Manufacturing and Production

Packaging Design for Distribution and Transit Testing

Damage in transit is usually blamed on the transporter and usually caused by a pack that was designed against a specification for the product rather than against the journey it makes. This course designs against the journey. Delegates work through the distribution environment: handling drops, vehicle vibration, road condition, stacking in a warehouse and the humidity that changes everything about fibreboard. Hazard identification for a specific route follows, since a container shipment and a rural distribution round damage goods differently. Cushioning is covered, including material selection, thickness and the relationship between drop height, product fragility and the protection required. Unitisation is addressed through pallet patterns, stretch wrapping and load stability. Transit testing is worked through practically: drop, compression, vibration and inclined impact, and reading what a failure tells you. Cost is treated as a trade off between packaging spend and damage claims. The course closes on damage investigation and on reducing material without increasing loss.