Stupid packaging from distributors

[setq]

Ok I've had enough now. This is wasteful, incredibly hard to process for goods in and just plain retarded.

Earlier this week it was RS.  5 capacitors individually packed even though they are standard supplied in multiples of 5. Each of those in a damn paper bag leading to a 2 inch thick jiffy bag:



Now today CPC turned up. I've got 25 electrolytic capacitors individually packed in little bags but this is in a ziplock I could get a small child in:



And to add insult to injury, half the things that are already bagged have been put in another bag, apart from those things that randomly aren't:



 

[Falkra]

Well, now you can start collecting those plastic bags. 

[setq]

Problem is I've got a carrier bag stuffed full of the damn things because I thought to myself "hey these will be useful". They weren't

[Falkra]

Hmm, and you won't make millions by selling them on eBay (job lot 5000 damn tiny plastic bags). 

[setq]

Yep. The annoying thing is you have to pay for shopping bags here by law (5 pence a whack) yet these guys get away with shifting 8x as much plastic and packaging as the supermarket does.

[b_force]

I always find it funny when you order a handful of samples. A lot of times you get just two parts in a gigantic box. Probably because it's automated, but it still looks heavily over kill.

[hans]

Same goes for QFP; you get a complete plastic tray for 1 or 2 small chips. OTOH I've seen RS individually pack 0.8mm QFPs  in soft foam, which sometimes means bent pins.

I've also seen RS packaging individual relays and whatnot before. The trick is to usually order a production pack (order number suffix P) to avoid that. If you don't they will pack the components in the MOQ and ship them to you that way. In some way it can be convenient; for example chips packed in 2 means you only "touch" 2 at a time and don't risk damaging the others by ESD or whatever. Or you could split up stock of components between personnel.

However, for me personally I prefer them just be supplied on a single strip of tape as it's much more tidy to store and unpack.

[setq]

Do you get screwed for rereeling if you pick prod pack on RS?

[Cyberdragon]

Crumple them all up and use them as packing material if you ever need to ship something.

[HwAoRrDk]

Oh, gosh, CPC. I'm not sure what the deal is with their packaging. I've had the bag-ception thing from them too.

And talking of relays - I ordered a bunch from CPC one time, and they arrived with all of them in a zip-lock bag, with each relay then in its own little separate sealed bag, and inside those each relay with its pins stuck into a small piece of foam and then wrapped in tape. The tape was a real pain - took me about half an hour just to 'unpeel' the damn things. The thing that got me, though, was how neat the foam and tape-wrapping was. It was like a little perfectly-formed christmas present; foam cut exactly square to the relay, corners of the tape perfectly folded and flattened down. I was just dumbfounded that they're actually paying people to sit there and do this kind of busywork.

[rob.manderson]

Back in 1970 when I was doing my first year of apprenticeship with AWA (Australia) in their consumer repair shop in Melbourne we ran out of work and whilst others were laid off temporarily they had to find something to keep me busy.  I was assigned to help with spare parts despatch to country repair shops.  One package we put together consisted of a rectangular box of something or other (after all this time you expect me to remember what parts?) and a large ferrite antenna.  Too large for the box that was just right for the rest of the parts so we sat it on top of the box, wrapped some brown paper around it and taped it all up.  When finished it looked like a little house - so we drew some windows on, a little door, a little chimney and some flowers around the door.

I've often wondered what the guy receiving that package thought...