Packers and packagers prepare materials for shipping.
More and more people shop for holiday gifts using the Internet, and retailers are happy to oblige. Shopping websites flash messages on their home pages: "Buy until December 21 to guarantee arrival before Christmas!" Shopping this way can be a lifesaver, especially if you have relatives and friends located across the country. You don't need to brave the mall parking lot, and perhaps the best thing of all, you don't need to pack any boxes and wait in line at the post office.
Packers and packagers fill boxes, crates, and other containers with products so they can be shipped. They assemble boxes and tape or glue the bottoms so they are sturdy. Then they gather the items to be packed and the materials to wrap them in. Some items are fragile, so packers and packagers wrap them in bubble wrap or plastic to protect them. They may put fragile items into small boxes before placing them in shipping containers. They may also put plastic shipping pellets in boxes to protect items. Other items require less care. Packers and packagers may just stack items on top of each other in an orderly fashion to fill containers.
Packers and packagers keep track of how many items they pack in each container. They record this information on forms. They may count items by hand or pack items that are prepackaged in groups of a specific size. Some items are packed by weight rather than number. Thus, packers and packagers weigh containers to determine if they are full.
Once containers are full, packers and packagers seal them. They glue or tape boxes and screw or nail crates shut. They apply labels to containers so others know what they contain. Packers and packagers inspect their work to make sure it meets standards. When they find materials that were improperly packed, workers move them to another area to be repacked.
Some packers and packagers tend packing machines. They fill these machines with the items to be packed and the packing materials. They watch these machines to make sure they process items correctly.
At the end of the day, packers and packagers clean their work areas.