Products are vulnerable to damage and deformation during the shipping process. Because of this, manufacturers use protective wraps like bubble cushions to keep items in perfect condition while in transit. Bubble cushions are clean, flexible, lightweight air cushioning materials typically made from plastics. Their primary purpose is to minimize damage when storing, packing, or shipping goods.
Drawbacks of Using Bubble Cushions
Although widely used in the packing industry, using bubble cushions has some disadvantages, including the following:
Contains Toxins: The plastic polymer used to create bubble cushions is extremely toxic to the environment.
Clogs Up Landfills: Bubble cushions take up a significant volume of landfill space and take hundreds of years to decompose.
Takes Up Big Storage Space: For manufacturers, storing bubble cushions is a practical and ecological nightmare. Since most of their component is air, bubble cushions are challenging to keep as they consume considerable storage space.
Flammable: When a fire occurs, bubble cushions can act as an accelerant that throws bursts of oxygen into the fire.
Due to these disadvantages, many companies switched to alternative packaging solutions that are safe for the environment.
Cougar Packaging Solutions offers various sustainable packaging materials that can be applied for different purposes! One is Storopack’s PAPERbubble, an environmentally friendly option that delivers optimum performance and quality.
PAPERbubble Applications
PAPERbubble is a protective packaging solution made of natural materials like paper and air. Unlike bubble cushions, this natural packaging is 100% recyclable and eco-friendly, as it lessens the need for primary raw materials and fossil resources.
Manufacturers can utilize PAPERbubble to wrap products and fill voids inside crates and boxes to safely ship and deliver goods to their consumers. This packaging option offers the same exceptional, powerful, and long-lasting protective properties as traditional bubble cushioning without the environmental risks posed by plastic packaging. This makes PAPERbubble ideal for companies that practice sustainability measures in their operations.
With its 23″ width x 15″ length perforated paper sheets, PAPERbubble is the perfect choice to wrap and cushion delicate materials like cosmetics, electronic components, and other online mail-order goods.
Why Use PAPERbubble for Your Packaging Needs?
PAPERbubble comes in a specialized box with 300 paper sheets that are easily dispensible and ready to use. Thus, manufacturers no longer need complex machinery to dispense packaging wraps, making the process user-friendly and cost-efficient. PAPERbubble is also perfect as a packing void fill that protects items from shock and vibrations during shipment.
Moreover, this packaging solution adds a sleek and impressive appearance to products in the shipping carton. This gives customers a positive and memorable unpacking experience.
Packaging Solutions From Cougar
At Cougar Packaging Solutions, sustainability is not a hindrance but a driver of success! We are committed to bringing superior-quality eco-friendly products to positively contribute to protecting and conserving our planet and natural resources. Cougar also ensures that we partner with brands with the same sustainability goal.
With this advocacy in mind, we have meticulously curated a kaleidoscope of custom packaging solutions, products, supplies, and services for the past 50 years! Our capabilities and the team’s problem-solving expertise allowed us to provide the best packaging solutions to exceed customer expectations.
Contact us to learn more about our innovative solutions. Our competent team would be delighted to assist you in creating the perfect custom packaging solutions for your business needs!
When packaged items are in transit, the shifting and moving increase the likelihood of damage. To prevent this from happening and keep the integrity of products, packages are kept intact with different types of paddings; one of these is called paper void fill. Paper void fill, also referred to as void fill, is a type of filler material used to secure products by filling empty spaces in shipping boxes or containers.
In this article, we will discuss the applications and benefits of paper void fill and the various paper filling systems available in Cougar Packaging Solutions.
When Do You Need Paper Void Fill?
Like other packaging paddings, paper void fill has many applications, from heavy to light products. This packaging paper is well suited for e-commerce applications, especially for eco-conscious businesses and consumers looking for a recyclable and more sustainable alternative to other fillings.
Here are a few other applications of paper void fill:
Addition of protective padding between the item and the cardboard box when shipping goods
Prevention of movement and sliding of goods during the shipping process
Wrapping of glasses, ceramics, and other fragile items when storing or transporting goods
Enhancement of unboxing experience for consumers
Improvement of aesthetic purposes when assembling a package or a gift box
What Are the Benefits of Paper Void Fill Packaging?
Void fill provides several advantages for packaging companies. First, its semi-course surface reduces movement within the package, preventing valuables from being damaged or broken. It is also ideal for long-distance deliveries where the package is likely to be managed by multiple people and organizations.
Compared to air pillows, paper void fill is also a more practical option when shipping heavy or sharp objects. The paper packaging alternative is more versatile and less fragile, making it suitable for a wide range of products. Pointed tips can pierce air pillows, releasing the air and rendering the padding useless, and heavier items could flatten air pillows and cause them to burst.
Paper void fill is one of the most recyclable materials available compared to plastic packaging. Although plastic may be recycled a limited number of times, air pillows are almost exclusively used for packaging, while void fill can be reused for purposes other than basic filling. Some other advantages of using paper packaging are that it is lightweight, easy to store, and inexpensive.
Storopack’s PAPERplus® Cushioning Systems
Cougar Packaging Solutions use Storopack’s PAPERplus® paper cushioning, which provides all-around perfect protection for your packaged goods. Storopack offers a diverse range of systems that produce the proper packaging padding for every application. Their solutions can be used alone or in combination with existing packaging systems.
PAPERplus® Classic
The PAPERplus® Classic paper cushioning system is an excellent choice for heavy-weight products. Heavy items can be safely restricted, braced in cartons, and cushioned with paper pads and two-ply paper.
PAPERplus® Shooter
The PAPERplus® Shooter converts single-layer kraft paper into multi-layer paper cushioning, which you can use to fill cartons and block and brace products. It can produce up to 3.7 m. of paper cushioning in a second. In addition, customers can seamlessly integrate the PAPERplus® Shooter into their existing packing processes, creating piece cushioning directly at the packing station.
PAPERplus® Papillon
The unique, patented shape of PAPERplus® Papillon system’s paper cushioning offers superior protection for small to medium-sized shipping goods. It is also ideal for filling spaces and wrapping products due to its high volume at a low weight.
Having Trouble With Your Packaging Needs?
What’s beneficial to the environment is also helpful to businesses. Paper void fill is a simple, sustainable, and effective method of filling empty spaces in a shipping box to ensure the safety of your goods.
Cougar Packaging Solutions has carefully curated a diverse range of industrial packaging solutions, products, services, and supplies over the last 50 years. Our industrial packaging expertise has allowed us to foster many successful partnerships by demonstrating our ability to reduce our customers’ costs and improve their performance. With our team’s deep and broad problem-solving expertise, we create the best and most innovative packaging solutions!
Our experts can assist your company in creating a functional and efficient packaging facility in your warehouses. Contact us today to learn more about our void fill solutions.
Consumers expect products and their packaging to be intact and protected from tampering, contamination, weather, dust, and other hazards. Shrink wrapping is one of the easiest, fastest, and most cost-effective ways to achieve these goals. Whether it’s protecting individual products, bundling multiple products together, or both, heat shrink wrap can maintain product and packaging integrity while improving customer satisfaction and simplifying tasks for retailers.
There are two main types of shrink wrapping: shrink bundling with polyethylene film and shrink wrapping with polyolefin film. Shrink bundling creates bullseyes on the ends of the product(s) for easy handling, while shrink wrapping creates a complete seal around the product(s). Here we’ll talk about both types generally as shrink wrapping, explaining the process, advantages, and applications of this simple but effective packaging method.
What Is Shrink Wrap?
The shrink wrapping process involves briefly applying heat to one or more products wrapped in polyolefin or polyethylene film to form a close-fitting, protective layer of plastic that conforms even to oddly-shaped items (but not sharp objects). Versatile and FDA-approved for food-safe use, polyolefin shrink wrap film is clear and strong, even in very thin layers. Polyethylene shrink wrap film is a type of polyolefin available in different densities: high-density, low-density, and linear low-density. As a shrink film, polyethylene is flexible, strong, and resistant to moisture, impact, and chemicals.
With just a shrink wrap film and heat source, packagers can make nearly any product of any size weatherproof, waterproof, and tamperproof.
Shrink Wrapping Process
The shrink wrapping process is usually automated, allowing for varying speed and quality of the resulting shrink wrap. Here are the basic steps of the process:
Group products: Products are placed in the desired formation (for example, 2 x 3 to form a 6-pack) along the packaging line. Slower machines group products within the machine, while faster machines group together pre-collated products.
Form bundles: A bundle is formed when shrink wrap film conforms around the products. Two rolls can be used at once, with a hot knife cutting and sealing in a single step, or one roll can be overlapped and cut, leaving the sealing for the heat tunnel.
Heat shrink wrap: Heat must be applied to the wrapped products for the shrink wrap to conform to product contours. In the heat tunnel, hot air is circulated briefly to shrink the film, followed by setting it in cooler air.
Advantages of Shrink Wrapping
Shrink wrapping offers benefits to manufacturers, retailers, transportation providers, and consumers.
Protection
Shrink wrapping offers a protective barrier between products and the environment, dramatically reducing the risk of product damage by moisture, air, dirt, dust, or abrasion. Some shrink wrapping materials also provide UV protection to prevent degradation when exposed to the sun.
Improved Durability
Shrink wrap adds resilience and strength to packaging, ensuring bundled products stay together and remain visually appealing and shelf-ready. Shrink wrap resists tears, punctures, and sagging in hot and cold ambient conditions.
Tamper-Evident Protection
Since shrink wrap can completely enclose a product without gaps or changing shape, any attempts at tampering are obvious. This is why most companies in the pharmaceutical, food, and financial industries rely on shrink wrapping to safeguard product integrity.
Affordability
Since they are lightweight and conform to products without extra bulk, shrink wrapping keeps transportation costs low. Shrink wrapping materials and processes are also fast and cost-effective, easily paying for themselves with the protection and safety they provide.
Branding
Because shrink wrap can be custom colored and printed, it offers a larger, more visible canvas to share your brand identity.
Convenience and Ease of Handling
From individual parts to large bundles of multiple products, shrink wrapping can make it easier to handle products and keep components together. Shrink bundling with polyethylene film can be done with openings—called bullseyes—on the ends, which makes bulky or oddly-shaped products like cases of bottles much easier for retailers and consumers to manage.
Shrink Wrapping Applications
While shrink wrapping can accommodate virtually any object size and shape—from tiny pieces of hardware to entire boats—most shrink wrapping applications include the following:
Bottles, cans, jars, boxes, or cartons containing food, beverages, or other consumer goods
Products and materials for the printing and paper converting industries
Medical and pharmaceutical uses where safety and tamper-evident packaging are critical
Third-party logistics and contract packaging providers
Home improvement and construction products
Shrink Wrapping With Cougar Packaging Solutions
At Cougar Packaging Solutions, our shrink bundling and multipacking machines are designed to help you take advantage of the many benefits of shrink wrapping, saving you time, labor, and money. Backed by over 50 years of packaging experience, we are dedicated to providing efficient packaging products and services to our customers. Contact us today to learn how we can help you with your packaging needs.
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