In the case of many secondary packaging manufacturers like Tri-Wall in the UK , the use of high performance heavy-duty corrugated fibreboard is becoming increasingly accepted as a renewable and highly effective packaging material. Instead of costly and heavy packaging alternatives such as metal, wood and some plastics, fibreboard provides a lightweight and highly protective barrier against damage.
Enhanced designs, such as the Robotic Arm pock, provide widespread improvements to Tri-Wall’s transit packaging (right). Images courtesy of David S Smith Packaging and Tri-Wall.
The Robotic Arm pack was designed specifically for a major manufacturer of robotic welding equipment for the European automotive industry, whim also operates an arm-reconditioning service, thereby needing reusable packaging. The arms, worth up to £20,000 each, were previously packed individually and strapped to specially blocked wooden pallets surrounded with pallet collars. Transit damage resulted in extended assembly-line downtime, poor customer relations and expensive replacement costs.
The new corrugated pack developed to replace the old method of packaging can be safely unpacked and stored or shipped flat before being reused. Buffers are also included at the shaft end as a precaution against any violent handling. After the pack has been slotted together, a self locking cap completes the pack, which is then strapped to a pallet for shipment. This redesign accounts for 33% reduction in packing time; damage down from 15% to 0 ; decreased storage space and fully reusable and recyclable materials.
The new Material Roll Unitiser pack’s die-cut self-locking design incorporates pop-out tabs that serve two purposes. Primarily they interlock with each other, creating a stable load. Four roll of material are placed side by side on the transit pallet and two semi-erected end caps are positioned. The next layer of caps in then placed on top, located and held secure by the tabs. This is repeated for each layer. Compared with polystyrene cradle, the new fitting has also reduced the gap between each layer of rolls by the least 15mm. This and the added security of the load, allow for extra products on the pallet, giving a 16-roll unitised load instead of 12.
The overall savings created by this redesign account for a 56% saving in through flat-packed end caps; a 12% saving in product handling costs; a safer load and stacking; 25% increase in transportations load; 25% saving in transport charges and fully recyclable and renewable material for the end user.
Finally, the Automotive Door-Pillar pack for car assembly lines has fully eliminated the need for polystyrene and timber pallets. The numbers of packing elements have been reduced from five to three, storage requirements reduced by 18% and overall pack weight reduced from 75kg to 25kg.