As the global supply chain continues to evolve, exporters must increase their awareness of how to improve their transport packaging system to protect their products from various distribution hazards in an increasingly complex distribution environment, according to a packaging expert.
Ericson Nolasco, an engineer and senior research specialist at the Packaging Technology Division (PTD) of the Department of Science and Technology-Industrial Technology Development Institute (DOST-ITDI), said the advent of e-commerce and omni-channels has made the distribution system more complicated. This requires that enterprises improve their distribution packaging concepts to enable their products to withstand more transportation hazards.
“The longer the travel time and the farther your market reach, the higher level of protection your product requires,” said Nolasco during his talk on distribution packaging trends in a recent webinar conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry.
The emergence of e-commerce and omni-channels and the evolving supply chain have led to an increase in the number of times products are handled, increasing their risk for damage as well.
Nolasco shared that in a traditional supply chain, products are handled about five times, but in the e-commerce network, product handling takes about 20 times or more. This is because e-commerce adds new elements into the mix, from retail e-fulfillment centers and parcel carrier consolidation centers to ride shares featuring vans and motorcycles and curbside pickups and, in other countries, involving delivery drones as well.
The e-commerce effect has triggered the evolution of the supply chain, increasing its complexity and intensity as characterized by, for example, higher instances of improper handling of goods and the expansion of sorting facility spaces to include sidewalks to accommodate more parcels. This increased complexity and intensity subjects products to further abuse, noted Nolasco.
Exporters and other enterprises must thus learn how to enhance their transport packaging systems. It calls for veering away from the wasteful and costly overpackaging that sellers resort to and moving toward optimized packaging that features the perfect balance between protection and the right amount of packaging that can resist environmental hazards,” Nolasco said.
Enterprises can go further and move toward reducing packaging through product modification, which calls for strengthening the packaging while using less materials.
Improving the packaging system can protect against distribution hazards such as shocks, vibrations, compressions, and atmospheric conditions, said Nolasco. This entails a performance evaluation using several testing methods such as shock/drop test, vibration test, compression test, and atmospheric and/or conditioning tests.
Nolasco said these tests can be performed for companies by the DOST’s Package Technology Division.
DOST has recently opened its Simulation Packaging Testing Laboratory (SPTL), which enterprises can visit at the DOST compound in Bicutan to see how the newly installed equipment can be used to test their packaging products.
The SPTL can simulate the different distribution hazards that can occur during transportation and distribution, a less costly alternative to actually shipping products overseas to see how the packaging system fares in actual practice, the scientist continued.
Unveiled in June 2022, the SPTL is the Philippines’ first performance testing lab for transport packaging, with the goal of assisting various industry sectors in the areas of packaging design and engineering, performance testing, and the advancement of transport packaging standards.