Prevent over-packing Reduce costs Comply with packaging regulations Forget expensive test houses Know how your pack performs Enjoy peace-of-mind Ideal for: Testing existing packaging Right-first time designs On-site testing of valuable product Compliance with Packaging Waste Regs Quality Systems

You may feel confident that your packaging has a superb image, and is the right price with first-class delivery service. But is your packaging actually functioning correctly? If you have low damaged goods return rates, are you sure that your packaging is not over engineered? If you have high returns, is it because your goods are inadequately packed? Are you confident that a new pack design will perform well when subjected to the rigors of transit?

Consider The Following
By testing the capabilities of your pack design we can discover if your packaging is performing as it should. This procedure will determine the exact material specification requirements for your product. Cost savings can then be realised through refining the specifications of your packaging to a standard that all but eliminates returned or damaged product whilst using the minimum required materials.

Our team of highly skilled designers will be able to determine the functionality by conducting a series of carefully controlled drops to your package. This procedure may be carried out as part of the pack design and development process or afterwards, to verify that the pack has been specified correctly and will be successful.

Some customers have asked us to test packaging that they have been using for years, both to establish its effectiveness, and to determine whether they can reduce the amount of material in the pack.

This helps reduce material costs and associated Packaging Waste costs whilst at the same time helping the Environment.   

Did you know…

• That a drop from even a few centimetres may render your product unserviceable?
• That a truly flat drop represents the worst possible input to a packaged product in the distribution environment?
• That a pack designed without the aid of specialist design equipment and software is more than probably costing you money?  

Drop test sequence

The package to be dropped is either hoisted to the correct height using slings and a pulley with a quick release mechanism or placed on a mechanical arm drop test rig

(a) Standard drop test (without accelerometer)

Drop 1           Corner drop onto the corner of the package considered most vulnerable.
Drop 2           Edge drop onto the shortest edge radiating out from drop 1 corner.
Drop 3           Edge drop onto the next shortest edge radiating out from drop 1 corner.
Drop 4           Edge drop onto the longest edge radiating out from drop 1 corner.
Drop 5           Flat drop onto smallest face of package.
Drop 6           Flat drop onto opposite face to drop 5.
Drop 7           Flat drop onto next smallest face of package.
Drop 8           Flat drop onto opposite face to drop 7.
Drop 9           Flat drop onto largest face of package.
Drop 10         Flat drop onto opposite face to drop 9.

Package opened and examined for any damage after each drop.

(b) Advanced drop test (using accelerometer)

Package dropped in sequence as above but an accelerometer is used to determine the mechanical shock experienced by the packaged product when it undergoes a sudden velocity change (dropped).

For this type of drop testing the test engineer requires the product’s fragility factor (expressed in G’s) together with the type of handling the package is likely to experience and the weight of the product with package.

If the G-factor is unknown then this can be estimated based on the table on separate sheet  and the engineer’s experience, although it is preferable and more accurate to have the fragility factor determined by subjecting the item to be packaged to a series of gradually increasing known decelerations in order to find the lowest value at which damage occurs.

Note: The fragility factor of an object is the fragility factor of the most fragile component (i.e. that with the lowest fragility factor)

For this test a graph will be produced for each drop showing the peak G experienced by the product.

For each of the above drop tests, a full drop test report will be completed together with photographs and graphs as necessary.          

Product Fragility & Drop Height Estimation

The reference data presented below is to assist designers who need / choose to estimate product fragility and drop heights / handling methods their products would typically face during transport.

This reference is based on Dow Chemicals literature and Turner Packaging standards.

Table 1. Typical Drop Heights

Table 2.  Approximate Fragility Of Typical Packaged Items  

Identification of faces, edges and corners of the package

Faces

Where the front and top faces of the package are not easily identifiable the package shall be placed with the manufacturers joint on the right. (Manufacturers joint being where the ends of the sheet of board is joined with glue or stitches) 

Face designated as follows:

Top = Face1, Right side = Face 2, Bottom = Face 3, Left side = Face 4, Front = Face 5, Back = Face 6,

Edges

The numbers of the two faces forming the edge shall identify the edges of the package; e.g. 1-2 identifies the edge formed by the top and the right side.

Corners

The numbers of the three faces forming the corner shall identify the corners of the package; e.g. 1-2-5 identifies the corner formed by the top, right side and the front of the package.

Turner Packaging
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