Shipping marks are normally used by factories, logistics companies, customs and warehouses to identify the content of export cartons as well as its origin and destination. They are essential to ensure proper handling of cargoes and smooth transportation through borders. Misspelled marks and labels, however, can cause, in worst case scenario, huge transit delays that could badly affect the profitability of a product, also resulting in a negative impact on an entire supply chain.
What to Do to Prevent Suppliers from Mixing up Labelling
Clearly understanding the importance of shipping marks and knowing how to label cartons for international transit and warehousing can be a good start to prevent and address future setbacks and unpleasant import experiences.
Sending suppliers a checklist that includes standards and artwork for packaging, labels and shipping marks, can help reduce the risks of misspells, wrong information, unreadable barcodes, etc.
Generally, the key points to be included in the information provided to the factory are,
- Importer’s name and/or logo;
- Product reference and/or order number;
- Country of destination;
- Net weight & gross weight of carton;
- Dimensions of the carton;
- Number of cartons;
- Other relevant information about the products: season, size, color, or breakdown of the different types of goods inside a particular carton;
- Handling marks such as “food”, “protect from heat”, “fragile”, “this way up”, “keep dry”, etc.;
- Dangerous goods markings, if required;
- E-commerce barcodes and labels, if required;
Shipping mark check is included in the general criteria of V-Trust pre-shipment inspections and here are the most common problems on shipping marks we’ve found during inspections,
- Misspelled product name, product description, company name, unit of measurements, etc.
- Discrepancy in description compared with the products packed inside (color, model number, gross weight and net weight);
- Chinese character shown in the marking;
- Blurred logos and unreadable barcodes;
- Unreadable handwriting for fields like weight and carton number;
For more information concerning quality inspection and inspection checklists, please feel free to contact us at info@v-trust.com.
V-Trust Inspection Service
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