Packaging for Laptops - Essay Example

Introduction The 21st century business is characterized by increased globalization. The effects of globalization aredirectly felt in the field of packaging (Klimchuk & Krasovec, 2012). Manufactures has to comply with the ever changing international standards and provisions, in addition to the target market specifications, health environment protections and requirements on safety. The growing interests of developing countries and transition economies in adding value to their exports demands specialized expert packaging knowledge and skills (Klimchuk & Krasovec, 2012). In regards to the advancements and increased developments in SMEs in international trade, smaller companies that are able to export their products are considering relevant and practical state of the art information on export packaging. Protection against damage and breakage caused by normal transport stresses is vital for delicate products such as laptop computers (Klimchuk & Krasovec, 2012). It is worth noting that packaging for laptops should start by consideration and possibly adaptation of the laptop. The massive conversion industry and highly sophisticated engineering is influenced by the each of the principal packaging types (Klimchuk & Krasovec, 2012). A laptop computer comprises of a lithium ion battery. A laptop is rechargeable and is characterized by watt-hour reading of less than 100 wh. According to the International packaging laws, a laptop is considered as a dangerous good, UN3481 “Lithium ion batteries contained in equipment.” When shipped by air, a laptop computer is export is governed by IATA Packaging Instruction 967, General Requirements and Section II Excepted lithium ion cells and batteries (Klimchuk & Krasovec, 2012). These requirements must be met for a laptop to be exported hence proper and appropriate packaging is important. Primary packaging The planning process of packaging should entail all the packages that are necessary for achievement of successful distribution of the product, and their interrelationship. Primary packaging is designed to ship the product once not multiple times. Ineffective primary packaging can weaken the packaging and place the computer at risk. Primary packaging provides extra integrity for the weakened the original producer’s packaging. The primary packaging involves the following: The laptop is first placed in a FedEx Laptop box. The box includes cushioning material and is available for purchases at FedEx Office. This is followed by wrapping the computer on all sides with at least 3” to 4” of air-cellular cushioning material such as Bubble Wrap. The importance of this is to ensure safety of the laptop. The laptop-fully wrapped with the Bubble Wrap-inside a sturdy outer box. It is a point worth noting that if an item is proper wrapped and the appropriate amounts of cushioning is applied will are liable to be placed in any open spaces of the box. To make that the laptop tightly fills in the box, and then all the spaces are filled with enough additional cushioning. The wrapped laptop is put in an additional box. There are several advantages of these wrapping materials used. They include; secure the laptop in place, they are recyclable and reusable, they meet International Safe Transit Association drop test requirement and have visible product display and provides an attractive presentation. This is shown below: After the first step, the following steps are appropriate to ensure additional safety of the laptop. I. Inspection of the original packaging. This will ensure that the cushioning material and box are unbroken and intact. II. Making any relevant repairs with pressure-sensitive adhesive plastic tape. This tape should be at least 2” wide. III. The laptop should be packed using all the original packaging components. IV. A box of at least 6" larger in length, width and height than the original manufacturer’s packaging. V. The bottom of the primary packaging box with 3” of packaging material. These materials include air-cellular cushioning or loosefill peanuts. Crushed paper is not recommended. VI. The original manufacture’s packaging is centered inside the outer box and the empty spaces are filled on both sides and the top with packing material. This should include a 3” of packaging material around all the six sides of the inner box. VII. To protect the laptop and its features, the primary packaging demands and application of at least three strips of pressure-sensitive adhesive plastic tape. This should be at least 2” wide to both the top and bottom of the carton. This is shown below. The first two steps involve the primary packaging. As mentioned above, primary packaging involves designing the layer of packaging in immediate contact with the product (Ramsland, 2000). When undertaking the primary packaging, the product and any existing layers of packaging are taken into consideration. The basic aim of perfect primary packaging is to protect and preserve the laptop from damage and breakages, spoiling and chemical imbalances (Ramsland, 2000). For instance, a laptop computer comprises of a lithium ion battery that needs special care when exporting otherwise it might malfunction. This does not mean that only the battery should be taken care-off or rather the whole of laptop because there are many parts that can be destroyed without proper primary packaging. Because computer export sometimes involves long distance, proper primary packaging will surely serves to keep the laptop in storage during the transit period. It is important that the primary packaging keeps the laptop absolutely sealed off from its environment (Ramsland, 2000). One of the disadvantages of this primary packaging material is the costs associated by it. This type of packaging material cannot allow for mass packaging. That is, each and every laptop is packed on its own box. This will be expensive as the concept of economies of scale will not exist. However, it is important to note that the safety of the laptop is guarantee and that is one of its greatest strengths. The major environmental issue that must be taken into consideration when undertaking primary packaging is associated with the lithium ion battery (Ramsland, 2000). To prevent the infiltration of unsafe packs on the market, some battery manufacturing firms sell lithium-ion cells to approved battery pack. The safety precaution is critical on larger batteries such as laptop packs. Considering the dangers associated with lithium-ion battery, the primary packaging material used should ensure a good energy storage system that will cause little harm in terms of damage and personal injury. Environmental adherence is a vital issues that every manufacture or in this case packaging company has to take into consideration before making any packaging decision (Ramsland, 2000). In our case-apart from ensuring the safety of the batteries-we are also interested in environment friendly primary packaging materials (Ramsland, 2000). To minimize waste the size of the wrapping and the packaging boxes are reduced. In addition, there is increased proposal to use green packaging materials such as bamboo and mushroom cushions. This will ensure proper recycling of the materials hence conservation of the environment. Secondary packaging Packaging is sometimes described with regards to the type of product being packaged. As a result it is convenient to categorize packages by layers or function. Unlike primary packaging; secondary packaging is outside primary packaging, maybe used to group primary packages together. The most preferred secondary method of packaging the laptop in this case is overbox method of packaging. The secondary packaging method will be undertaken as demonstrated below: The primary wrapped laptop will be subjected to secondary packaging. The primary packaged box should be smaller in size to enable settle in the bottom of the outer box. Precisely, the recommended specifications of the inner box are: at least 4” in length, width and height than the laptop. On the other hand it is recommended that the outer box should be at least 6” in length, height and width than the inner box. This will allow some vital space-say 3”- between the inner box and the outer box. After taking care of these measurements, then the laptop can be wrapped in a plastic bag to prevent the loosefill peanuts from getting inside the unit. It is important that the bottom of the inner box is filled with at least 2” of loosefill peanuts and then the wrapped computer is centered inside the box (Ramsland, 2000). The empty spaces that exist in the sides of the box are filled with peanuts. The importance of this action is to ensure the all-important existence of at least 2” of loosefill peanuts on all six sides of the laptop. The top and bottom of the box is then closed and sealed with three strips of pressure-sensitive plastic tape. After completing the work of the inner box, the outer box is then filled with at least 3” of loosefill peanuts. The inner box is then centered inside the outer box. Each and every side of the inner box is the filled with loosefill peanuts (Ramsland, 2000). This will guarantee the existence of at least 3” of loosefill peanuts on all six sides of the box. The outer box is closed and sealed with pressure sensitive plastic tape on both top and bottom. This is shown below: (FedEx.com) Instead of using loosefill peanuts, circumstance may force the utilization of foam corner cushioning specifically designed to properly cushion the laptop during the shipping. Foam corner cushioning will guarantee the use of one size of inner box, one size of outer box and one type of foam corner cushioning to ship items of various sizes and weights. This is shown below: (FedEx.com) Whether foam corner cushioning or loosefill peanuts are used to fill the spaces within the inner and outer boxes, it is a fact that proper sealing of the boxes is important. Using the H taping method, subject the box with a pressure sensitive adhesive plastic tape that is at least 2” wide. This tape should be applied at least three strips to both top and bottom of the carton (Klimchuk & Krasovec, 2012). The box should be labeled on the top. This is shown below: (FedEx.com) One of the objectives of packaging is to protect the good being exported. Therefore, it becomes apparent that effective care should be of importance when shipping the products. While transit case plays an important role in protecting the laptops, care during the design of both the inner cushioning and outer case is paramount. The selection of a transit case should be characterized by greater caution (Klimchuk & Krasovec, 2012). That is, the inner foam cushioning should be designed to properly protect the fragility level of the computer. In addition, the outer case should be manufactured in accordance to Airline Transport Association (ATA) or any other international standards that regulates packaging and transit of goods. The secondary packaging should include a strong transit case where the outer box will be placed. The handles, latches, locks, wheels should be recessed into the case (Klimchuk & Krasovec, 2012). It is important to periodically replace the foam and loosefill peanuts inside the case. This will ensure maximum protection of the laptop because excessive use of foam or loosefill peanuts is subjected breakage and depreciation respectively. The complete packed laptop should therefore look like this: (FedEx.com) Just like in the primary packaging, the secondary packaging materials are very expensive in terms of the unit cost. Another disadvantage is that the loosefill peanuts and the inner foam cushioning needs to be replaced regularly hence adding to the production cost. Package development involves consideration for sustainability, applicable environment, environmental responsibility and recycling regulations. It is therefore necessary to know the relevant regulatory requirements for the packaging company (Klimchuk & Krasovec, 2012) . Secondary packaging plays a vital role in preventing loss or damage of the laptop on transit. In normal circumstances, the energy content of the laptop being packed is greater than the materials being used to package it. Therefore, an appropriate packaging material should be used to ensure that the computer and its entire energy and material content are not lost (Klimchuk & Krasovec, 2012). Just like in the primary packaging, the mass and volume of packaging materials should be reduced to help minimize waste and even costs. It is important to use recyclable materials for packaging. However, materials that cannot be recycled should be disposed through Incineration and placement in a sanitary landfill. Bibliography Klimchuk, M. R., & Krasovec, S. A. (2012). Packaging design: Successful product branding from concept to shelf. Hoboken: Wiley. Packaging design – A Practitioner’s Manual. Ramsland, ITC (2000) Packaging Strategy. Harckham, Technomic Publishing (1989) Read More