The packaging industry is very crucial for manufacturers and suppliers. From maintaining the aesthetics of the packets to delivering product safely to the consumer, every step has many challenges. When we talk about packaging, corrugated boxes, sleeve wrapping, bubble wraps; this all comes in our mind. This indeed is an extended part of this industry, but the primary segment is that industry that actually packs the content into primary packing. E.g. medicines are packed in blister packing, aerated drinks are packed in PET bottles, gram flour is packed in flex pack, and perfumes are packed in beautifully crafted glass bottles and so on.
These are primary packers who are responsible for the safety of content inside, their freshness, their colour, aroma, quality and all the factors. To assure safety, primary packers employ many testing machines like heat sealer for flex pack, bottle bursting tester for PET bottles, thickness gauge for wall thickness measurement, printability tester, peel tester for labels, colour devices for coloration and many other big and small machines.
Major Challenges
Environment – UV rays, Sun-light, high temperature, low temperature, humidity, rain, moisture are the major factors that emerge as a challenge for packing industries. To choose a material that can act as a barrier to all the environmental conditions is quite a task. Once the product is chosen, it should withstand the transit conditions, warehouse conditions, retailer’s conditions. Stringent test procedures are followed to make a packing not to fail in such circumstances. For instance, the operator has to test the flex packs with vacuum leak tester to make sure if your heat sealer is making perfect seals or not
Storage – People at warehouse never handle the consignments the way you want. If any special instruction is not issued, they will rarely pay any attention to generic warnings. This is why it becomes the responsibility of the packager to test the packing harshly before transporting it. Top load testing, compression testing are common tests that performed to see if packing does not fail during storage. Any failure may lead to spoiling of the whole consignment. Also, storage at retailer’s place is also to be considered. The manufacturer cannot predict the situation at the retail house. This is why the primary packing should be well tested before supplying it to the retailer.Transit – Irrespective of the mode of transportation, carriers often manhandle the consignments. Jerks, wrenches, push, pulls, etc. external forces that impact the content packed inside the corrugated cartons, or in barrels or in whatever form they are packed. Here secondary packing is responsible for intactness of the products.