Packaging Digest

Emilio Frattaruolo

Packaging must deliver
October 8, 2007

Have you ever considered how crazy the package-shipping industry is?

To understand what I mean, take a second to put yourself in the place of a freight company. Imagine if someone came up to you with a package and asked you to carry it across the country, deliver it tomorrow, give them constant updates as to location of the package, and do all this in a timely manner and for an amazingly low price. All of a sudden, the common act of shipping a package becomes a very different game.

When I was on co-op with pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur, I was lucky enough to be invited on a tour of a major shipping company’s ground sorting and air hub facilities. At first glance, one would marvel at the fact that any package sent through the facilities ever makes it to its final destination. Upon closer inspection, though, it became very clear that what we were being shown was a very carefully orchestrated system.

I was also able to gain a better understanding of the type of forces a package may experience during transit. A package that went through the air hub experienced the full gamut of forces from impacts by blunt objects, vibration (truck and airplane), drops from various heights, and multiple temperature changes.

This experience helped me realize that before you can protect a product, you need to know what you are protecting it from. Without careful consideration for what your package will experience during transit you may end up overpackaging or, even worse, underpackaging, which can lead to high amounts of product loss.

Posted by Emilio Frattaruolo on October 8, 2007 | Comments (1)