If you've shipped a large box lately, you've likely run across the term "dimensional weight", or DIM weight. If your box was larger than it needed to be, this little phase probably cost you a lot of money.

How green is your distribution center? Your choice of packaging materials has a big impact on the overall sustainability of your operations. Here are a few tips to help you improve your environmental footprint—and maybe save some money in the process.

The first step to lifting sling safety is choosing the right sling material. But the biggest impact on safety and performance comes down to how you use—or abuse—your sling. Here are a few dos and don'ts to keep in mind when using your lifting sling.

Lifting slings are an essential tool for hoisting, rigging and materials handling. Properly used, slings enable safe lifting and moving of heavy loads ranging from pipe sections to loaded boxcars.

When it comes to protective packaging, shippers have a lot of options. And of course, everyone wants to keep packaging costs down. But the total cost of packaging goes beyond simple materials costs. Here are a few other factors that you may not have considered when calculating the cost of protective packaging.

What's the best way to protect high-value goods during shipping and handling? Items that are especially valuable and delicate—such as auto parts, electronics and industrial equipment—require extra care and highly protective packaging materials.

What's the best way to protect products during shipping? Unless your product is highly durable and fits tightly into the shipping box, you'll probably need some void fill, cushioning or protective packaging material to make sure everything arrives intact.

What's the difference between stretch wrap and shrink wrap? Sometimes these terms are used interchangeably, but they are very different processes with different ideal applications. Many people say "shrink wrap" when they actually mean "stretch wrap." In a nutshell, shrink wrap involves heat, and stretch wrap doesn't. Here's how to know which is right for you.

Stretch wrap is one of the most useful and versatile materials in the packaging industry. Stretch wrapping can be used to:

Stretch films come in different thicknesses, known as gauges. How do you know what gauge of stretch film you need? Let's take a look.