Business and Management

How Is The Quality Of Packaging Materials Ensured?

There are many types of packaging used for different kinds of products such as corrugated boxes, airtight containers, PET bottles, polythene bags, etc. All these products undergo proper quality testing procedures so that it could be ensured that the customers get only the high-quality products, and the products remain safe during transportation and warehousing. 

Many manufacturers use different test methods for ensuring the quality of packages. Below are discussing some of the testing methods used for quality assurance of packaging products in industries.

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Compression test

A compression test is a major test that is conducted on the packaging boxes. As the packaging boxes undergo high compressive forces during transportation and warehousing, it is essential to test their compressive strength so that it could be assessed whether the box will be able to survive the journey or not. The box compression tester is used to test the compressive power of a corrugated box or carton. 

Edge crush test

The edge crush test is used for testing the strength of the walls of a corrugated box. The overall strength of the corrugated box greatly depends on the strength of the walls. The test is meant to determine the resistance offered by the corrugated board against crushing forces. 

This test is very helpful in determining the maximum value of crushing that a box can bear during its actual usage and hence can be useful for prediction of the suitability of a particular packaging material for a particular application.

Cobb sizing test

The Cobb sizing test is performed to determine the amount of water that can be absorbed by a corrugated box during usage. This helps in studying the effect of moist working conditions on the products.

Business and Management

How Is Seal Integrity Test Used For E-commerce Products?

E-commerce products often travel longer distances than traditional brick-and-mortar retail shipments. An e-commerce package of granola bars may be shipped uncased from the manufacturer to a distributor center to an ecommerce distributor. Then, the secondary packaging is made with paperboard and other products and shipped to the consumers in a larger shipping container.

Seal integrity tests can be measured using simulations and actual road tests, as different distribution processes can add stress to the seal area or packaging.

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There are specific standards for food distribution. For example, the seals on packaged foods sent to astronauts aboard the International Space Station must meet the specific requirements of the environment.

There are both destructive and nondestructive methods of testing seals to make sure they can withstand shipping, consumer handling, and the environmental conditions that will affect the product's life span.

One method is used to examine the seals on food packaging:

Gas leak test

This method is used on sealed (entirely sealed samples) to measure the migration of gas from the inside of the package to the outside environment.

Helium is used due to its low environmental presence, detectability via mass-spectrophotometer, nonexplosive nature and chemical inertness. The positive pressure test is performed by an operator who injects helium in a sealed container or adds helium directly to the headspace of the package after sealing.

The mass spectrophotometer then uses this to determine and quantify the amount of helium present in the enclosed space. The vacuum method of gas leak detection tests uses a vacuum to put stress on seals in order to detect small leaks. The rate at which helium is transferred through the material and through seals captures this transmission rate.