Chemical Blending
Outsourcing Chemical Blending
When you make the decision to partner with a chemical manufacturer, your business will benefit in a number of ways.
- Cost Savings - You’re not responsible for obtaining, maintaining and using the chemical production equipment necessary to create your product, and the major costs of doing all this don’t fall on your shoulders. Instead, you’ll get access to years of chemical toll blending expertise and the mixing equipment that will meet your production needs.
- Increased Focus - You can use your time, money and resources to focus on aspects of your business that create value, including product development and sales and marketing, when you don’t have to worry about chemical production.
- Quality - When a chemical contract manufacturer’s sole purpose is to create a quality product for its customers, that is what you’re going to get. They’ll have quality control processes in place, in addition to safety standards and compliance expertise.
- A Partner From Production Through Distribution - A strong chemical contract manufacturing partner can blend, package and transport your finished product, truly getting your product across the finish line. You’ll get experience and the go-to-market services you need every step of the way.
Onboarding With a Chemical Contract Manufacturer
When chemical blending, packaging and transportation are off your plate, you’ll be freed up to focus on growing your business. Choosing a contract manufacturer that can provide all three of these crucial services is key. After you’ve gone through this process and decided who you’ll partner with, you’ll begin onboarding.
At Royal Chemical, we call this a Technology Transfer Package (TTP). The TPP is the primary agreement between you and your contract manufacturer and it guides the services provided, which includes…
- Requirements for quality and consistency
- Lead times
- Packaging
- IP protection
- Shipping
- Invoicing
- Many more important details to ensure a mutually beneficial relationship
Having a professional TTP process is vital to ensuring consistent quality in your chemical formulations. After you complete the TTP, Royal Chemical customers are well-informed throughout the manufacturing process, from initial lab sample reports to receiving a confirmed manufacturing date and product shipment confirmation. Knowing the chemical blending portion of your product development is high-quality, consistent and meets necessary standards, you’ll feel confident moving on to the next part of the production process, packaging.
Chemical Packaging
Packaging can mean anything from filling up 1,000 8-ounce bottles to directly filling up multiple tanker trucks. It will vary significantly by product and industry. There are many things you’ll need to take into consideration when determining the kind of chemical packaging that will meet your needs.
Size
The size of your product will dictate what package size is needed. If you have an individually packaged product to fill, you might use bottles, pails, drums or totes. On the other hand, bulk tank trucks are used for large amounts of chemical solutions (typically 3,000 pounds and up). These can be made up of one large compartment or broken up into smaller, separate compartments. Lastly, dry vans are a shipping option for products loaded into chemical-safe containers such as plastic or steel drums and intermediate bulk containers (IBC) and shipped using a regular dry van trailer.
The most common sizes of small and bulk liquid packaging containers include…
- 1 Pint
- 1 Quart
- 0.5 Gallon
- 1 Gallon
- 2.5 Gallons
- 5 Gallon Pail
- 5-20 Gallon Drums
- 20 to 55 Gallon Drums
- 275 Gallon IBC Totes
- 330 Gallon IBC Totes
Material
The most common chemical packaging materials are plastic, glass and metal. Plastic is durable and lightweight, making it more cost-effective to transport. It can also hold many chemicals, including corrosives, but is not ideal for flammable or combustible materials. The benefits of glass packaging for chemicals include it being sustainable and non-reactive to chemicals. The downside is that it can break easily. Metal packaging is ideal for flammable and combustible chemicals. It’s important to note that metal can corrode over time, and it must also be grounded/bonded to prevent igniting a flammable chemical. Some chemicals react with the metal a container is made out of. In these instances, a lacquer-lined drum is used, which coats the inside of the drum to prevent contact.
Safety
The most important factor to consider when packaging chemicals is safety. Some of the common hazards of packaging liquid chemicals are physical, such as burns, health (which requires human interaction with a chemical to be kept to a minimum), and environmental, such as a leak causing damage to an ecosystem. The safety of employees, shipping crews and customers must always be taken into account when packaging and shipping chemicals.
The right packaging for your product depends on the important considerations above and the contract manufacturer you partner with should have the expertise to guide you through these. At Royal Chemical, our liquid packaging capacities range from 2.5 to 5,000 gallons and our powder/solids packaging ranges from 2,000 to 6,000 pounds. We have bottling capabilities at three of our five locations, with eight bottling lines that can efficiently fill 8-ounce to 2.5-gallon bottles, as well as powder jar-filling and powder pack lines, giving you the volume you need, when you need it.
Chemical Transportation
Warehousing
Your chemical contract manufacturer has blended and packaged your product. It’s now time to store and ship it to your customers. Utilizing your contract manufacturer’s warehousing space is key to reducing your inventory costs. You’ll also save money on not having to run the facility yourself – including employees, utilities, maintenance and distribution costs. Royal Chemical customers benefit from about 400,000 square feet of total warehousing space in the U.S. In addition, we have five plants strategically located to reach 83 percent of the continental U.S. population within one shipping day and 100 percent within two days.
Shipping
Most chemical contract manufacturers have relationships with reliable logistics professionals, such as third-party logistics providers (3PLs). When you partner with a contract manufacturer, you also get the benefit of these relationships when it comes to shipping your chemical products, if needed. This means you won’t have to negotiate rates with your own carriers and your products will get shipped quickly and efficiently.
When it comes to shipping hazardous chemicals, there are many safety and compliance practices that need to be followed. Hazardous chemicals need to be properly contained, loaded, transported and unloaded at all times, and staying on top of all these areas can be difficult. This is where a contract manufacturer can really add value. Royal Chemical can guide you through the process of transporting hazardous chemicals or take the work entirely off your plate. We’ll advise on methods of chemical transportation, costs, best practices and labeling. For example, using bulk trucks is one of the most common shipping solutions for liquid and powder chemical products.
At Royal Chemical, we follow a six-step process to ship your product:
- Gather basic information about your product
- Review your product’s safety data sheet
- Account for hazmat requirements if necessary
- Choose the right type of tanker or trailer
- Determine additional equipment needs
- Weigh the truck before and after loading the product, when needed
Your Partner in Chemical Blending, Packaging and Transportation
Learning the ins and outs of chemical blending, packaging and transportation can be overwhelming. When you outsource it to the right partner, you’ll have industry-leading experts who can reliably provide all of your chemical manufacturing and distribution needs. And, you’ll be able to focus on the areas of your business that are going to grow it. The right chemical manufacturing partner will provide the perfect blend of commitment, quality and service in every batch – and that’s what we strive to do at Royal Chemical. Talk to an expert today to get started.
