From a logistics perspective, packaging is primarily intended to protect the product against damage during storage, transport, and other processes. The functionality of the packaging is also extremely important in terms of the packaging process itself.
During the storage process, packaging should properly secure and identify the product during unloading, goods receipt, storage, order picking, as well as the issuing and loading of completed logistics units.
In the transport process, it should also protect the product itself, as well as the means of transport, against potential damage (hazardous materials), and enable optimal use of transport space while complying with all regulations and standards. It should be noted here that the recent period has been abundant in new ideas regarding the reduction of logistics costs. Considerations regarding the role of packaging and its impact on the entire logistics process, with particular emphasis on the cost aspect, play a significant role in this process. Thus, packaging, once treated as an object and undervalued, is now increasingly becoming a subject of discussion and an important factor in the entire supply chain. It is easy to see the role assigned to packaging in the logistics process; this role increases in particular when considering, for example, the food or medical-pharmaceutical industry.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2003/5.