The Benefits of Dividers in a Shipping Box

Dividers are an important component to any type of shipping box. In fact, they probably play a bigger role than most people would think. Whether you are shipping out larger or smaller items, most shipping boxes can be customized to fit nearly any reasonable number of dividers depending on the size of your box and the quantity of items being shipped.

But, how do you know when a shipping box should have dividers? Here are a few popular reasons.

Prevent Fragile Materials from Moving

When you think of the importance of a divider, it is likely that your first thought was that a divider is in place to keep bottles or other fragile materials from hitting each other and cracking or breaking. And it’s true, this is one of the most popular reasons why a divider is used in a shipping box. Dividers are used to gently hold the items in place and not just prevent them from tapping against each other, but also from moving at all.

Keep items from turning upside down

Dividers are also important for shipping boxes that carry liquids which have the potential to spill or leak if the box is turned on its side or manipulated during transportation. While most containers with liquids are made from plastic and not likely to crack, shatter, or break they may still be prone to leakage.

Manage Packaging Inventory

Sometimes, dividers are not meant to protect the items inside a shipping box from damage or leaking. While this is a nice bonus, many small businesses prefer shipping box dividers because they are an inexpensive way to ensure that each box contains the exact quantity labeled on the outside of the box. Dividers not only provide a location for each item in the box, but they allow the packager to easily eyeball the dividers to ensure every slot is filled.

Improve Overall Integrity of the Box

Dividers can be made of paperboard in a variety of thicknesses to assist in protecting individual and fragile items. Dividers can also be made from corrugated partitions which not only provide stronger protection of the interior items, but corrugated partitions also aid in providing more stability to the box itself during transportation. They help to prevent damage to the box if dropped and support in the box’s weaker areas such as corners and ends.

The reason why a shipping box has dividers may not always be evident, especially if you are handling a shipping box with non-fragile items. However, they can both provide strength as well as cost-savings by keeping items protected as well as accounted for during inventory management.