When the packaging inspection centre was founded at the Central Postal Office in Darmstadt in 1957, this was primarily done to further increase safety in the transport of goods by the then German Federal Post Office. Today, the tasks of the group, which briefly operated under the name „DHL PACKAGINGSERVICE“, have expanded considerably.
Due to the special position of the packaging inspection body within Deutsche Post DHL Group - it is supported technically by DHL Paket GmbH and organisationally it is assigned to the Post/E-Commerce/Parcel service branch of Deutsche Post AG - it acts as a Interface between the internal parties involved and represents the Group's interests to customers externally.
Main concerns and areas of responsibility
A key objective of the packaging inspection centre is to Risk minimisation for the transport of letters and parcels by Deutsche Post and DHL Paket in order to proactively avoid transport damage and labour costs. Those who do not want to leave it to their experience and chance alone to ensure that the goods reach the recipient undamaged are offered a wide range of services: from Quick check of the packaging on the basis of pictures, specifications and details of the goods to be dispatched via Evaluations of sample consignments up to the Testing and certification of packaging everything is possible. Following successful completion of extensive laboratory tests, the latter can result in a guarantee of liability for up to five years and the award of the test mark „DHL-certified packaging“ include.
In close cooperation with packaging manufacturers and developers, we are also developing a Production monitoring and quality control of own packaging, e.g. the DHL PACKSET. Statements on the machine capability of the packaging during the shipping process, material tests or the determination of the coefficient of friction of plastic films and the DHL Thermocheck, in which insulated containers for shipping goods requiring refrigeration are fitted with sensors that record the temperature curve and thus contribute to the optimisation of the refrigeration concept, are also important components of the testing activities.
In addition to climate chambers, a drop test system, compression press and vibration test system, several material testing devices, a stationary acceleration measurement system, mobile data loggers and RFID thermal sensors are available for this purpose. The majority of the annual around 1,000 incoming inspection requests The focus is on vertical impact tests on cuboid, cylindrical or otherwise shaped packaging materials of different material compositions. If required, additional compression and vibration tests can be carried out.
Specialised in shipping dangerous goods
Of growing importance is the Dangerous goods shipping advice, which is reflected in around 5,000 enquiries per year. It must be clarified which dangerous goods can be transported nationally and internationally and under what conditions. Decisions are based on the one hand on the Universal Postal Convention with its extended letter and parcel regulations and on the other hand on international dangerous goods regulations such as ADR for road transport or ICAO/IATA for air transport.
The national „Regulations for the Transport of Dangerous Substances and Articles“ in two parts based on this will be published together with the Dangerous goods management at Deutsche Post AG created. In addition, the permissibility of sending hazardous goods in letter or parcel shipments is subject to the respective general terms and conditions as well as product-specific specifications, which are determined by product management and the respective production areas.
Contact:
Deutsche Post AG, Packaging Inspection Centre
Otto-Röhm-Str. 71
64276 Darmstadt
Gunnar Loose
Phone: +49 (0)6151 908-5292
e-mail: verpackungspruefung@deutschepost.de
http://www.dhl.de/verpackungspruefung
