Packing Boxes Right Is Hard

My sister had a business making boxes for beauty products, packing them and shipping them. Packing liquids takes extra care. It means being nice to your employees so they pack the boxes correctly. Poorly packed liquids are a recipe for disaster. My sister knows that and does it right.

Today a box from a national beauty and fragrance company arrived at my door. I knew when I opened the door and there was a small puddle of thick liquid under the corner of the box there was a problem.

I turned the box upside down and carried it to the kitchen counter quickly. Many ounces of liquid hand soap had already coated the inside of the box. It had covered the boxes of the gifts inside what were not bubble and plastic wrapped, but just thrown in the cardboard box in open top plastic bags. There were two small pillows of air, hardly enough to hold the four heavy glass candles from shifting, crushing one of the two large plastic bottle of hand soap.

Almost everything was ruined.

I photographed the evidence, having to wash and dry my hands between each removal of a slimy box. I called the manufacturer. They did not seem surprised and quickly sent me confirmation of a reorder as well as an email to send back my evidentiary photos.

The person you pay the least in your company can cost you the most. Packing items correctly may not seem like the most important job, but it is. Everything liquid and breakable should have been wrapped in bubble. Not one square inch should be left inside the box so that items don’t shift. Shifting items is what causes breakage. When you are in the logistics business this is lesson number one. You need to train your people and inspect their work. You need to treat them well and pay them enough that they care. If they don’t care, or worse yet, don’t like you, they cost you money and customers.

It took me thirty minutes to clean that mess us. I will never order from them again. I hope the replacement box is packed better.