Packaging Technology and Development - Assignment Example

Packaging Technology and Development Contents Introduction 2 Question 1 3 Hazards faced by wooden toys 3 Selling options 4 Minimization of product damage 4 Wide range of options 6 Information 7 Suggestions with advantages & disadvantages 8 Supply chain 9 Question 2 10 Minimize harm by plastic packaging 10 Advantages of using plastic in packaging 12 Different types of plastic and their advantages and disadvantages 13 Alternate packaging materials 14 Different usage of plastics 15 Conclusion 16 References 17 Introduction This study would outline various aspects of global supply chain management. Supply chain can be defined as management of services or goods flow. There are other factors too included in this process such as storage or movement of raw materials, finished goods, work-in-progress inventory, etc. Interlinked networks facilitate the movement of goods from one point to another. Supply chain of any product or service encompasses wide array of stages such as designing, execution, planning, monitoring and controlling activities. Competitive infrastructure is based on effectiveness of supply chain activities. Globalization era has led to development of supply chain management. Global supply chain is closely knitted with structuring supplier relationship across the globe. Supply chains have expanded across national boundaries. Companies in current scenario are inclined towards raw material procurement from other countries so as to regulate their operational costs. The concept of global supply chain management has benefitted companies in terms of gaining competitive advantage, reducing costs and initiating value-addition. In this study, packaging shall be highlighted as an essential component of global supply chain. Packaging plays a key role in perishable products and helps in developing consumers trust towards a brand. This component prevents spoilage, reduces waste percentage and extends total shelf life. Question 1 Hazards faced by wooden toys The toy industry is rapidly growing across the globe. There is a high demand towards wooden toys in the market place. Wooden toys are widely used by children for playing, and comprises of figures, educational toys, construction sets, puzzles, furniture, musical instruments, toy vehicles, puppets and furniture. There are some hazardous materials used to develop wooden toys. These toys encompass heavy metals like cadmium or lead, or other chemicals which shall prove to be harmful for children playing with such toys (Johnson, 2001). In the global supply chain of wooden toys, there is over exploitation of natural resources. Wood processing or battery manufacturing usually requires consumption of high levels of energy. This ultimately leads to emission of greenhouse gases. Wood based products leads to deforestation activities and tends to reduce quality level of ecosystem. In global supply chain management, there needs to be a strong coordination between procurement of raw materials and transferring them into finished products. Hazards faced by wooden toys in such supply chain can be increased inventory holding time. This would increase overall lead time resulting into failure towards addressing market demand (Chan and Chin, 2007). Cost is an important factor in global supply chain management. Product handling directly or indirectly contributes towards such operational costs. For instance, wooden toys have to be handled properly else it would increase inventory holding costs. Protection and containment are two important aspects of packaging. Wooden toys are bound to face hazards in terms of protection if there is inappropriate packaging design. In context of global supply chain, if packaging fails to address desirable quality standard then wooden product might get spoiled while moving from one location to another. Selling options The ultimate goal of any organization is to adopt best transmission channel so that finished products reach end customers at least time possible. Lead time is a critical element within global supply chain infrastructure. Increase in lead time results into increased costs for all supply chain participants. The toy industry is a growing sector and there is a need towards making the product easily accessible by customers. Online platforms have gained significance in the marketplace in recent years. It enables customers to do shopping at their own convenience. Wooden toys are sold on online platforms through company’s website or other online retailers like Amazon.com, etc. This selling point not only ensures accessibility to customers but they are also able to compare prices of similar products. Online platforms are a source of acquiring competitive advantage by companies dealing in wooden toys. There are also franchised stores of wooden toys located around the world. These stores are specialized in selling wooden toys of different forms. On the other hand, retail stores also sell such products due to high market demand. There are many retail stores which previously used to sell limited product range but have now shifted towards toys sector as well (Bain, 2000). Apart from big retail stores, wooden toys are also sold by small retail shops. These shops are present in localities and customers are not required to travel far in order to purchase the product. Selling points in global supply chain are a medium through which end customers are able to access desirable products. Minimization of product damage The toy industry is subjected to wide array of damages. Fragility is a common aspect which is considered while dealing with toys. The rate of fragility is high in case of wooden toys and this indicates they are easily breakable. Suppliers along with manufacturers have to take into consideration the fragility aspect. Other critical factor is finished product is developed by assembling various sub parts. This assembling operation requires supply of raw materials in specified time frame. Wooden toys after being manufactured have to be handled efficiently else it might get damaged. This type of product is usually manufactured based on trend of market demand. Hazards faced by this product are of two types – environmental hazards and mechanical hazards. These hazards can be classified as shock, vibration, compression (dynamic or static), and puncture. All these hazards are prominent in relation to wooden toys (Hine, 1999). Wooden toys if handled poorly might lead to a puncture. This hazard has certain effects like breakage and product spoilage. Additional costs are imposed on manufacturers once the product gets spoiled in the supply chain process. Compression is another form of hazard which is faced by wooden toys both in dynamic and static position. When these toys are stored in warehouse, excessive pressure shall break or crush such products. In the dynamic position, pressure is exhibited during the transportation stage. Severe vibration at the time of transportation or truck pressure would lead to product breakage. Road transportation is mainly observed in global supply chain of wooden toys. These products are either distributed through third party logistics or are transported together with other products. Vibration during distribution is witnessed in all transportation forms (Wong and Hvolby, 2007). Vibration occurs due to irregular road surfaces, vehicle position and unbalanced loads. Effects of this hazard are noticed in terms of product settlement, breakage, stack resonance, etc. When wooden toys are manufactured, it passes through different stages. Poor stacking in the supply chain process results into fall of products from pallets, conveyors, etc. Manual handling plays a crucial role in the production of wooden toys. Chemical usage and battery production leads to adverse impacts on external environment. Greenhouse gases are emitted in the production process which is responsible for bringing forth climate change. Ecosystem is disrupted due to intense deforestation activities. The basic raw material for manufacturing of wooden toys contributes maximum towards negative impacts on environment. Wide range of options The global supply chain process encompasses wide range of options related to product manufacturing and delivery of final goods to end customers. Packaging option can be considered as an effective one since it prevents a product from being damaged. There are three levels of packaging such as primary, secondary and tertiary packaging. Primary packaging deals with product surroundings which are purchased by end customers. Secondary packaging is also known as group packaging. Many firms undertake shrinkwrap film or corrugated board case so as to facilitate ease of handling. Transportation activities are smoothened with the support of tertiary packaging. Label and stretchwrap film are deliberately used for tertiary packaging. Packaging is an important factor when there are fragile products involved in the process. It can be stated that warehouse packaging is different from distribution packaging (Bain, 2001). Warehouse packaging needs to be such that finished product or work-in-process inventory is tolerant towards any form of external pressure. Wooden toys are damaged maximum during transit when it is being transported from manufacturing units to warehouse locations. Appropriate handling options are also available for wooden toys in their global supply chain process. Effective handling would be based on eliminating contact points and providing sufficient gap between product pallets. Vibration level shall be decreased through this approach and it would even ensure reduced levels of product damage. Outsourcing activities is a common phenomenon for all real world organizations. Global supply chain for wooden toys shall also comprise of outsourcing activities (Emblem, 2000). Firm manufacturing wooden toys can outsource raw materials from European or non-European countries. Outsourcing activities are basically undertaken to reduce operational costs. Suppliers located in other countries are able to deliver products at much cheaper rates. On the other hand, outsourcing is also associated with addressing desirable quality standards. Information Wooden toys can prove to be hazardous for children since its production process involves different form of chemicals. Information is a vital component in product packaging. Packaging needs to provide essential information to customers regarding basic materials involved in the production process and its consequences. Valuable information is essential for product handling in storage and distribution environment. Information needs to be provided to outline product identity. The kind of information incorporated in packaging is volume or weight of product, repacking instructions, etc. Such information is essential to understand and locate product manufacturing details. Secondary packaging also has some information so as to handle products in the distribution channel. This form of information is associated with product characteristics, bar codes and product codes, etc (Turner, 1998). Stock recording can be executed through such added information on product packaging. Other information which needs to be included is data usage, legal and promotional information. Selling functions of primary packaging is supported by human readable information. The basic purpose of providing information is to make customers aware about benefits and usage of the product. Wooden toys are highly fragile and it needs to be included in the packaging information. Suggestions with advantages & disadvantages There are packaging options available that can improve supply chain conditions of wooden toys. Appropriate handling and packaging practices helps in eradicating hazards in global supply chain management. Wooden toys basically face challenges in terms of product damage, high transit time, lack of raw material availability, etc. Vibration is a common hazard which is observed in production of toys. Product movement cannot be stopped in supply chain process. This movement eventually results into product damage. Accurate packaging dimensions can be used in case o wooden toys. This shall help to reduce flexibility in product movement. Tightly packed products will have less space for movement and hence they would not collide with one another. Coatings can be incorporated in product packaging so as to reduce damage caused by irregular road surfaces. Corrugated board or bubble wrap is a recommended packaging approach for wooden toys. Major advantage of this approach is it shall protect the product from shock hazards. However such packaging techniques would not be beneficial in case of large volumes of product packaging. Relative controls and measurement of humidity or temperature is also a suggested approach for this supply chain. Manual handling practices are responsible for errors in the manufacturing process. Technology based practices tends to eliminate such errors and increases overall efficiency. Advantage of this process shall be least time consuming approach with minimum level of errors. On the contrary, disadvantage of this technique is lump sum investment in identified method. Supply chain The supply chain activities usually vary from one product to another. Wooden toys are manufactured under high supervision since they are easily breakable. Supply chain for wooden toy is given below- This is a standardized process utilized in wooden toy production. Global supply chain encompasses procurement of raw materials from overseas. These raw materials are then transformed into finished products. Product design in the supply chain process plays an important role in order to meet market demand. Retailers and online platforms are efficient mediums through which products are delivered to end customers. Supply chain management of wooden toys are centred towards collecting raw materials from wide array of sources and then assembling them to produce final product. Question 2 Minimize harm by plastic packaging It is important to note over here is the fact that none of the packaging materials that is commonly used can be said to environmentally superior. It is also not possible to bring a clear cut comparison in between the different packaging materials that is used. When the question of packaging is considered, the fact that is often interlinked is the question of the waste and the disposal of the same that is generated from the packs that are poorly designed. The solution is to go for packaging that is environmentally responsible. What this actually means is that the packaging material and the process that is to be chosen is that which have minimum effect on the environment. Some of the factors which must be considered while evaluating a packaging material and process are, the depletion of the resources of the earth, the amount of energy that is consumed in the process, pollution of the environment during the production process, disposal of the material after the life cycle of the product, issues that is associated with the reuse, recycle and recovery of the product. One of the methods that are used to analyze the impact of any packaging material is the technique of LCA. LCA as a method is used to quantify the environmental effect of the total pack in terms of the amount of natural resources that is used in the production, the emissions that is produced in the production process, amount of solid waste generated in the production process and in the lifetime of the product (Goodwin, 2011). However it is important to note that LCA as a method does not provide a complete picture. One of the important way in which the use of Plastic waste and the Plastic usage can be minimized is through reduce, reuse and recycle. Reduce refers to the fact that the amount of packaging materials that needs to be used is reduced. Then another thing that can be done is the fact that the packaging material that is used should be reused to the maximum extent possible. The third method focuses on the act of recycling. In order to avoid the use of plastic there are several things that can be done. The different strategies that can be used to minimize the use of plastic is the use of alternative packaging material, not involving in the purchase of packaged food, new kinds of plastic that are less damaging environmentally. The most important and useful mechanism that can be used as a prevention and restriction of the use of plastic is increasing the awareness of people. The government can also pass regulations that can restrict the use of plastics. In order to prevent the wide spread use of plastic there are different measures that can be taken. These methods include the limitation on the usage of packaged food, use of alternate materials that can serve as the alternate to plastic products, and cultivating habits that limit the usage of plastic products. Figure 1: Usage of different types of packaging materials Advantages of using plastic in packaging Plastic packaging is not considered to be an appropriate measure from environmental perspective. However there are some benefits associated with plastic packaging which is taken into consideration by companies. More than 40% of the plastic used in packaging can be recycled but it is not possible in case of glass packaging. There is considerable impact of plastic on external environment. In any industrial sector, packaging problem is a big issue. In comparison to glass, plastic is regarded as more flexible packaging material. There are many factors which should be focused on while selecting packaging materials. PET bottles or other food containers use plastic. This is simply because flexibility is more in case of plastic. Glass can also be shaped into different formats but plastic gives more number of options. Plastic can be easily moulded into various forms such as containers, canisters, trays, etc. On the other hand, plastic packaging constitutes less space in comparison to other materials (Azapagic, 2003). This helps to store large number of products within the same room. From logistics perspectives, space and weight are two important factors. Plastic packaging enables companies to transport products in same truck, thus reducing overall transportation costs. This form of packaging also constitutes low energy level in recycling process. Plastic as well as glass containers can be recycled but energy consumption is less in case of plastic packaging. 10% energy is required by plastic in order to produce completely new plastic. Plastic debris is a huge threat for manufacturers but its associated benefits influence firms to opt for plastic packaging. Glass is more prone towards breakage compared to plastic (Elias, 2003). Glass packaging is a risky method since it needs to be handled properly so as to protect product from any form of damage. Plastic is treated as a toxic product but is a preferable choice for maximum percentage of manufacturers. Different types of plastic and their advantages and disadvantages There are different types of plastics that are manufactured and are used by the people for different purposes. The Society of Plastic Industry has established a classification system in order to classify different types of plastic. The different types of plastics those are available in the market are follows. PET- Polyethylene Terephthalate is used to make mineral water bottles, fizzy drink bottle and bear bottles. The plastic is sometimes used to absorb odour and flavour. Items that are made from this plastic can be recycled. The plastic is used to make several common items that are used in the households. HDPE- HDPE or High Density Polyethylene products are generally considered to be very safe and do not transmit chemicals into the food or drinks that is stored into them (Hernandez, 2000). These are the products that can be recycled. Items that are made from HDPE are used to store milk, shampoo, soap bottle, motor oils and bleaches. Although the products that are made from this particular plastic can be easily recycled it is not safe to reuse this product. Polystyrene- Polystyrene is a product that is commonly recycled but is very difficult to do the recycling (Bain, 2001). Items that are commonly made from PS are disposable coffee cups, packing foam, plastic cutlery etc. LDPE- Low Density Polyethylene is a product that is sometimes recycled. The advantage of this plastic is the durability and flexibility of the products. Items that are made from LDPE are cling film, plastic bags for grocery etc. Alternate packaging materials The major problem that is associated with plastic as a packaging material is the fact that it is very difficult to dispose the plastic as the packaging material. The wide use of plastic as a packaging material is the fact that it is cheap to use plastic as a packaging material, it is water proof, and it is particularly useful in storing the food products. Some of the materials that can be used as an alternate to plastic as a packaging material are follows. Paper: Paper bags are a good alternative as a packaging material as compared to plastic. The common examples of the products that are made from paper and board are leaflets, labels, sacks, bags, boxes, corrugated cases, composite containers, pallet boxes, corrugated trays etc. The main advantage of using paper board as the packaging material is the fact that the packaging material that is used is bio degradable. It is also found that the paper products are made from the cellulose which is a fibre that is found in the trees (Kirwan, 2007). There are several coatings that are applied to a paper packaging in order to establish the fact that the materials does not get wet and certain other characteristics such as stiffness. Glass: Glass is made by the process of fusing silica sand at very high temperatures. Unlike metals and other liquids glass has no definite melting point. This means that glass remains viscous over a wide range of temperature (Yam, 2009). This property of glass is a major advantage and results in the fact glass can be transformed into different shapes and sizes unlike other materials. This unique property of glass makes it an indispensible packaging material for packaging perfume, food bottle, medicine bottle, wine container etc. However the major disadvantage of plastic as a packaging material is the fact that it is fragile. Other factors are its weight and costliness as a packaging material. Metals- Metals can be used as a good alternate packaging material as compared to plastic. Advantage of the metals as a packaging material lies in the fact that metals are easily recyclable and moulded to different shape at high temperature. Other important advantage of metals as a packaging material is the tensile strength of metals. The metals are generally used as a packaging material in order to store oil that is stored in barrels. Jute- An important packaging material that can serve as the viable alternative to plastic is Jute. Jute is a fibre that is extracted from jute plant. Jute has the important characteristics that it is bio degradable. The jute is used as the packaging material for certain products that could be packaged by plastic. Jute can be used as a packaging material in certain cases in order to package materials ranging from food products to milk. Different usage of plastics Plastic can be used as a packaging material to package different types of products. The advantage of using plastic as a packaging material is tensile strength of plastic, it is light weight, and it is effective in storing food products. The unique properties of Plastic make it useful for use in a variety of situations. Plastic as a packaging material can be used in two major forms. These are using plastic in hard form or using the plastic in soft and flexible form. Additionally it is found that there are different varieties of plastic that are used in order to pack different kinds of materials. For example the common plastic or polyethylene that is also known as a Low Density Poly Ethylene or LDPE. The LDPE variety of plastic is the most common plastic material that is used. LDPE is used to store groceries or other materials. There are other forms of plastics too that are available. Another major form of plastic that is available is the HDPE polymer as compared to the LDPE plastic HDPE is a much hard plastic material. They are used to make different bottles that can be used to store liquid materials. These materials can be easily recycled. Still another form of plastic is the Polyethylene Terephthalate. Commonly known as PET these are normally used to make PET bottles that can be used to store many house hold items. These plastics are also recyclable. Unlike the LDPE or the common plastic that is used as a grocery bag the HDPE and PET are harder. Conclusion As per the study, packaging, materials handling, outsourcing, etc., are key activities in global supply chain process. In overall context, supply chain refers to smooth movement of goods or services from one location to another. It can be stated that different products have different requisite towards supply chain operations. The supply chain process of wooden toys has been highlighted in this particular study. This is a fragile product and needs to be handled appropriately by supply chain participants. The toy industry is a booming sector and there is high market demand towards innovative product line. Packaging is a critical factor when it comes to fragile products. The term packaging is not only related to delivering final product to end customers but is also included during secondary or tertiary packaging. While products are dispatched from manufacturing units to warehouses there are chances of product damage. Hence packaging becomes important in that case so as to prevent any form of product breakage. This study also has outlined importance of plastic in packaging. Plastic is regarded as a suitable option compared to other materials. There are alternatives which are used by manufacturers nowadays so as to eradicate adverse impacts caused by plastic packaging. References Azapagic, A., 2003. Polymers, the environment and sustainable development. New Jersey: Wiley. Bain, D., 2000. Design & technology of packaging decoration for the consumer market. New York: Sheffield Academic Press. Bain, D., 2001. Materials and development of plastics packaging for the consumer market. London: Wiley. Bain, D., 2001. Technology of plastics packaging for the consumer market. New York: Sheffield Academic Press. Chan, T. C. T. and Chin, K. S., 2007. 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The wiley encyclopedia of packaging technology. London: Wiley. Read More