moving lives

On-Line Training Manual

A Practical Guide To

Packing & Export Wrapping

Contents

• Health & Safety • What Items Need To Be Packed & Why?• Packing Materials • Fragile Items Packing • Export Wrapping • Specialist Items • Documentation & Labelling • Facilities For Loading & Wrapping • Loading For Export • Storage

Health & Safety

It is imperative that all removal services are provided with the safety of the client and our employees in mind. The kind of items which need to be handled as part of a removal and the surroundings/environment in which this has to be achieved can be difficult and demanding. Following the steps herein will reduce significantly this risk to clients, employees and property and will assist in providing the high level and professional service that we promote.

• An on site risk assessment should be carried out upon arrival to the property by the Crew Manager (a copy of this can be found under Standard Forms)

• Once completed the Crew Manager should be completely confident of what is required in the working environment and proceed accordingly

• Attics – Only attics that have been properly constructed with a boarded floor should be entered by our crews. If attics are not boarded it is the sole responsibility of the property owner to clear out and remove all items from this area. If attics are boarded this is still seen as an extra service and should be quoted for and invoiced as an extra service

• Cellars – It is ok to access most basement/cellars but if large items are required to be collected/delivered from these areas of the property the a risk assessment of the steps down should be carried out. Dependent on the items which need to be carried this should be left to the judgment of the whole of the crew on site. If they are not happy with the situation they are within their rights to leave the property owner to move these items.

What Items Need To Be Packed & Why?

High Risk Medium Risk Low Risk

• Fragile items such as glassware need to be packed professionally (follow instructions under Fragile Items Packing

• Specialist items should be crated

• Small items such as books, CD’s etc need to be packed into boxes

• All furniture items need to be export wrapped

• Clothes should be placed into hanging garment boxes where possible

• All items need to be packed in some way to protect them from breakage or damage & to stop them posing a risk to other items

Packing Materials

Packing Materials

All of the below are industry standard packing materials which should always be used to avoid sub-standard packing services which will inevitably result in damage to clients property.

• All of these items can be purchased using the “Order Supplies” section of our community log on.

Boxes

All of these boxes are built from tough double lined corrugated cardboard and are commonly used sizes.

Packing Materials Continued….

Packing Accessories

Paper Fill For Boxes

Corrugated Cardboard Sheets

•Fit 8 suits or 20 shirts •Paper tissue to fill void space in boxes

•Used for extra inner packing in boxes

Mirror/Picture Boxes

•Specially designed boxes for securely holding mirrors and pictures (various sizes)

Hanging Garment Boxes

Foam Edging

Used for protecting glass, marble, granite etc.

Fragile Items Packing

Fragile Items Packing

We obviously have to be extra careful when packing items such as glasses, plates, vases etc and have a special way of placing and packing these into our standard sized boxes. This form of packing is taught by the BAR (British Association of Removers) and is seen as the industry standard for limiting risks of damage or breakage.

You should always take practical measures to ensure that damage isn’t experienced such as being careful not to overload boxes, don’t load fragile pieces under heavy items and always ensure that fragile items are kept away from direct contact with the side of the boxes they are being packed into.

If customers have exceptionally high value pieces which are fragile, we should always offer to provide crating services. This means things such as figurines can be fixed into placed in small bespoke crates filled with cushioning materials.

The last thing you want is for clients goods to arrive broken and in pieces. Invariably the fragile items tend to be the most expensive, so in the interests of client satisfaction and to help provide value in our global brand please follow the instructions on how to pack very carefully.

Fragile Items Packing Continued….

Crockery, Glass & China Packing

The standard for crockery and china packing is that once packed the box should be able to be dropped from chest height and remain intact. Follow these simple steps to see how this is possible.

• Step 1

Place a layer of scrunch (tissue/packing paper) in the bottom of the box about a fist deep as a rough guide

• Step 2

Carefully load the plates, cups etc on top of the scrunch with each piece individually wrapped in packing/wrapping paper. Plates should always be stood on their edge

• Step 3

Place a further layer of scrunch on top of the plates, cups etc and then build another layer, continuing this process until the box is full

• Place packing paper into cups & mugs and glasses to help soak up vibrations

• Step 4

Packed Box

Empty Box

Place the packed box into another empty box of the same size for double protection

Fragile Items Packing Continued….

Pictures & Mirrors Packing

Special cartons are used for the safe transit of paintings and mirrors. It is imperative that these specially designed boxes are used as they have been proven to reduce stress on frames and their glass contents, protecting pictures especially.

• Step 1

Wrap the painting/mirror in bubble wrap and tape into place. Ensure at least 3 layers are used around the item

Place the wrapped picture/mirror into the specially made box and seal

• Step 2

Export Wrapping

All items of furniture must be wrapped to protect them and other items whilst in transit. The easiest way of doing this is to collect the items from residence and return to depot to wrap at a later time, purely so you have the space to enable you to wrap them properly and professionally.

You must however ensure that all goods are carried securely on the way back to depot and that they are stored in a clean, dry, odour free environment whilst waiting to be wrapped. The easiest way of wrapping furniture is as follows…

• Step 1

From the roll of bubble wrap pull off some excess material and lay the material down onto a clean open space, ensuring that you have enough to cover the item you are wrapping. You may need to cut off 2 or 3 pieces to completely cover larger or awkward items.

Place the item you are wrapping in the centre of the laid out material.

• Step 2 • Step 3

Fold the bubble wrap over the item sealing it with tape as you go. Ensure all corners are properly protected as well as joins and areas where there are voids.

* Polythene bubble wrap should never be used on polished surfaces. Always ensure that the textile edge is used on items with a polished finish or that paper blankets are used first.

Specialist Items

There are a number of specialist items which need to be handled with extra care and a range of special handling techniques. In this section we will explain what these items are and the measures you should put in place when dealing with such items.

These items include:

• Grand Piano • Grandfather Clock • Barometer • Chandelier

Specialist Items – Grand Piano

Dismantling a Grand Piano•When dismantling a grand piano there should always be a minimum of 4 men and access to the correct equipment is essential this being •Piano slipper (long enough to accommodate the length of the straight side of the piano)•Piano Dolly (wheels enabling movement)•Export Blanket (to wrap the piano avoiding damage)Method•Look at the lid and remove the hinge pins so that the lid can be removed and Wrapped•Remove the prop for the lid.•Remove the keyboard cover•Remove if it comes off the Music reading flap•Lye underneath and unbolt the foot pedals, Remove and Wrap

Specialist Items – Grand Piano cont…

•Wrap the piano slipper so that the Piano will not make contact with any part of the slipper•Looking at the piano from the keyboard end, position the crew to take the weight of the piano so that the left front leg can be removed.•Lower the straight side of the piano onto the slipper.•Mark and remove the legs then proceed to wrap•Wrap all of the piano and Secure to the piano Slipper•Reassemble•As above but in reverse•Notes•Export wrap each part separately •Ensure it is correctly strapped to the slipper

Specialist Items – Grandfather Clock

Dismantling a grandfather clock•Remove the hood of the grandfather clock and Export wrap and card. Take care when doing this as the key for winding the clock up is usually placed on top of the hood.•With the correct winder key; wind the clock up fully (to avoid the wire springing off the Pulley’s)•Remove each lead weight of the pulley and mark it clearly left and right (they are handed)•When each weight has been taken off, the pendulum needs to be lifted up and then moved backwards. The pendulum needs to be taped to a piece of wood to avoid getting bent.•Remove the clock face place in carton, wrapping very carefully with •paper only while not damaging the hands. A small piece of paper can be folded and inserted underneath each hand to protect.• Export wrap the body of the case.• Ensure that all are properly marked

Reassemble•The above in reverse•The clock must be level. In some cases the clock face is packed and levelled using small slithers of wood. Ensure these remain and are marked with the clock face.

Notes•Ensure that all a parts are correctly labelled•If the cord jumps of the winding barrel, unhook the latch and wind all the cord out and rewind with tension on the cord.•Correctly mark the packing list with any damage to the clock prior to dismantling

Specialist Items – Barometer

Packing a barometer•Take from the wall•Check if it is a mercury barometer by looking at the reverse of the barometer. Keep upright at all times.•The barometer should come with a rubber or cork bung. This cork bung must be placed in the open end of the bung. This is to avoid loss of mercury in transit. •The barometer must then be placed in a carton at 45 degrees. This stops the mercury banging against the glass or the bung in transit•The carton that the barometer is packed in must be clearly marked with keep upright arrows and fragile stickers.

Reassemble•The above in reverse

Notes•If it is not a mercury barometer; still take care in packing but this can travel upright.•Ensure the packing list is correctly marked with any damage before the item is moved.

Specialist Items – Chandelier

Packing a Chandelier

Small Chandeliers•When Packing a chandelier, depending on size and Value the main objective is to have a special crate made,•Once ready to pack you can take each drop off then pack and wrap•Fix the Chandelier to the bar in the top of the crate suspending the chandelier into the box, then empty poly chips around the chandelier to safely secure the chandelier from moving•Mark the Crate with Keep upright arrows and fragile stickers •Notes•A chandelier is a repeat on each segment. With this in mind the crew member can draw a section of the chandelier as this is to be used on recreating. •Small chandeliers do not necessarily have to have their drops removed.

Documentation & Labelling

Just as important as the packing itself getting the documentation and correct labelling completed at both the time of collection and loading is critical. Not only will the documentation serve as a piece count but it will also assist with customs clearance and will help the delivery team at destination allocate and assign boxes and furniture to be delivered straight into designated rooms of the house where the client wishes them to be placed. To ensure this process is completed professionally you should:

Documentation

• Make a note of the item in terms of its description • Note down any existing damage details such as scratches, marks, stains etc• Number of pieces • Cross reference the number of the item on the inventory list itself • Always get the client to sign the sheet once completed

Labelling

• Each item/box should be numbered individually and cross reference with the inventory • Write onto the item/box whereabouts it needs to be placed ie: kitchen,living room etc

Facilities For Loading & Wrapping

As previously mentioned you need an area within your warehouse setup that you can dedicate towards the handling of personal and household effects. Because of the nature of the goods you will be handling you need to ensure that:

• The area is clean, dry and odour free • it is regularly cleaned and kept free of dust • You have a chest high area such as a workbench to handle smaller items • A large floor area is dedicated to handling items that need export wrapping • You have an area to store packing and boxing materials including the Migrate 1 & 2 products. Again this should be an area which is regularly cleaned • The area should be kept free of usual handling machinery such as fork lift trucks

Loading Goods For Export

The nature of the goods we are handling means that we have to use a different set of techniques when loading into sea freight containers for international delivery. As we all know personal effects are not really compatible with general freight shipments and if loaded in FAK containers will generally lead to damage and breakages.

Again please follow these simple steps to ensure that clients cargo reaches its final destination in the same condition as when it left.

• Always load personal effects with personal effects where possible to minimise the risk of damage or breakage as much as possible. • If loading a sole use container ALL items must be boxed or export wrapped• If loading into a FAK container load the items manually rather than with a fork lift truck• Always load onto the back end of the container if possible and ensure that you advise the destination agent of the contents and way in which to handle• The most secure way of loading personal effects goods into a FAK container is to crate them and we strongly advise this is carried out unless you can be assured of the handling they will receive at destination

Storage

An important factor to any move is the timing and schedule of the move in terms of the client leaving one country and arriving in the next. Often clients may have holidays in-between these dates or will be pursuing other leisure activities such as travelling etc.

It is therefore a requirement of Migrate Global to provide adequate storage facilities for its clients which complies with our overall product provision but also provides us with an extra revenue stream which is highly profitable.

• Storage is measured in units of per 250cuft• Goods are usually stored in large wooden containers with a removable front panel. These are then numbered and stacked together. • Storage is charged at 250cuft units per week