How environmental testing can improve packaging reliability and sustainability
Many manufacturers make the mistake of thinking that ensuring products comply with mandatory tests set out in product standards is enough. However, as purchases are increasingly made via the internet, product packaging and its delivery through the distribution chain plays an important role in brand loyalty.
Two key drivers of brand loyalty, service and product quality, can both be beneficially influenced by testing. When cultivating brand loyalty, it is easy to focus on product quality and concentrate efforts on producing an exceptional product, but if the product is damaged in transit this quality may never be realized by the purchaser. However, for many products there are no specified environmental test requirements. Where environmental testing is specified, it often only addresses the operational environment. The threats of the distribution environment are not considered, which is often the most severe environment that the product will encounter.
Manufacturers must also avoid overuse of materials to address sustainability concerns. It is therefore vital to test packaging efficiency to ensure it can protect the product in the distribution supply chain whilst avoiding over-packaging. Testing ensures that more sustainable packaging options will withstand the same environmental pressures as traditional materials, making sustainability a functional part of the product’s lifecycle rather than a compromise.
Testing must consider the environments that the product will experience – from being packaged to its final delivery destination. For example, this could include:
Bulk transport
Machine handling
Vibration and shock during transportation (road, rail, air, sea)
Transportation climatic environment (temperature, humidity, pressure)
Storage (temperature, humidity, pressure, compression)
Packages being dropped during handling
Repacking for final dispatch
Once a product stops being part of a bulk consignment, there are a wide variety of transport options that come into play. Vibration, bounce and shock are always experienced during transportation, with the severity varying according to the vehicle used. Similarly, the climatic environment may have extreme temperatures; often combined with humidity and pressure. Even if the product was transported with care, there is always the risk that it might be accidently dropped.
If you know the limits of the environmental threat in the distribution environment and you understand how robust your product is, you can procure packaging that will protect your product. Packaging robustness can be assessed by conducting a fragility assessment. The results can be compared with the known threats in the distribution environment, and the difference between the two being the protection level required. Relevant tests include:
Temperature and humidity
Packages are subjected to controlled conditions of temperature and humidity to establish a baseline condition for subsequent tests. More severe environments are applied to simulate temperature and humidity conditions experienced in the distribution environment.
Compression
This simulates the load applied by a stack of packages in storage. Compression tests may be performed simply by the application of weights via a spreader. Where the load is high, the test is more safely performed using a bespoke compression machine.
Deformation of the package to an extent where the product inside starts to support the load would be considered a failure, as would asymmetric deformation which could cause a stack above to topple.
Vibration and bounce
Most commonly the final stages of mechanical distribution occur in vehicles, when loosely constrained packages experience bounce conditions and receive many minor impacts to the base and the sides. When secured within the vehicle bounce is eliminated, but vehicle vibration is transmitted into the package.
To ensure test repeatability, bounce tests are performed on a test apparatus, while vibration is applied to both loosely constrained and secured packages. Both tests can be performed with top loads applied to the packages to simulate transportation of a stack of packages.
Impact
Side impact tests are performed to replicate lateral loads which would occur during machine handling. Impacts caused when packages swing from cranes, and minor fork-lift truck impacts are simulated using a side impact machine. Impacts up to five mph are produced by running the package down an inclined plane into a well-supported target faced with wooden planks.
Drop
Any handling of packages either by hand or machine will occasionally result in the package being dropped. Precision drop test machines are often used to perform the test, although other test facilities may be necessary where the package is particularly large.
Packaging’s wider impact
Packaging that is effective enough to survive the rigors of an often poorly monitored and hazardous distribution environment has become an essential part of the service provided by the manufacturer. By optimizing packaging through rigorous testing, manufacturers can strike a balance that reduces both material usage and the environmental impact of damaged goods that generate waste through returns, replacements, and discarded items. Relatively simple testing will provide the confidence that the packaging is effective, and that the product will arrive securely at its destination ready to exhibit those qualities that produce brand loyalty.
Robert Campling
Robert Campling is Senior Manager at TÜV SÜD, one of the world’s leading experts in product testing and certification. TÜV SÜD UK’s Product Service division analyses over 20,000 products each year in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas, using its technical expertise to help customers optimize market access. Its Machinery Safety Division is the UK market leader in machinery safety, providing a range of services on a world-wide basis. It is also the official partner of the Process and Packaging Machinery Association on regulatory affairs.