Consistent Quality Control in Large-Scale Packaging: Why It Matters for Your Business

Quality Packaging Minimizes Product Loss

Low quality product packaging or food packaging that breaks or spoils the product inside can cost you a lot of money. Not only will you have to replace the product but, without a good quality control process in place, you won't be able to catch inefficiencies or mistakes in your packaging line.

Helps Avoid Fees from Mistakes

From surcharges imposed by logistics partners for improper labeling to fines or fees from ports or third-party logistics providers due to messes caused by improper packaging, improving your packaging quality control can help you avoid costly and ongoing fees from these oversights. It can also improve quality assurance.

Improves Your Workflow

Another crucial aspect of quality control checks for packaging, specifically, is that you can catch small issues before they become catastrophic issues. By continually monitoring your packaging quality control processes and making improvements, you can improve your day-to-day workflow and avoid costly product safety issues caused by product recalls due to poor quality control in packaging.

Improves Your Reputation

This is a big one. If your company is constantly dealing with customer complaints about product quality due to inefficient product packaging, this can have a huge impact on your company's reputation. An unhappy customer is often more vocal than a happy one, so catching packaging mistakes before they become major issues can help you maintain consistency and meet customer expectations.

Helps Meet Regulatory Standards

From temperature-controlled packaging for frozen goods to breathable packaging for fruits and veggies, there are plenty of standards and requirements that the packaging industry needs to meet. By including these as a checkpoint in your packaging quality control checklist, you can make sure your packaging is of the highest quality and meets all safety regulations.

Creates a Better Supply Chain

Beyond customer satisfaction and cost, improper packaging can impact the entire supply chain: including your own employees. Improper packaging can lead to injuries at the workplace from pallets falling over or items leaking due to product damage and causing slips and falls. It can also improve the environmental impact of your products, as it will cut back on the wasting of consumer products.

Inspection of Incoming Packaging Materials

Ensuring that the raw materials used in packaging meet required safety standards before production begins helps prevent defects and ensures that the final product meets packaging quality expectations. You'll want to make sure the materials meet established standards outlined on the purchase order, and provide your team with the proper training so they can perform these inspection procedures on their own so you can save time.

Monitoring of the Packaging Process

Effective monitoring helps detect issues early, reduces waste, ensures compliance with necessary standards, and optimizes the production process, from production all the way through shipment. This includes real-time process monitoring, quality control checks during packaging, audits of your packaging line, a post-packaging inspection, and establishing a feedback loop for continuous improvement of your packaging process.

Testing for Durability and Compliance

This is where the packaging quality control process gets a little bit fun! You'll need to perform in-depth quality control testing to understand if your packaging truly helps prevent product damage. Some tests to consider include a drop test, compression test, vibration test, an impact test and, of course, regulatory compliance testing. You'll need to look at all the various aspects of your packaging to truly make informed decisions about its quality.

Standardization Across Batches

To truly be able to say that you have high quality packaging that meets customers expectations and doesn't damage your brand reputation, your production packaging should be consistent across the board. You'll need to use special technology to test for standardization across batches, and leverage essential tools like dielines, templates, and automated systems to ensure quality and consistency.