7 tips for shipping high value equipment, tools and parts

How highly do you value your relationship with your customers?

The answer for every business should be the same. Without strong customer relationships, your business would struggle to grow at best, and may even cease trading altogether at worst.

Customer relationships lead to repeat business and potentially higher spend, which, over time, will help enhance your brand and company perception (plus word-of-mouth recommendations and referrals).

However, whilst your pricing, customer service and quality may all be where they need to be, it is surprising how often companies let customers down through one simple thing: transit damage.

Supplying damaged products makes your company look amateurish and costs you (and your customer), eroding trust and business potential. This is particularly accurate if you are supplying high-value, specialist, rare or critical products or equipment to your customers.

This is why you must ensure that your shipping of high-value equipment, tools, and parts is absolutely spot on.

To protect your high-value items during transit (and any fragile products or parts that cannot be damaged), consider the following tips and strategies:

• Analyse and use your environments.
• Assess risks inherent to the product.
• Choose the correct exterior packaging.
• Utilise foam correctly.
• Assess compatibility between packaging types.
• Train your staff.
• Work with a trusted transport provider.
• Make use of insurance.

The remainder of this guide provides further details on each of these considerations, including their potential impact on your operations and business success.

Before specifying any protective shipping cases or transit packaging solution, the first stage is always to understand how and where the products or parts will be travelling.

For example, specialist components being transported to a customer who is merely a 20-mile lorry journey from your production facility are likely to require less protection than those that will be shipped internationally via air or sea freight.

Similarly, if your products, parts, or equipment will be located on-site (e.g., test equipment, communications gear), you need to factor in the specific environmental conditions where the product will be used and stored, as well as how it will be transported.

If possible, determine how many times the exterior packaging or transit case will be handled, what types of transport will be used, what the likely environmental conditions will be, and how long the process will take (which could include multiple uses over a prolonged period).

All of this should enable you to plan the type of protective packaging required to protect your specific items.

The other key consideration at this stage is the product, component, or the equipment itself. This again has significant implications for the type of protection your items will need.

For example, any part of a tool that contains electronics will likely need to be protected from both static and moisture. As such, a moulded waterproof case is likely to be the best option.

However, a part that is extremely sensitive to vibrations may not require such a robust form of outer packaging; instead, it will need custom-engineered foam that addresses this specific point.

Finally, the type of product or part you are manufacturing is also likely to affect the volumes you are sending. It would not, for example, be sensible to ship high-value and high-volume items (e.g., LED TVs) using plastic cases, as the cost would be prohibitive (hence corrugated boxes and foam are used).

However, for low-volume and high-value items (e.g., those that are rare and difficult to replace), a fully engineered protective case is likely to be the most suitable option.

As alluded to in the points above, the exterior case or packaging that you choose can have a significant impact on the protection you provide your products. A basic example is that products sensitive to moisture and dust (and likely to be taken on site) should not be transported using corrugated cardboard.

However, other factors will come into play.

If products are being shipped long distances or internationally, then the weight of the outer packaging can have a significant impact on your costs. This may see you select an aluminium case instead of a moulded plastic one to keep the weight down.

Saying that the protective case market is extremely crowded.

Examining waterproof cases alone, there are at least 10 different brands that claim to offer the best performance and most cost-effective solutions for a wide variety of applications.

When you factor in aluminium cases, presentation cases and even custom-built flight cases, the amount of choice when deciding on a transit case can be somewhat bewildering.

However, any specialist in supplying high-value transit cases and packaging should have no problem advising the best solution for your specific requirements.

One of the most effective ways to protect high-value and/or fragile items in transit is through the use of foam inserts. As detailed previously, if you are shipping high-value, fragile, or highly calibrated items, you are at a particular risk of experiencing damage during transit.

This damage can occur through excessive vibration or even simple acts of mishandling, such as being dropped. In addition to the cost of replacing the items, which often runs into thousands of pounds, this can also lead to expensive and time-consuming customer complaints that require urgent action to rectify.

However, it is actually possible to calculate and predict the exact performance offered by specific foams and tailor this to your specific requirements.

Different foams, grades, and densities exhibit their own characteristics, and their “cushioning curves” predict the level of peak G-Force (shock) transmitted through each density of foam at a given thickness against a range of drop heights and static loads.

Ultimately, it enables the manufacture of foam inserts which not only locate and present your products well but also provide precisely calculated levels of cushioning protection.

This can reduce the transmitted shock generated by mishandling of the protective case to such a degree that it prevents damage to the packaged article, allowing for a highly controlled level of deceleration within the foam insert.

In effect, it will offer the exact level of protection your products need for the duration of their expected transportation, use, and ongoing storage.

Outer packaging and/or protective cases with poorly fitted or manufactured foam inserts can cause as many problems as they solve.

The primary requirement for any protective foam insert is to allow controlled deceleration of the product by absorbing the force. However, if the foam itself can move, even slightly, within the equipment case, any calculations will be inaccurate, and the levels of protection will be compromised.

In turn, this can lead to increased damage in transit and associated costs.

As such, it is essential to ensure compatibility between all elements of your packaging. This can often be achieved by manufacturing both the case and foam inserts under one roof.

By carefully matching a case’s characteristics with foam inserts that not only fit the case precisely but also provide the optimal level of protection, you can be certain that the finished solution will be perfectly tailored to your specific product or application.

It is surprising how often the cause of damage can be your own staff. This could occur during the initial packing process, either through rough or careless handling (if an item is fragile) or through the items not being packed correctly or consistently.

Your packaging can actually make a difference here, as it is possible to engineer solutions that ensure items are packed in the correct order and in the proper compartments, and then sealed correctly.

However, if you are sending equipment to field staff or customers who use your products on location (for example, specialist equipment hire), education on how to handle not only the product but also the packaging or protective case that comes with it can be highly beneficial.

Many people may not realise that simply throwing the case into the back of their vehicle at the end of the job is not the best way to handle the expensive kit they are using, or that not re-packing it correctly can lead to damage during the return journey.

Also, understanding why items may be mishandled (e.g., they are pressed for time, the items are too heavy to lift easily, etc.) may reveal ways to improve processes and reduce instances of damage.

As much of the damage to high-value equipment or products occurs in the hands of your logistics providers, it is absolutely crucial that you work alongside a trusted transport provider.

Many logistics companies offer specialist services and their own insurance, so it is essential to analyse the specific services they offer and choose the one that is more appropriate for your product.

It may also be worth investigating the cost of setting up your own logistics in-house. Whilst potentially costly, this does give you control over the processes followed, which, if managed correctly, can help reduce instances of mishandling, lost items, and even late deliveries.

If you already manage your own logistics in-house, thorough analysis and review can potentially highlight areas of concern which can be rectified as required.

Unfortunately, no matter the precautions taken it is highly likely that a very small percentage of shipped items will become damaged during transit. Whilst this may not be a problem for lower-value items, if the products you are shipping are bespoke to the customer, extremely high-value, or especially rare, this can cause significant headaches.

As a backup, it is always wise to ensure that any products or equipment of this nature are available.

Whilst it may not prevent time wasted on site by your field engineers, it may still lead to strained relationships with your customers, it will at least mitigate the financial losses you could incur from the need to manufacture or source replacements.

So, as with all insurance, whilst it may simply seem like another cost to bear, it can prove invaluable depending on the type of equipment or products you are shipping.

If your products and equipment are particularly high in value, then even a minimal reduction in the percentage becoming damaged can have a significant impact on your company’s operating costs and ultimately profits.

Whilst choosing the correct protective case and foam (or indeed the most appropriate form of packaging) can make a significant contribution to doing this, it is crucial to take a holistic view of your entire packaging, transit and handling process.

Get in touch with one of our packaging experts today to see how we can help you ship your high-value products safely.