increase its sales to working people. Prior to World War II, packaging was used primarily to surround and protect products during storage, transportation, and distribution. Some packages were designed with aesthetic appeal and even for ease-of-use by the end consumer, but package design was typically left to technicians. After World War II, however, companies became more interested in marketing and promotion as a means of enticing customers to purchase their products. As a result, more manufacturers began to view packaging as an integral element of overall business marketing strategies to lure buyers. This increased attention to packaging coincided with socioeconomic changes taking place around the world. As consumers became better educated and more affluent, their expectations of products—and their reliance on them—increased as well. Consequently, consumers began to rely much more heavily on manufactured goods and processed food items. New technologies related to production, distribution, and preservatives led to a massive proliferation in the number and type of products and brands available in industrialized nations. Thus, packaging became a vital means of differentiating items and informing inundated consumers. The importance of consumer packaging was elevated in the United States during the late 1970s and 1980s. Rapid post-war economic expansion and market growth waned during that period, forcing companies to focus increasingly on luring consumers to their product or brand at the expense of the competition. Package design became a marketing science. And, as a new corporate cost-consciousness developed in response to increased competition, companies began to alter packaging techniques as a way to cut production, storage, and distribution expenses. Furthermore, marketers began to view packaging as a tool to exploit existing product lines by adding new items and to pump new life into maturing products. Today, good package design is regarded as an essential part of successful business practice. Since many potential customers first notice a new product after it has arrived on the shelves of a store, it is vital that the packaging provide consumers with the information they need and motivate them to make a purchase. But packaging decisions involve a number of tradeoffs. While making a product visible and distinctive may be the top priority, for example, businesses must also comply with a variety of laws regarding product labeling and safety. Protecting products during transport is important, but businesses also need to keep their shipping costs as low as possible. study mode material : Disadvantages of wooden crates- Deterioration * After wooden pallets are used several times, the wood begins to wear. It splinters, cracks and even breaks under the pressure of continued use. The deterioration is natural and occurs eventually, even if the wood is treated to repel moisture and to strengthen it. This disadvantage leads to replacement much sooner than with plastic pallets. Infestation * Wooden pallets are more susceptible to infestation by termites, ants and other insects that make their home inside the wood. Pallets stored outdoors are more likely to succumb to infestation than the ones kept within a warehouse. The insects burrow into the wood, eating away at it and thus weakening what should be a support structure.. Cleanliness * In addition to germs, wooden pallets are collectors of dirt and debris. Cleaning them becomes more and more difficult over time as the pallets age. They must be heat-treated to get rid of the contamination and washed to be rid of dirt and debris. However, the heat accelerates deterioration, and the water, if improperly dried, can feed mold spores that thrive on wood and harm the vegetables and fruits inside it. Advantages of cardboard crates- Protects Items * As packaging, cardboard protects vegetables being shipped or moved. Corrugated cardboard often has multiple pieces of cardboard placed on top of each other to cushion soft vegetables. Cheap Material * Cardboard is cheap to produce, and is usually made from recycled materials and doesn’t cost much money if purchased wholesale. Other packaging materials are made from plastic, wood or metal, all expensive materials that are often heavier then cardboard, which adds†¦ [continues] Read full essay