Liberty Intercept Blog

Packaging: It's All in the Swing

Written by Joe Spitz | Dec 6, 2011 2:43:00 PM

The weather has been unseasonably warm in New England recently, allowing us in this hardy group to participate in outdoor activities such as one of my favorites, hitting golf balls at the driving range. Because of surgery and the subsequent recovery, I haven’t been able to golf for the last few years, but with nice weather and a now-healthy body, it was great to swing the club at the ball again. Of course, for a rusty golfer, there were more misses than that crisp feeling of striking the ball cleanly.

Typically, the reason for driving range practice is to train the swing so that when playing on a golf course, a golfer can control the ball, keeping it from dangerous positions, thus keeping the ball safe and forwarding it to its intended destination, the cup. As crazy as this analogy may seem to the reader, this process is similar to that of product packaging.  Having been involved in the protective packaging industry for many years, I have determined that this action of swinging at a golf ball is like choosing a packaging material. Similarly, the packaging material can keep a product safe and out of danger so that it arrives to its intended destination, the end user, safely.

Both incorrect packaging and a misguided swing at a golf ball can have comparably disastrous results. Of course, a huge difference being that golf is a game and the consequence to this lack of control may be a poor score; disturbing but typically not significant to a weekend golfer. The wrong choice in packaging materials, however, can result in damaged products, unsatisfied customers, expensive returns and reworks, additional labor, International law violations, and/or maybe a soiled company reputation resulting in lost customers and business.

I find with both golf and protective packaging, success is about the proper attitude of the participant. Controlling a golf ball requires a commitment to swing improvement in order to achieve the required precision. The same can be said of packaging; those responsible for packaging can choose to be contented with their current packaging methods, or they can fine tune their packaging “swing” to be more effective with a greater control for the most prudent outcome.

Intercept Technology Packaging products fit within a sustainability strategy because they are reusable, recyclable, do not contain or use volatile components (No VOCs, Not a VCI) and leave a smaller carbon footprint than most traditional protective packaging products.