Dive Brief:
- Rather than consider packaging in a fragmented fashion, companies would do better by considering unit loads as a whole, which is likely to lead to a better shipping outcome, DC Velocity reported last week.
- Unit load takes into consideration how all the packing components must work together in order to handle the supply chain's physical challenges. Ensuring that damage is eliminated often requires the services of a special packaging consultancy or expert, who has the tools to subject a pallet-load to the same extremes it will face along the supply chain.
- Actively applying the knowledge gained through simulation, which includes both computers as well as physical testing, will help avoid overlooking potential weaknesses, such as the type of pallet being used for transport.
Dive Insight:
Proper packaging isn't just about saving space and ensuring that goods are delivered in the condition promised. Actual harm can come to individuals who encounter poorly packed or deceitfully labeled items.
In Vancouver, a 40 foot container went "up in smoke" after being intentionally mislabeled, most likely to avoid the full expense of shipping swimming pool chemicals. Residents near the facility in which the fire occurred were told to either remain indoors or cover their faces with damp cloths to avoid inhaling the burning air. Even large equipment manufacturers try to get away with it, as was discovered when a 46-ton bulldozer was found inside a 40 foot container, nearly 20 tons over maximum payload, as The Loadstar reported.
Shipping expert Amazon is no stranger to mislabeling errors, either. Between August 2013 and October 2016, the company was fined $872,000 for eight shipping violations due to mislabeling, one of which involved liquid ethanol which leaked into the atmosphere at a FedEx facility in Cary, Illinois.
