A drop test is riddled with little understanding and lots of confusion in the packaging industry. Fedex, Nebs, Cric and ASTM are all standards designed to improve this confusion and reduce damage to your product. The issue quickly becomes, what standard do you follow? It is even more complex when you add multiple packaging materials such as corrugated, foam and wood crating. It is imperative to use a reliable packaging company that understands the industry as well as industry materials. This company must meet the specific test standards your company follows as a rule, while keeping in mind industry standards. Lovepac uses the following criteria to get started – the list below will help you out.
Ask yourself…
1. Weight of Product
2. Fragility of product
3. Any vibration concerns
4. Value of product (packaging is ideally no more than 1% of the value of your product) 5. Where is it being shipped (local or exported world wide)
6. How is it being shipped (pallet, courier, local transport, air, sea, rail…)
7. Labelling and printing of packaging
8. ROHS, HT, and other international restrictions or needs to comply to
The best solution is to contact a professional packaging company that will provide you with a full sample that will allow you to do your own internal drop tests. You can also, send yourself a shipment and see how it holds up. Take the time to get the right packaging, it will save you lots of money later and improve your customer satisfaction.
Call Rob Sibthorpe for more information about specific test standards to implement for your company: (514) 904-4300.