Packaging testing to increase package sustainability
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This document discusses the importance of pre-shipment testing for achieving packaging sustainability. It provides three key points: 1) Effective distribution requires considering how products and packaging will interact with distribution hazards like movement, contact, compression, drops and various cultural factors. Laboratory testing allows reproducing these conditions in a controlled way. 2) International standards like ASTM D-4169 and ISTA tests define distribution simulations that can be used to design packaging to withstand specific distribution channels. 3) Product and packaging development should happen jointly with the distribution environment in mind, as the right design for one channel may not work for another. Testing verifies designs and prevents overpackaging.
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Packaging testing to increase package sustainability
- 1. 1
- 2. Pre-Shipment testing; a critical tool for achieving sustainability 2
- 3. To simulate real life in the lab under controlled yet accelerated conditions. 3
- 4. Micom: • Third party laboratory • Dorval, QC • 15 years in business • 15 employees • 15 000 sq feet • ISTA accredited lab • ISTA technical council member • Transport Canada • Standards Council of Canada • CGSB • PAC member 4
- 5. Packaging Sustainability • (2009) World food industry: $US: 4.2 trillions (USDA) • Only 43 % of food calories produced are consumed (International Waste Management Institute) • Damage to products in distribution within Europe estimated to be: $US 3 billion (EU, SRETS, final report1999). • Worldwide annual losses in distribution: > $US 100 billions $$$ 5
- 6. Packaging Sustainability Environmental impacts • Waste • Product replacement (raw materials, extra manufacturing) • Additional distribution Initiatives • ISTA –Responsible Packaging by Design Guide • PAC-NEXT • ASTM D-6198 – Standard Guide for Transport Packaging Design • Large Retailers 6
- 7. Packaging Sustainability vs Distribution: LTL: E=MC2 =Expect Movement, Contact and Compression 7
- 8. Packaging Sustainability vs Distribution: Small parcel= MC2 + Drops2 8
- 9. Packaging Sustainability vs Distribution: Emerging Markets: E= MC2 + Drops2 + Cultural shock 9
- 10. The Distribution Equation: Distribution = Product + Packaging Distribution = Product + Packaging Distribution = Product + Packaging 10
- 11. Packaging Sustainability vs Distribution (3): Distribution = Product + Packaging • Product design should be done jointly with pkg design (team) • The design should be done with the distribution environment in mind • A well optimized design for one distribution channel may not work well for a different distribution channel How do we define the stress levels? 11
- 12. Test standards ASTM D-4169 ISTA standards Distribution Channel simulations: Field measurements observations 12
- 13. ASTM D-4169 Standard Practice for Performance testing of Shipping Containers and Systems • 18 Distribution cycles • General - undefined distribution cycle • Single package without pallet or skid • Motor freight LTL unitized • Rail, TOFC and COFC • Air (Intercity) and motor freight (local) over 150 lb or unitized • … 13
- 14. ASTM D-4169 DC Schedule (Hazard element) Test Level I = high intensity Level III = low intensity 14
- 15. ISTA standards • 1 Series: Non-Simulation integrity Performance Tests (7) • 2 Series: Partial Simulation Performance tests (3) • 3 Series: General Simulation Performance Tests (6) • 4 Series: Enhanced Simulation Performance Test (1) • 5 … • 6 Series: Member Performance Tests (3) • 7… 15
- 16. ISTA standards • 2C: Furniture Packages • *3A: Small Parcel Delivery system • *3B: LTL (standard, cylindrical, palletized) • *3E: Unitized loads (truck loads) • 3F: Packaged Products for Distribution Center to Retail Outlet Shipment (100 lb) • 3H: Products or Packaged-Products in Mechanically Handled Bulk Transport Containers • 3K: Fast Moving Consumer Goods in the European Retail Supply Chain 16
- 17. ISTA standards Member performance tests • ISTA 6-FEDEX • ISTA 6-SamsClub 17
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- 20. ISTA standards Enhanced simulation • 4AB Packaged-Products for Shipment in Known Distribution Channels • including vibration spectra for China and India 20
- 21. Custom testing • Data loggers 3 axes Drop heights Vibrations Temperature Relative humidity Atmospheric pressure GPS (link with Google Earth) • Resonance search 21
- 22. 22
- 23. VALIDATE YOUR PACKAGING TO TRUST IS GOOD, TO VALIDATE IS BETTER 23
- 24. Laboratory testing • Controlled conditions = • Reproducible • Allows to break down complex distribution dynamics into individual test parameters • Allows to observe in real time how the packaging reacts to the applied stress. • More accurate assessment of the packaging design which can prevent over packaging. • Representative results with limited number of samples. Real Shipping Test • Easy design of experiment • Easy to carry • Apparently cheap • False feeling of security • Uncontrolled conditions • No real time information. • Limited reproducibility 24
- 25. Damage probability during trial shipment: Damage rate: 10% 3% Success rate for first shipment: 90% 97% Success rate for 2nd shipment: 81% 94% “ “ “ 3rd : 73% 91% “ “ “ 4th : 66% 89% “ “ “ 5th : 59% 86% “ “ “ 6th : 53% 83% “ “ “ 22nd : 10% 51% 25
- 26. SUMMARY: • Rule #1: A sustainable package is package that allows the product to get to the end user in good condition • Distribution: E = MC2 + other distribution hazards • Product and packaging development should be done concurrently, not sequentially, as a function of the expected distribution channel(s) Distribution = Product + Packaging • Test standards can be used as design criteria for product/packaging designs 26
- 27. Michel Comtois, President (mcomtois@micomlab.com) 1-888-99-MICOM David Rousseau, Lab Manager (drousseau@micomlab.com) 27
Notas do Editor
- I’d like to thank The PAC and their staff for having us here today and also I would like to thank you for coming.
- Today I am going to talk about Pre-Shipment testing as a critical tool for achieving sustainability. Before I start: I would like to touch base with you on a few things; how many of you are familiar with Pre-shipment testing? How many of you did some pre-shipment testing over the last year? OK: LET ME TALK ABOUT MICOM..
- OK, let me talk about Micom for a minute so that you know where I come from. If you were to ask me, in a few words, what Micom does, I would answer that the essence of what we do is to simulate real life in the lab under controlled yet accelerated conditions. To do so we have all sorts of equipment that can simulate the sun, vibrations, impacts, loads, heat, cold, fatigue testing and many other tests. We do this for different products and materials and we do this also for packaging testing. MORE SPECIFICALLY…
- More specifically, we are a third party lab. This which means all we do is testing; we do not sell goods, products or equipment. We are in Montreal, right next to the airport. Micom has been in business for 15 years. We are 15 employees working in a 15 000 sq feet test facility. We are an ISTA accredited lab and we also sit on the ISTA technical Council where the ISTA standards are written and reviewed. We carry various accreditations by all sorts of bodies and organizations including Transport Canada, SCC, CGSB. We are also a Packaging Association of Canada member. PACKAGING SUSTAINABILITY HAS GAINED…
- Packaging sustainability has gained a lot of momentum over the last few years. Let’s look at a few numbers (read screen)…2.4 trillions… So to quickly summarize this, let’s just agree that a lot of money is lost in distribution. This is bad for the economy and this is bad for the environment. ALL OF THESE DISTRIBUTION DAMMAGES…
- All these distribution damages generate a lot of waste and we have to consider the replacement costs as well; additional raw materials, manufacturing and distribution are required for product replacement. Different organizations have sponsored various initiatives to address this situation. For instance ISTA and ASTM have published a packaging design guide and PAC NEXT is about to issue one as well. We all also heard of large retailers trying various initiatives to optimize their own distribution pipeline and we will see later on that some of them made good progress. I went to a few conferences packaging sustainability; people talk about sustainable development and the 4R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover). Lots of good stuff but it always strikes me that nobody says “rule #1 of packaging sustainability should be the product inside the box has to get to the end user in perfect condition”. A packaging that falls short of that as far as I am concerned is missing a big piece of the puzzle. If your packaging looks green, feels green and tastes green, if the product it is supposed to protect gets damaged during distribution; this is simply not a sustainable package. SO LOOKING AT PACKAGING AS A FUNCTION …
- So looking at packaging sustainability as a function of distribution, we saw the formula Dave gave us in his presentation for the LTL environment. LETS CONSIDER A DIFFERENT DISTRIBUTION ENVIRONMENT:
- If you ship your products through the small parcel delivery system (UPS and others) you need to add a term for drops to your sustainability equation. Just as an aside, ISTA 3A was created to simulate the small parcel delivery system. To comply to this standard a regular size box, lighter than 70 lbs has to withstand 15 times a 18” drop and 2 times 36 “ drops. This is a photograph of one of FedEx’s sorting center; as you can see it is quite different that what we saw in Dave’s presentation. LETS LOOK AT A DIFFERENT DISTRIBUTION ENVIRONMENT…
- if you are shipping to emerging markets, you need to account for a rougher ride; that’s the term I call the “cultural shock” in the distribution equation. These equations are only to illustrate how the distribution stresses will change as a function of the distribution channel that will be used for your products. AND THIS CAN BE SUMMARIZED BY THE FOLLOWING EQUATION:
- Distribution equals Product + Packaging meaning that your product resistance combined to your packaging resistance has to be equal to the sum of the various distributions stresses of the distribution channel(S) your product will go through if you want to have a successful distribution. Furthermore, this also illustrates that if one of the parameter changes, the equation needs to be rebalanced; if you change your distribution by one that is more challenging, you will have to compensate somehow; perhaps by increasing your package resistance. Another scenario would be if your product resistance becomes weaker as a result of cost reduction activities, you might have to consider a stronger packaging or a less challenging distribution environment. So the $$$ you saved in your product might end up costing you more either in an increase in shipping dammages, a stronger packaging to rebalance your distribution equation or you might have to consider a less challenging distribution environment which is not always an option and is usually more expensive. SO WHERE ARE WE GOING WITH ALL THIS?
- Well, I suggest that to improve your product/packaging sustainability: Lire slide. So let’s say your design department is on board with all this; How do they define the target stress levels they should use as design criteria? Well there are various sources. Today we will look at two of them: (Next slide)
- These sources are the standards we get asked to test to the most for pre-shipment testing: (Lire la slide) ASTM stands for American Society for Testing and Materials and ISTA stands for International Safe Transit Association So you will tell me; hold on just a second; how can a test standard help me with the stress levels I am looking for? Well simply because these standards were created in the first place to simulate various distribution environments in the lab and were written based on actual field measurements and observation. So you can use this information to help establish your design criteria In the following slides we will start from the more general simulations and keep drilling down to very specific simulations. (Next slide)
- Lire slide. In ASTM D 4169 you will find 18 Distribution cycles that describe different distribution environment. I am not going to review the list with you; on the screen I have listed a few of them just as examples.. What I want to show you is the principle of how the standard works so that you know where to get the data. (Next slide)
- Lire slide. So in the standard you will have your 18 DC. Each of these DC calls up a sequence of test schedules, sometimes the same test schedule will be called up more than once and each of these schedules, representing a hazard element, calls up one or more tests. Finally for each of these tests there are 1 to 3 different intensity levels that can be chosen. This is where you will get the stress levels I was referring to. This is the information that will help you define your design criteria. Level I has a high level of test intensity and therefore a low probability of occurrence where it is the opposite for level 3. So often manufacturers will use level 2. (Next slide)
- The ISTA standards are grouped in 7 series of which you have the most popular ones on the screen. Series 1 and series 2 to a lesser extent are screening tests. If you are going to use an ISTA standard as a tool to define the mechanical characteristics of your product/packaging system, I would recommend to use series 3 and above standards. Lire slide
- Series 3 tests are shown on the screen (+ ISTA 2 C which should really be a series 3 test) (LIRE TESTS). Each of these standards address different distribution environments with distribution hazards that are specific to them, be it drops, vibration, lateral impacts, mechanical handling etc… For you to get the information you need you only have to identify the standard that mimics the closest you distribution environment and extract the performance levels that they specify. Of this list, the tests that we get asked the most other than ASTM D-4169, are ISTA 3A, 3B and 3E. So, we have ISTA and the ASTM standards; which one should you use? Well, all of the ISTA standards call up ASTM test methods but ISTA specifies the intensity levels. The vibration spectra in ISTA are usually a better reflection of reality than the ones in ASTM D-4169. On the other hand there are hazard elements not addressed in ISTA series 3 tests that are addressed in D-4169 i.e.: railroad vibration spectrum. Even though these standards are “general” simulations, one can also use them to address very specific concerns: Donner exemple DANONE. (Next slide)
- The ISTA standards I showed you so far were general simulations that represent typical distribution channels. These standards would be good is you ship to different locations and use similar distribution channels. As I said at the beginning, I want to present the standards to you from the more general to the more specific. This is why I am now going from series 3 to series 6 and then we will go back to series 4. In the ISTA standards you can also use Member performance tests that are more specific to their own distribution environment. If you take the ISTA Sams Club standard, ISTA spent a considerable amount of time measuring and observing Sam’s Club distribution pipeline mainly from Asia to North America to come up with a test protocol that better mimics their specific distribution systems. (Next slide)
- Just to show you an example of benefits that can be obtained by using these standards, I would like to present to you a slide that was presented at the ISTA annual conference 2011 by (LIRE SLIDE) (Next slide)
- This slide shows the impact of using their standard on the total company distribution damages for Sam’s Club from 2008 to 2011. Unfortunately we do not have the actual $$ figures, however, given the sheer size of Sam’s Club, I believe it is not difficult to guess that a 20% reduction for 1 year represents a lot of money and a lot of distribution damages avoided (Next slide)
- ISTA also has created what they call an enhanced simulation: ISTA 4 AB. It is a good test if you are always shipping from point A to point B. It allows you to customize your test plan to simulate specifically one distribution channel. It is also very helpful if you are using an intermodal distribution pipeline: Donner example de BRP. 4AB is also a good source of information if you are considering distribution abroad as it contains information about distribution systems outside of North America in countries such as India and China. The random vibration systems used for testing to the ISTA and ASTM standards are so refined that they can make the difference in terms of vibration spectra for an air ride suspension, a steel spring suspension, a TOFC. They can also simulate distances pretty efficiently. (Next slide)
- Depending on how critical your shipment is and/or if you always ship at the same location, actual real data can be acquired by using a device such as the one on the screen. The device you see on the screen SAVER 9 X from Lansmont which is shock and vibration datalogger. That device is equipped with 3 accelerometers, one for each axis. It can measure drop heights, (LIRE). This box is to vibrations and shocks what a cd burner is to music: it will record the distribution journey and once you recuperate the device you can review it and you can also “play” it in the lab by using the data to program a random vibration tester or run some impact tests. This a very specific and precise tool. Lets say you notice something unusual upon reviewing the recording, i.e. a big shock, you can go on Google Earth and you can see the area where the shock was noticed… you could see for example there is a railroad crossing at that location and you might decide to ask the driver to change its route instead of changing your packaging. Of course if you analyze a specific route and the driver for some reason changes it , then the exercise looses a lot of its value. It is very specific and accurate but as soon as you change something it does not mean anything. SO YOUR DESIGN TEAM CAME THROUGH… (Next slide)
- So now your design team came through, they co developed the product and the packaging as a function of the distribution environment. But, for some reason, things don’t work out as you were expecting… Was there something missing? (NEXT slide)
- Well, perhaps somebody should have validated the design. Never forget that to TO TRUST IS GOOD, but TO VALIDATE IS BETTER. And how should we do that you will ask me?
- Well, there are different ways of doing that. In our day to day dealings with customers we have identified 3 ways they use to do packaging validation: laboratory tests, the “real shipping tests" and then you have the “the cross your finger and hope you got it right this time” way. Laboratory tests are carried under controlled conditions which makes them easily reproducable. They allow to breakdown complex distribution dynamics into individual test parameters. And to observe in real time how the packaging reacts to the applied stress. Because the tests are highly reproducable, they allow a more accurate assessment of the packaging design which can help prevent over packaging. Indeed the packaging behavior during testing is an important source of information to understand the failure mechanisms; as soon as a failure occurs the test may be stopped to get a maximum of information and document the problem. Testing is a powerful tool that allows to make informed decisions about packaging optimization. Because of the highly controlled environment it generates representative results with a limited number of samples. The ship test is pretty straightforward: You shove the pallet in the truck, you close the doors, you buy it a ride and then you look at the end result. Easy to design the test, easy to execute, it’s apparently cheap, I say apparently because it gives a false sense of security (we will come back to that in the next slide). The test is done under uncontrolled conditions, there is no real time information to understand the problem; all you see is the end result. Finally this test is poorly reproducible.
- Lets look at the numbers for when somebody does a ship test. If you look at the probabilities with a shipment that has 10% breakage in transport which is a lot, we see that for getting 1 chance out of two to get a given failure, one must send 6 shipments. In other words if we take a breakage rate of 10% during transportation, to get 90% of chances to observe a breakage, one should ship 22 shipments! (SLIDE SUIVANTE)
- So if I summarize what I just presented you: remember rule #1: A sustainable package is a package that allows the product to get to the end user in good condition, Then remember that in distribution you have to expect: movement, contact and compression. Then, we saw that product and packaging should be designed jointly as a function of the expected distribution environment. All this leads to: Distribution = Product + Packaging which means that if you change one parameter you have rebalance the formula. We saw that Test standards can be used as design criteria for product/packaging designs. I WOULD LIKE TO CONCLUDE MY PRESENTATION…
- I would like to conclude my presentation by an invitation: We are a service company; we are not lawyers. We don’t charge for calls; If you have technical issues where you would like to get our opinion on; feel free to contact us. We are a phone call away. Thank you