A fundamental aspect of the supply chain is having the proper equipment, materials, and protective devices to keep products and supplies safe during transport. This crucial part of product and tool movement depends on the design and planning of materials that exactly fit the requirements of each item to be shipped, a job that takes hours of planning and preparation.
The fundamental and most common type of shipping container is the pressed and glued corrugated box that has been a part of shipping for hundreds of years. Made in a variety of thicknesses for the shipping of huge equipment or small pieces of clothing, corrugated boxes have set the standard for how shipping containers should perform. Every part of delivery and product transport depends on the sturdiness and durability of corrugated boxes.
There are certain types of shipping that require specialized shapes to fit the needs of the product. This is true in the case of sending blueprints, posters, advertising materials, and pictures. Cardboard shipping tubes have been developed to meet the need of these specialty items. Using fiberboard, kraft paper, or paperboard, each tube is shaped to the proper length, diameter, and strength to meet the needs of the item to be shipped.
In the case of shipping technical instruments, computers, and delicate or intricate equipment, sturdier and more durable shipping cases are required that have specialized interior padding and coatings to prevent shocks or vibrations from damaging the equipment. These carrying cases are made from exceptionally durable molded plastics that have been tested to ensure that they can endure any type of shock or impact. When a piece of equipment has several components, compartments are placed in the container for added protection.
A key factor in the shipping industry is the ability to identify and catalogue the materials and items that are being shipped. One method for accomplishing this is through the use of dot peening that places permanent marks, numbers, descriptions, or short statements on materials as a means of identifying them. The nature of dot peening makes it an ideal solution for inventory purposes and providing the ability to locate stored materials and equipment.
To many people, labeling is the process of producing a paper label or tag to be affixed to an item for identification. Though this may be the first thing that comes to mind, the modern version of labeling is far more technical and advanced. Pre-glued paper labels are still used as a means of placing names and titles on folders and paperwork. The labeling industry has expanded into more modern methods that include sophisticated software and design features.
An activity that many employees have dreaded is the need to connect marking labels to inventory items. In the past, the process has been tedious and time consuming. With the use of technological advancements, the once tiresome task has been streamlined to quickly produce labels and attach them to any size item with ease and convenience. Included in the labeling advancements are hot stamping, plasma etching, laser marking, and dot peening, which are more efficient and permanent. These modern methods provide accurate control of inventory and easy location identification.
As with all industries, the packaging and supplies industry has been rapidly improving its processes with packaging equipment for enclosing, protecting, and storing of products supplies and inventory items. As an added benefit, the age old pallet has had its use maximized with the use of palletizers to assist in material movement and storage. Though corrugated boxes have become the staple for shipping, the need to protect the shipment of smaller items is fulfilled with versatile, resilient, and sturdy plastic bags.
Each of the many advancements in the development of shipping, packaging, and supplying raw materials as well as the storing of finished products has helped in the improvement of the quality of products delivered to manufacturers and the public.
Cardboard tubes, or paper tubes, are cylindrical products fabricated from wood pulp which has been made into different varieties of cardboard such as fiberboard, paperboard, kraft paper and paper-adhesive composites.
Cardboard tubes are used for a wide variety of functions in different industries and are typically fabricated from ribbons of cardboard wrapped around a mandrel in the desired dimensions.
Contract packaging is a service where a company will package products for another company. 
Dot peen marking machines are a type of marking machine, which is a machine used to leave marks on the surface of objects and materials for the sake of identification, tracking, design or the impartation of other information.
Some other types of marking techniques include: embossing, engraving, etching, electrochemical etching, hot stamping, scribing, coining, abrasive blasting, laser marking, press rolling, rotary marking, roll marking, stylus marking and inkjet printing. Dot peen marking machines leave their mark using the process of dot peening. Dot peening is an impact marking technique that uses a multiple axis marker stylus in order to imprint identifying marks onto the surface of a material. Their primary function is to provide identifiers for products via marks including: bar codes, 2D codes, custom labels, custom graphics and alphanumeric characters. These marking machines are popular for use in a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, automotive, international transportation, manufacturing and medicine. In the aerospace and automotive industries, they are used to impact castings, metal tags and individual parts. In manufacturing, dot peen marking machines are often integrated into existing automatic and semi-automatic assembly lines, and they are also sometimes installed as a part of test stations. In the medical industry, dot peen markers are used to add identification to plastic molded parts and other products, such as surgical instruments. Of all of these industries, dot peening continues makes the greatest impact on aerospace, international travel and medicine, as product identification is of the utmost importance to them.
Labeling machinery is the term used to describe any equipment involved in the process of producing labels or affixing them to products. This equipment includes printers, applicators, dispensers and many other label making and applying systems.
Marking machinery refers to a variety of machines that are used to implement images, logos, identification codes, part numbers, hazardous symbols and much more.
Packaging equipment refers to the various types of machinery used in the process of enclosing or protecting products and materials for the purposes of storage, sale, distribution and use.
Plastic bags are extremely versatile containers or carriers made of thin and often flexible polymeric films. 
Sewing contractors manufacture products and provide services for a multitude of industries and applications.
This trade employs simple and complex machines that are capable of producing high quality custom embroidery and large-scale manufacturing. Companies contract production out to industrial sewers for a wide variety of products found in nearly every business or home. They manufacture a plethora of textiles including covers, fabric enclosures, uniforms, and carrying cases.
Tape, made of long strips of adhesive material, is primarily used for a wide range of binding and fastening applications, though it has several other applications as well. To make their product, tape suppliers engage is a fairly simple process called coating, wherein adhesive is applied to a carrier material. The carrier material may be any one of a collection of moderately thin and flexible materials, such as metal foils, paper tissues, cloth or films.