Garment Packaging: Types, Materials and Requirements

What is Garment Packaging?
Garment packaging plays a crucial role in garment industry, ensuring that garments are protected during transport and presented attractively to consumers. It is the final process of garment manufacturing. Generally, packaging is done to protect the goods from damage in transit and to facilitate easy transfer of goods to customers. However, now it is also used by the manufacturer to establish his branded products as distinct from his competitors. Another activity connected with packaging is labelling. Labelling means putting identification marks on the package. The label is an important feature of a product. It is that part of a product which contains information about the producer and the product. A label may be a part of a package or a tag attached directly to the product. The label is used to communicate brand, grade and other information about the product. Packaging has become one of the essential features of modern marketing. It acts as a multipurpose arrangement. It gives protection to goods on its route from manufacturer to consumer. It even protects the goods during its life with the user. Packaged goods are generally more convenient to handle. Packaging also gives individuality to a product. It makes easier for the consumer to identify a product by looking at its package.

Packaging facilitates the sale of a product. It acts as a silent salesman of the manufacturer, particularly at a place where there is widespread use of self-services, automatic vending and other self-selection methods of retail selling. Sometimes, packages are duly sealed to ensure products of right quality to the consumers. In the absence of sealing, unscrupulous dealers may distribute duplicate products to the consumers.

Packaging is one of the last criteria to be checked. Garments are checked for their adherence to number of items per box, that hang tags are correct and attached in the correct spot, and fiber and care labels are correct and affixed in the correct spot. Garment packaging should be as per the requirement of the customer and also should not be easily damaged. It should be free from leakage, pilferage, etc.

Packing List in Garment Industry:
Packing list is the list with detailed packing information of the goods shipped. It consists of the buyer details, shipping quantity, carton quantity, net weight, gross weight, description of the item shipped, size wise and color wise particulars of the items shipped along with total pieces.

The packaging list is used by the shipper or forwarding agent to determine the total shipment weight, volume and item wise list of the materials shipped to ascertain that the right cargo is being shipped. It provides the fullest details of the goods including packing information.

Packing list is important for packing section to pack the goods as per ratio/ assortment and the inspectors inspect the goods as per packing list. It is also used by the commercial department to make final packing list for forwarding agent and customs department (both local and foreign) to determine the total shipment weight and volume and whether the correct cargo is being shipped. Therefore, a garment merchandiser should prepare a clear packing list so that all the purpose could be served.

Packaging list provides the details of number of packages; quantity packed in each of them; the weight and measurement of each of the packages and the net and gross weight of the total consignment.

• Net weight refers to the actual weight of the items and the gross weight means the weight of the items plus the weight of the packing material.
• The packing list serves a useful purpose of the exporter while dispatching the consignment as a cross-check of goods sent.
• For the port personnel, it comes handy while planning the loading and offloading of cargo.
• It is also an essential document for the customs authorities as they can carry out the physical examination of the cargo and conduct checks on the weight and measurements of the goods smoothly against the declarations made by the exporter in the packing list.

Requirements of Garment Packaging:
The plastic bags are most commonly used for garment packing either at the completion of production or when they arrive at the finished goods stores. Apparel such as shirts and underwear is usually bagged and boxed immediately after final inspection and enters the stores in prepacked form. Other hanging garments like jackets, dresses and skirts are usually bagged when they enter the stores. A carton package made of quite strong corrugated material is normally preferred while transporting the boxed or hanging garments in bulk form. The packed garment boxes are sealed by contact adhesive paper tape or bound with a plastic tape.

Types of Garment Packaging in Finishing Section:
The flowchart shown in below figure gives the idea of selection of garment packing methods to ensure merchandise is floor ready.

The most commonly used types of garment packing are given below.

Stand-Up Pack:
This type of packing is commonly used for shirts and hence termed as ‘shirt packing’. For this type of packing, the garments have to be pressed prior to packing and are packed with additional packing materials like tissue paper, back support, pins or clips, inner collar patty, outer patty, etc. The stand-up garment package and the accessories used are shown in below figure.

The advantages of the stand-up pack are-

• It is an attractive pack so it enhances the appeal of the garments to the customer.
• It is a safer pack as it has inner and outer cartons, therefore the packed garments can be handled easily.
• On account of its better presentation, it can increase the sales of a product.

The disadvantages of the stand-up pack are-

• It is costlier.
• It needs many packing materials.
• It involves a lot of effort as well as time.
• Unpacking of this kind of package needs more time and once unpacked it is tough to repack.
• In case it is crushed by any source, creases and wrinkles are formed on the garments and thus the pressed condition is disturbed.

Flat Pack:
In this packing method, the garments are pressed and folded well as like in a stand-up pack, however with less additional packing materials. It is generally normally used for ladies’ garments and has a flat surface.

The size of the folding is based on the garment style and specifications of the buyer. The common sizes of flat pack are 8″ × 10″ and 10″ × 12″.

The merits and demerits of flat pack are-

• It is less expensive than the stand-up pack as it requires less material.
• It is less attractive than the stand-up pack.
• For shirts it does not present the beauty of the collar portion very well.
• The disadvantages are the same as that of the stand-up pack.

Hanger Pack:
It is a simple garment packing method where the garments are secured in a poly bag with a hanger after pressing. Here polybag is the only material used. This type of packing can be used for all types of garments especially for blazers, coats, pants, etc.

The merits and demerits of a hanger pack are-

• Because of its simplicity it reduces the cost of packing and materials.
• All the components/panels of the garments could be seen easily without removing the bag.
• The time for packing and unpacking is less.
• Material handling is not easy.

Deadman Pack:
This kind of packing is used for shirts. Here, the sleeves are folded in front of the pack and pinned with each other. Next, the garments are folded in the center. As it resembles the appearance of dead body, it is called a ‘deadman pack’. It is a simple packing method using only pins or clips and polybags.

The merits and demerits of this pack are-

• The costs of packing materials and packing are less compared with other methods due to its simplicity.
• The packing and unpacking time is less.
• Garments can be examined in the packed condition.
• This type of packing enables easy handling of garments.
• This type of packing is not suitable for shirts because it does not show the collar and the collar point as in the stand-up pack; hence, it is less attractive.

Types of Carton Packing:
After garment packaging, the process of cartoning is carried out based on the size of the apparel and its color. Most used packing types are given below.

1. Solid color solid size pack
2. Solid color assorted size pack
3. Assorted color solid size pack
4. Assorted color assorted size pack

Information provided in carton boxes is given below:

• Carton box number
• Order number
• Style, color
• Number of pieces in each color and style
• Total number of pieces
• From address and To address
• Contact number
• Net weight of the carton box
• Dimension of the carton box

List of Garment Packaging Materials:
Packing is nothing but presentation part of the final finished garment and this is very essential to complete the merchandising process effectively. Good presentations of the finished garment attract the customers in the showrooms and add packaging accessories used are value on that product. The various garment packaging materials are shown in below figure.

Polybags:
Polybags are made up of low-density polyethene and polypropylene, that is, LDPE/LDPP as per the required thickness (100–300 GSM) with specified dimensions. The care instructions are printed on the back side of the polybag and the recycle logo and symbol called as green dot printed on the back side any corner.

The cost of the polybag depends on the thickness, size, and the print content and is the type of polybag.

Different types of polybags are:

1. Sealed polybag
2. Unsealed polybag
3. Hanger cut polybag and so forth.

2. Hangtags/size tags/price tickets:
The hangtags made up of paper cardboard sheet of specified thickness and size with attractive colors printed with Brand name or Logs or Company name to attract and identify the customers easily. The size tags also made up of paper cardboard with specific thickness and size which indicates the size of the garment such as S, M, L, XL or 38, 42, 44 and so forth with beautiful colors.

3. Price ticket:
The price ticket made up of thick cardboard of specified size/thickness which consists of retail selling price of garment in dollars, euro, France and so forth as per the buyer requirement and consist of style number, barcodes, machine-readable, that can be scanned into computer systems which gives complete details of garment regarding style, manufacturer, price and so forth.

4. Hanger/size rings:
Hangers are made up of plastic both in colors and whites. Different types of hangers are available in the market for different end users.

• Ordinary hanger
• Clip hanger
• Serrated hanger

Different size hangers are available from kids, women’s and men’s wear, that is, 3A–8A, S–XL and so forth. The hanger cost will be Tk. 2–5.

5. Size rings:
Size rings are made up of plastic with different colors and the size is identified on the rings. The cost of the size rings ranges from 80 paise to Tk. 2.

6. Back support/tissue paper/inner collar card:
Back support is made up of thick cardboard sheet of white or brown color of specified thickness (100–400GSM) and size. The main purpose of back support is to give support to the folded garment, which should withstand the handling, and to avoid the crushing and to maintain the shape of the garment while placed in the showroom in the racks.

Tissue paper is also used as support material for high weight garment. Ladies wear and kids wear are used instead of cardboard to avoid the stain on the folded part of the garment.

The cost of the above depends upon the thickness, size and quality of the products. Cardboard – Tk. 2–3 and tissue paper 10–25 paise.

7. Clips, pins and butterfly:
Clips and pins are used to hold the garment as per the shape of the folding. They are used at the shoulder, sleeves, cuffs, collar and so forth. Butterflies are used at the collar first button to increase the appearance of the collar. Clips are made up of glue or plastic and the butterfly is made up of plastic. The metallic pins are not used in packing. Only plastic pins are used. The cost of butterflies is Tk. 1–3 and clips/pins Tk. 10/g.

8. Carton box:
Since the consignment that is leaving from the port of departure to the place of destination of the carton should be up to the satisfaction of the customer (buyer) since the boxes would naturally be handled in a rough manner. The quality of paper to be used should be 120 GSM and of 32 bursting factor of the box. Cartons exported are generally of 7 ply or 9 ply. The inner if requested could be of 3 ply or 5 ply. On the carton address, place or country from where it is being exported, part of destination/place of the destination address.

Conclusion:
Effective garment packaging is essential for ensuring product safety and enhancing the customer experience. By considering the types, materials, and requirements, businesses can create packaging solutions that protect their products and promote their brand while meeting environmental and compliance standards.

References:

1. Apparel Manufacturing Technology by T. Karthik, P. Ganesan, D. Gopalakrishnan
2. Fashion Marketing Management
3. Handbook of Textile and Apparel Costing by Rathinamoorthy, Surjit and Vishnu Vardhini
4. Apparel Merchandising by R. Rathinamoorthy and R. Surjit
5. Garments Merchandising by M.A. Kashem
6. Practice of Garments Merchandising and Management by Engr. Md. Faruq Hosen

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