Does Your Product Packaging Perform Under Real-World Conditions?

Evaluating your cold chain product packaging performance requires you to think outside the typical framework of transportation time. It’s not just the product’s temperature on the road that matters. It’s the weather, the day the product leaves your warehouse and even the pack-out activities used in preparation.

 

It may be time to expand your assessment of product packaging. Here are a few steps to a better evaluation:

 

Assess Product Requirements: From a defined temperature range to how long your product must be protected, it’s important to know what you need from product packaging. Account for transit delays, as well as customs and weekend pressures on timing. Is your packaging designed for your specific product size and payload? Test to understand how sensitive your product is to temperatures outside its ideal range.

 

Red Flag: One way to tell you may need to make adjustments is if you rely on carrier timing, rather than the product packaging, to provide the protection your product requires.

 

Examine Your Current Packaging: Determine whether your shipper is sized correctly for your product and the time it needs protection in transit. Assess the refrigerant being used, such as gel packs or phase-change materials, as well as its placement in the packaging. Does your packaging design work together as a complete system?

 

Red Flag: One way to tell you may need to make adjustments is if you rely on carrier timing rather than the product packaging to provide the protection your product requires.

 

Evaluate Actual Shipping Conditions: Many packaging solutions are designed for the ideal, not the actual, shipping situation. From weather fluctuations to delays, shipping your product may be affected by a variety of challenges.

 

Red Flag: Your pack-out is consistent all year, lacking any adjustments for seasonal temperature changes.

 

Review Documentation: When did you last verify the packaging configuration and its documented test results? It may be that you have documentation, but you don’t have a review process in place and you may not even know where it is stored.

 

Red Flag: Someone in your department vaguely remembers that testing was once done, but nobody can remember whether the testing was on the exact product and product packaging that you are currently using.

 

Assess Your Pack-Out Procedures: Make sure your employees are using a documented pack-out diagram. The product should be at the specified temperature before packing, with coolants properly chilled before use. Make sure the product and coolant are correctly placed and that employees clearly understand the reasons for that particular placement. Products should also be packed and shipped within the required time allotment.

 

Red Flag: Employees pack the same product in different ways.

 

You want to protect the integrity of your product in transit while accommodating delays or weather fluctuations. At Plastilite, we design custom product packaging for cold chain shipping solutions that offer the protection you need. Contact us to learn more.