WSUK is a logistics operator that supplies packaging, which means the specification for Solihull's aerospace and defence businesses is written by people who pack and despatch goods daily. Materials are specified to the product, supplied into B90-B93, and held on call-off where run quantities make that sensible.
What aerospace and defence packaging has to do
Packaging in this sector is usually specified once and then repeated exactly, which changes what good looks like. A clever pack that cannot be reproduced identically by whoever is on shift is worse than a plain one that can.
Return journeys are a normal part of the picture - parts go out for test, treatment or overhaul and come back. A one-trip pack used three times is a pack that protects progressively less each time.
The specification turns on a small number of decisions.
- Specify the pack as a repeatable set of components, not as a protection standard to be met by judgement at the bench.
- Keep the materials non-shedding where fibre or dust is itself a contamination risk on the component.
- Anti-static grades wherever avionics or instrumentation are involved.
- Provide lifting and handling provision on anything heavy enough to need it, rather than leaving it to the receiving end.
- Fitted location so the part cannot move at all, rather than cushioning that merely slows it down.
| Item | Why it is sensitive | Specification |
|---|---|---|
| Composite panels | Edge damage and surface contamination | Edge protection, non-shedding interleave, low stack |
| Long or awkward sections | Flex and leverage along the length | Supported at intervals, braced inside a purpose case |
| Small hardware and consumables | Count accuracy and traceability | Bagged and labelled per line, compartmented outer |
| Turbine and rotating components | Blade and edge damage, imbalance | Fitted pocket per item, nothing touching, rigid case |
| Harnesses and looms | Connector damage and tangling | Coiled and bagged, connectors in an insert |
| Machined structural component | High value, long lead time, surface critical | Profiled foam in a rigid case, part held clear of walls |
How aerospace and defence despatches are usually specified.
Solihull's aerospace and defence base, and what it ships
In the West Midlands, Solihull is known for Automotive (jlr), aerospace and business services. From a packaging point of view the useful question is what proportion of despatch is repeat and what proportion is one-off, because that is what decides whether bespoke tooling or a standard range is the better answer.
With a base in Automotive (jlr), aerospace and business services, Solihull produces a despatch profile that is genuinely mixed. That is an argument for a short, well-chosen range of outers plus a protective range that handles the specific failure modes, rather than a long list of sizes nobody can pick from quickly.
Cranmore, JLR Lode Lane and Birmingham Business Park hold most of the manufacturing and distribution capacity around Solihull. With M42 (J4–J6), M40, A45 and A34 on the doorstep, goods leave the town on national routes within minutes - which puts the emphasis on packs that survive handling rather than packs that look good on a bench.
Stock for Solihull sits at Lutterworth, around 30 minutes from the town. That is most useful on the consumables - tape, film and void fill get consumed continuously, and an empty shelf stops a despatch bench rather than merely slowing it.
Everything on this page is supplied through packaging services in Solihull, and the service pages behind it set out each material range in detail.
Keeping a Solihull bench supplied
For a Solihull business the practical shape of this is simple: specify it once, produce the run once, hold it, and call it off. The alternative - ordering short runs repeatedly because there is nowhere to put a full one - is a self-inflicted cost that compounds quietly across a year.
Where run quantities are the obstacle rather than the price, packaging stockholding is the arrangement that resolves it, and foam packaging in Solihull covers how that works locally.
What we need in order to quote
Tell us what you pack, how it leaves Solihull and what is going wrong. A short description and a few photographs of a packed despatch are enough to start. For anything bespoke or printed, nothing goes into production without a sample you have approved with your own product inside it.
Where the real question is what packaging is costing you across materials, storage, carriage, labour and damage together, that is a packaging review rather than a quote.
The short version
- The specification comes before the quote, because pricing a list that was never designed only prices the wrong thing accurately.
- Solihull's base in Automotive (jlr), aerospace and business services produces a mixed despatch profile, which argues for a short range of outers plus a targeted protective range.
- Send the product, the volumes and anything that is arriving damaged; the specification follows from the failure mode.
- Standard lines are trade quantities with no fixed minimum; run quantities apply to printed and bespoke work.
Frequently asked questions
Do you supply anti-static packaging?
Yes - anti-static foam grades and bags, specified where a charge travelling through the pack is itself the hazard rather than where electronics are merely present. See foam packaging.
Can packaging be designed for repeated use?
Yes. Where a part travels out for test or overhaul and comes back, a rigid case with a replaceable fitted insert is usually better value than a one-trip pack built up each time - and it makes the protection repeatable rather than dependent on who packed it.
Is sustainable packaging available?
Yes - recyclable corrugated, paper tape and fill, moulded pulp and plastic-free mailers. The larger reduction for most Solihull businesses is usually right-sizing rather than substitution, and we will say so. See sustainable packaging.
Can you hold our packaging stock rather than delivering it all at once?
Yes. The run gets produced once, held in Midlands warehousing and released into B90-B93 as you consume it. That keeps the run-quantity price without filling a Solihull unit with board that will not be used for months.
How quickly can packaging reach Solihull?
Standard lines come off stock held around 30 minutes away at Lutterworth, so resupply into B90-B93 is a delivery rather than a production run. Printed and bespoke work carries a genuine lead time, which is the argument for holding the run and calling it off.