In a new series of articles this year, packaging journal presents a number of high-profile German testing institutions and reports on their ability to put packs and load units through their paces to ensure that they can reach the customer intact.
The volume of world trade, which is currently growing at around twice the rate of the gross domestic product of industrialised nations, and the ongoing globalisation of markets require the companies involved in the Transport of goods involved a high degree of logistical expertise.
Effective goods handling with as little loss as possible presupposes that carriers and service providers, but above all producers and packers, are familiar with the essential technical and organisational relationships and conditions for transporting their products. Important problem areas in the loss-free handling of goods are Optimised design of the respective packaging and the Correct fuse of individual packages, load units and finally the entire load on the transport route.
Transport of goods and transport damage
The total volume of goods transported in Germany currently amounts to around 4,300 million tonnes. According to the 2014 Statistical Yearbook, more than 3,380 million tonnes of this was transported by road. Transport damage The fact that the costs of packaging and securing goods are more than one billion euros a year, which are largely caused by inadequate packaging and securing of goods and could therefore be largely avoided, confirms that not everyone involved has the necessary expertise to ensure that goods, people and the environment are fully protected.
What is serious is that, in addition to the financial burden caused by claims, there is also the loss of image, which can have a lasting negative impact on the company in question. Is Dangerous goods involved in the transport damage, as is the case in 200 to 250 accidents per year, the costs vary between a few thousand and more than 500,000 euros per claim, according to data from the Federal Highway Research Institute (bast) from 2014.
Packaging inspection of packages and load units ready for dispatch
In order to protect the goods from loss on the way to the end consumer, it is important to check the suitability of the intended packaging and load securing measures in advance. However, as numerous Prevention options Since many practitioners are only insufficiently aware of the potential for damage cases such as laboratory tests, but also test shipments or the use of electronic monitoring technology during transport, this knowledge gap is to be filled by presenting some of the institutions that carry out packaging tests.
The aim of the laboratory tests offered by i. A. certified institutions is the Simulation of normal mechanical and climatic loads, that affect the packaging in the logistics chain. The suitability of the materials used, the packaging without contents or the entire package (product with packaging) can be tested. Packaging tests are carried out with suitable test equipment on the basis of currently valid national and international standards or test guidelines and are mandatory for hazardous goods packaging. The results are documented and handed over to the client.
