Once you ship your products out the door, they go through a lot. 

They get jostled, stacked, dropped, stored, and moved—often multiple times before they reach the end of their journey. To make sure they arrive in one piece, you need packaging that can handle all that abuse.

Especially when you’re designing new packaging.

For instance, when you get a new account with strict packaging requirements. Or when you’re designing a creative new way to display your products on retail shelves.

Our in-house structural designers have helped dozens of companies keep their products safe without compromising their other goals. This guide walks you through the most important things you need to know to make sure your packaging is up to real world challenges.

How Your Products Get Damaged

First you need to know what you’re protecting against.

Your products and packaging experience three main stressors between the time you ship them and the time they get where they’re going.

Let’s take a look at each one, so you’ll know how to combat it.

Transit Risks: Bumps, Drops, Slides, and More

From the moment they’re loaded onto their first truck, your boxes are getting jolted and vibrated.

They experience acceleratory forces that can cause both internal and external sliding.

And it’s not uncommon for boxes to be dropped or treated poorly.

Warehousing Dangers: The Pressure of Stacking

Once your boxes arrive at a warehouse they’re often stacked—either with each other or mixed with other pallets and boxes.

The pressure on the bottom layers builds fast.

Crushed or collapsed boxes can lead to serious product damage.

Climate Uncontrolled: Heat, Cold, and Humidity 

Throughout the transit and warehousing process your boxes might experience a whole range of climate dangers.

For instance in the summer months they might go from a sweltering truck journey to an air conditioned or even refrigerated storage area, then back out into the heat again. Or they might sit for weeks in a humid warehouse, where moisture can slowly break down adhesives or substandard materials.

Now let’s take a look at how to make sure your boxes can handle all of this.

3 Structural Design Keys to Strong, Sturdy Packaging

Our inhouse structural designers have created everything from global shipping pallets to bespoke retail displays.

But protecting the product always comes first.

Here are the three key elements to ensure your packaging holds up. 

Box Strength Starts with Strong Materials

Starting with the right board grade, fluting profile, and adhesives sets you up for success.

For instance, single-wall board might be fine for smaller items fulfilled through e-commerce channels. But for larger, heavier products that might be stacked in warehouses, you’ll want to consider double and triple-wall.

Similarly, larger fluting will offer more compression resistance and cushioning against shocks and vibrations. And compound fluting like B/C-flute will perform even better.

Plus you want adhesives that will hold until your packaging’s job is done.

Design and Enhancements for Rigidity and Resilience

Structural design is an intersection of math and materials.

Once you’ve chosen the right materials, experienced structural designers will quickly zero in on the dimensions and design decisions to handle your products’ weight and fragility.

Plus they’ll select the proper closures, like interlocking flaps or glued joints for added strength.

You can enhance your packaging’s performance with custom die cuts that cradle your products. Inserts, dividers, and reinforced corners will also boost protection.

Testing and Quality Control to Nail the Final Product 

Performance testing will help ensure that your products will arrive safely.

Edge Crush Testing and the Mullen Burst Test are a couple of popular forms of packaging testing. But you want to make sure your testing simulates the pressures your specific packaging will face.

But no amount of testing can make up for substandard or inconsistent materials. That’s one reason we invested in our own, state-of-the-art 110” corrugator, housed at our Commencement Bay Corrugated facility. 

It ensures that we can deliver top quality materials at the consistency and scale our clients demand.

Strong Packaging Starts with a Strong Partnership

We’ve built our company as the trusted partner for manufacturers and suppliers who need consistently excellent packaging and service.

Our structural design and packaging R&D services are just part of what we offer. With services like vendor managed inventory and just in time delivery, we don’t just sell you boxes—we come alongside you to make sure your packaging supports your business success every step of the way.

If you’re ready to upgrade your packaging partner, get in touch today and we’ll show you what’s possible.