Transportation Packageing Design

The objective of transport packaging is preservation of the product in its delivery from point of manufacture to the customer. Without packaging, most products would have a difficult and expensive trip through handling and transportation, many of them delivered to customers in a damaged condition. Transport packaging actually adds to the value of the product, by lowering the cost for customers to obtain possession of the product from its origination.

Transport packaging, also known as "distribution packaging" in North America, includes the shipping container, interior protective packaging, and any unitizing materials for shipping. It does not include packaging for consumer products such as the primary packaging of food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. In the USA transport packaging represents about one-third of the total purchases of packaging; the balance is attributable to primary packaging for consumer products.

The goal in transport packaging is to provide the correct design for packaging such that its contents will arrive safely at its destination, without using too much or too little packaging material. In other words, the package designer must assure that this equation is maintained:

Product + Package = Distribution Environment

The following will demonstrate how to determine the right amount of each of the three variables so the equation will always balance, with no excessive over-packaging cost nor loss from damage.

Functions and Goals of Transport Packaging

The functions of transport packaging can be summarized as follows:

o Containment - The basic purpose of packaging is to contain the product. Packaging permits products to move from their source to the customer, supplying use value to products which are otherwise useless to the customer who is usually remote from source.

o Protection - Most products require some degree of protection from the hazards in distribution. Packaging furnishes the degree of protection needed...