An interview with Adam Taylor: Trends in transit packaging
Adam Taylor, our managing director, provides an insight into the transit packaging sector, market trends and the developing market of sustainable packaging solutions.
What are the main requests you receive from clients and how do you respond to them?
One of the main requests we receive from customers is to help counter the effects of the climatic changes inside a shipping container, as the climate can alter greatly during transit. Humidity and temperature change can create an environment that can cause corrosion to metal components and machinery. We aim to prevent this happening by using our range of VCI packaging and liquids.
For example, one of our manufacturing customers experienced corrosion issues with the spare parts it ships to Singapore. The company’s contract packer had used VCI paper inside polythene bags to pack the small steel parts, but these weren’t robust enough and didn’t give protection to the full surface area which led to the parts corroding during transit. At this time, we were approached to review the existing pack and provide a solution to protect the parts from corrosion. We changed the pack design from VCI paper to our Zerust VCI bags which cover the whole surface area and protect the metal from corrosion by forming a thin, corrosion inhibiting layer on the surface. This prevented any corrosion issues as the layer inhibits the corrosion process caused by oxygen, water and contaminants. Following the success of the new pack solution, we are now working with this customer on redesigning other component packs which had also experienced issues during transit.
We have also been approached to provide bespoke packaging solutions for unusual components to be transported globally. For example, we organised the re-crating of a large electrical component that needed to be airfreighted to Japan as well as using a fleece guard cover to protect the paint exterior of a train carriage which was stored in the UK. You can see examples of our work here.
What do you think are the main trends impacting the sector?
A key trend that we have witnessed is that in an effort to move to more sustainable products businesses are purchasing more paper-based products opposed to polythene-based products. For example, we have seen a boom in our customers ordering paper tapes rather than polybased tapes. The reason for this is that paper tape can be disposed of with the corrugated box, while polythene should be removed from the box and recycled separately. I anticipate that this trend will particularly impact on the retail industry where reinforced tape is being used instead of the traditional vinyl sticky tape.
In addition, with the rise of e-commerce we have experienced an increase in the demand for postal bags and mailing bags over the past 2 years, in line with the growing number of single product shipments due to online sales.
Sustainability is a key topic across the packaging industry – how do you ensure minimal environmental impact and how do you strike the optimum balance between providing protection and minimising environmental impact?
As a business we are very passionate about having a positive impact on our own environment and helping our customers to do the same and we have successfully gained the ISO 14001 environmental standard.
Waste regulations are based on weight, so companies are taxed on the weight they declare. Our team of experts work closely with our customers to provide advice and support on solutions to reduce waste from using high strength blended films to exploring the compostable route. We supply compostable materials that can be used for flexible films and bags as well as injections moulded products. Returnable systems are also a positive way of reducing one trip packaging materials.
Taylor Packaging is a leading provider of intelligent, responsive and innovative packaging solutions. With over 40 years’ expertise, Taylor Packaging is a trusted packaging partner to clients who operate nationally and internally across a wide range of industries including manufacturing, automotive, distribution and construction.