GlossaryKind of term: Manufacturing termPackaging and shipping
What do packaging and shipping cover?
Packaging and shipping covers how parts are protected, packed, labelled and carried from the shop to the agreed place of delivery.
As the last part of the order, it decides whether parts arrive undamaged, clean and identifiable. It covers protection against corrosion, damage and contamination, the packing unit, labelling with part and order number, and the transport itself: your own van, a parcel service or a haulier for palletised goods. Who arranges and pays for transport follows from the Incoterm.
What do packaging and shipping depend on?
Which packaging is needed depends on material, surface, cleanliness requirement, time in transit or in stock, and climate. Untreated steel can rust; preservation oil and VCI are the usual protection. VCI paper or film releases a corrosion inhibitor that forms a thin protective layer on the metal inside a closed pack; the type has to suit the metal, the pack has to be closed and the part clean and dry, since coolant residue and fingerprints can still cause corrosion. A ground bearing seat or an anodised visible face needs each part kept separate, for example in a foam insert. With technical cleanliness requirements, packing in clean film after cleaning, sometimes double, can be specified so the parts reach the customer as clean as they left. A cleanliness requirement or a later coating can rule out oil or VCI, or prescribe a type.
How do packaging and shipping work in practice?
Packing takes material and hours that are often not in the estimate. If the customer wants each part packed separately with a label and their own part number, that time adds up per part over the batch. Too little protection can lead to damage, corrosion or rejects at the customer. Transport belongs in your price under DAP, for example, and not under EXW; if you leave it out where the Incoterm requires it, you pay for it yourself.
What are packaging and shipping often confused with?
Packaging and shipping is not the Incoterm: the Incoterm says who arranges and pays for transport and where risk passes, not how you pack. How a precision part has to be packed is agreed separately or set in the customer's specification.
Frequently asked questions
Should packaging be in the price of a part?
Standard packing often sits in the overhead. Individual packing, VCI, clean packing after cleaning or the customer's own label are usually priced separately, as a line or a fixed item on the quote.
What is VCI packaging and when do you use it?
VCI stands for volatile corrosion inhibitor: paper or film that releases an inhibitor which settles on the metal inside a closed pack. It is mainly used for untreated steel that spends time in transit or in stock; the type has to suit the metal.