Packaging is chosen by channel first
The regime decision comes before the material decision, because the channel decides what the packaging must survive. Retail and marketplace programs put each panel or module in its own carton - corner-protected, barcoded, carrying its color card and fixing summary - built to open cleanly on a customer's floor after a parcel network has finished with it. Project programs stack panels, edge them and crate them, built to travel as a block, land on a site and be distributed by a fitting crew. Mixed programs use both: retail cartons palletized, then the pallets crated or wrapped as one unit. The choice belongs on the program sheet next to the color list, because it changes carton specification, container fill and the damage profile of the whole line. Decided at the brief it is a line item; decided in the last week it is a compromise. The channel versions in full - including retail-ready boxes and in-box cards - are on the packaging page.
| Regime | Built for | Core build |
|---|---|---|
| Retail carton | Parcel networks, store shelves, unboxing | Bagged panel, corner blocks, edge boards, snug carton, card inside |
| Crated stack | Sites, fitting crews, phased projects | Dry pallet, interleaves, edge boards, film, crate |
| Mixed | Ranges serving both channels | Cartons palletized, pallets crated or wrapped as one unit |
Inside the carton: corners carry the risk
Panel damage in transit concentrates at corners and edges, so a carton earns its keep there. The standard build, layer by layer: the panel bagged against moisture and rubbing; foam or folded-board corner blocks on all four corners; edge boards along the long edges; and a carton sized so the panel cannot walk - a panel that shifts a centimeter in the box arrives as a claim. Carton board grade, corner block specification and closure tape are written on the packaging sheet, not improvised at the packing bench. A color card and a fixing summary go in every box so the unboxing reads as part of the product. For marketplace channels the same logic tightens: single-carton products, no loose parts, and protection sized for a sortation line rather than a gentle hand - the box-standard discipline behind the shipping damage patterns most claims trace back to: loose fit, bare corners, or contents packed against the face.
Crates, pallets and the loading plan
Project packaging starts below the panel: a dry pallet wrapped against ground moisture, with the first layer laid on edge boards so straps never touch a veneered face. Panels stack flat with interleaves protecting faced surfaces, stacking heights are agreed so lower panels are not crushed by the load above, and the stack is shrink-wrapped with edge protection before crating. In the container, the loading plan keeps weight low and even, blocks the stack against movement, and leaves nothing loose to travel - a loose offcut becomes a projectile on a cross-swell. Crate order mirrors install order, so the first panels off the container are the ones the crew needs first. The planning figure behind all of this: a 40-foot high-cube container typically carries 800-1,200 sq m of panel, moving with thickness and packaging style - which is exactly why the loading plan is drawn before the vessel is booked, at the point the logistics page picks the mode.
Film, edges and moisture
The cheap materials do the quiet work. Stretch film holds the stack together and sheds splash; edge boards spread strap pressure so banding never bruises a face; poly sheeting under and over the stack buffers the humidity swings a long container ride is known for. Desiccant goes in on programs headed to humid climates or long transits, and cut cartons get a poly bag of their own so a wet port day does not reach the panel. None of it is optional once a program carries a brand: a scratched panel is a replacement, but a scratched panel inside a printed carton is a brand impression, and the second costs more than the first. The parts and where each sits in the stack are named in the packaging components note.
Labels close the system. Each carton carries the color name exactly as the program owns it, the batch identification the lot record points to, a barcode where the channel needs one, and handling icons that survive a damp warehouse. Labels print from the same approved artwork as the carton, are checked at inspection, and - on programs that want the end customer to see the paper - selected grade documents ride in the box as well. A label that misidentifies a batch does more than confuse a warehouse; it breaks the link between the carton and the inspection record, which is the link every later claim and every reorder depends on.
The drop test, honestly run
A drop test is agreed as a protocol before the first batch: the packed carton is dropped on corners, edges and faces from heights the program sets for its channel, then opened and inspected - veneer adhesion at the corners, slat straightness, surface scratches, contents still in place. The record goes with the lot, inside the inspection plan on the quality control page. The point is not the drop itself; it is that packaging is a specification with evidence behind it rather than an assumption carried forward from a previous supplier. Programs that skip the test discover their packaging specification at claims time, which is the most expensive possible moment to learn it.
What the packaging sheet holds
| Sheet item | What it fixes |
|---|---|
| Carton drawing | Board grade, corner blocks, closure, print artwork |
| Contents per box | Panel, color card, fixing summary, spares where quoted |
| Pallet and crate drawing | Stack pattern, interleaves, wrap spec, crate build |
| Drop test protocol | Heights per face and edge, acceptance checks, record per lot |
| Labels | Barcode placement, handling icons, batch and color identification |
The sheet is approved before production starts, so packaging never becomes a late decision riding the last week of the calendar - print runs for cartons and cards carry their own timing, listed with the reference stages on the MOQ and lead time page. Everything on the sheet, like every quantity in the program, is confirmed in writing before the first batch runs. To put a program on a packaging sheet, the quote form asks for channel, destination and area per color - the three inputs a packaging plan needs first, and the same three that shape the container plan the cartons will live in.