Confessions of a Compulsive Organizer

Three Storage Tips For Your Company's Shipping Materials

by Ricardo Hart

Your enterprise's shipping materials are essential for ensuring that your products reach your customers as safely as possible. Unfortunately, there are business owners that overlook the need to properly store these boxes. This can result in considerable losses from shipping boxes becoming damaged and unusable. To help you minimize these risks, you will want to use the following few shipping materials storage tips.

Appreciate The Risks Posed By Humidity

Excess humidity can be one of the more common sources of damage that stored shipping boxes can encounter. Over the course of time, high humidity levels can result in substantial amounts of condensation forming on the boxes. This source of moisture can cause the boxes to start to degrade and decompose.

Luckily, keeping your shipping containers safe from this source of damage can be done by installing a dehumidifier in the room where you store these materials. However, if your room does not have a power outlet for the dehumidifier, you may need to invest in either silica gel or humidity control packets. These materials will help to remove excess moisture out of the air before it has a chance to damage your boxes.

Store The Unassembled Boxes Horizontally

When you are storing your boxes, it may seem easier to store them by setting them on the ground so that they lean against the wall. While this will allow for you to keep more corrugated boxes in the storage unit, it can result in serious damage occurring to them. The weight of the boxes can cause them to become warped, and this can make it impossible for your employees to assemble the boxes in a manner that will be secure enough for shipping.

Treat The Storage Area For Insects And Molds

At least once every few months, you will want to make sure that you are having the storage area treated for insects and molds. Insects can eat holes in the boxes and molds can start to grow. Both of these issues will permanently ruin any boxes affected. By having this room treated for these nuisances, you will be better able to minimize the need to replace your boxes that have suffered damages.

Getting the most from your company's shipping supplies will require you to understand the types of threats that these materials can encounter while they are being stored. Knowing the need to control the humidity, treat the storage area for molds and insects as well as storing unassembled boxes horizontally will help you to avoid these common sources of damage.

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