Design for logistics

capacify.wordpress.com
Design For Logistics
Richard Farr

Contents
What does packaging do?
Key features of products with good logistics properties
Efficient packaging
The influence of supply chain relationships
Sustainable packaging

What does packaging do?
Eight purposes...
Physical protection
Barrier protection
Containment or agglomeration
Information transmission
Marketing
Security
Convenience
Portion control

1. Physical protection
Defend against...
Mechanical
shock
Vibration
Electrostatic
discharge
Compression
Changes in
temperature
(hot or cold)
The eggbox protects
against impact, and
compression

2. Barrier protection
Keep the contents clean.
Keep medications sterile until
opened.
Keep the contents dry, or stop the
contents drying out, as required.
May be combined with desiccants
or oxygen absorbers to further
extend shelf life.
Modified atmosphere inside, to
inhibit microbial action.

3. Containment or Agglomeration
Group small items together.
Make low-value items more
economical to track, sell and
handle.
Group products into sets or kits.
Keep liquids, gases, powders or
small parts in place.
A package allows us to
sell a kit of assorted
Lego parts.

4. Information transmission
Labels – not including those used
to provide a marketing function.
Instructions for use, transportation
or safe disposal.
Information required by law.
Barcodes & QR codes.

5. Marketing
Encourage potential buyers
to purchase the product.
Graphics design.
Physical design.
Show off the best features
of the product.
Point of sale display.
These are not ‘design for
logistics’ reasons for
packaging. This packaging seeks to attract
the attention of children

6. Security
Childproof seals
Tamper-evident seals
Resistance to counterfeiting
Anti-theft devices
RFID tags performing a
security function
This seal guarantees that the
contents have not been refilled,
and the pot hasn’t been opened
before.

7. Convenience
Built-in handles
Stacking features
Ease of opening
Reclosing / resealing
Dispensing
Features for the
convenience of
the retailer?

8. Portion control
No need to measure out the
product for each customer .
Single doses of medicine.
Individual pots (often desserts).
Child-sized servings.

Packaging Design
With the eight purposes of packaging understood, there
remains the question of how to design it in order to meet
the requirements of the supply chain at the lowest
possible cost.
The design of the product itself can also simplify or
complicate its logistics...

Key features of products
with good logistics properties
Light weight (save fuel in transportation).
Low bulk and a neat fit (get more in a container, or on a
truck).
Standardised (loading is simpler if each item is the
same).
Robust (able to survive a journey over rough roads, and
proof against humidity, dust, pests).
Not time-sensitive, and not requiring additional cooling
(so it won’t spoil if there are delays, as most foodstuffs
and some vaccines will).
What others can you think of...?

Believe it or not...

Chevrolet Vega and
‘Vert-a-Pac’ rail cars

How to get thirty cars
on a railway wagon...
Vert-a-Pac was a special railway goods wagon designed
to hold new cars vertically, for delivery to dealerships in
other states. It was possible to transport 30 cars on each
railway wagon, where a conventional car transporter
would have carried at most 18.
The Chevrolet Vega each had special clamping points
on the floor pan to hold it in place. It was designed so
that fluids (coolant, fuel, screen wash, oil, battery acid)
would not spill when it was held in a nose-down position.
Only the Chevrolet Vega (1970–1977) ever used the
system, so it probably counts as a failure.

Efficient Packaging
Do you really need to pack things?
Nature provides a pretty good
“wrapper” on most fruit.

Efficient Packaging
The use of plastic
shrink wrap isn’t
terribly sustainable, but
a gram or two of
plastic film can extend
the shelf life of a
cucumber significantly.
It acts as barrier
protection, keeping
moisture in.

Efficient Packaging
Apple’s original iPod
came in a very bulky
package.
Minimising packaging
can make the product
more desirable – and it
allows you to get a lot
more products in a
shipping container.

Standardised Packaging
Conform to standards that
allow you to share and reuse
packaging.

Reusable Packaging
Design the
Business Model
to ensure that
your product is
reused capacify.wordpress.com

Discussion point...
If reuse is better than
recycling... whatever
happened to reusable
glass milk bottles?

Avoiding a ‘Monstrous Hybrid’
Don’t mix organic and ‘technical’ materials in a single
package.
The window on this packet is made from cornstarch.
Everything can be composted after use.
For more information on the ‘Monstrous Hybrid’...
McDonough, W. & Braungart, M. (2002) ‘Cradle to
Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things’, North
Point Press

Save some money, be sustainable and
market your product
Modern
Easter
egg box

A good supply chain relationship can
make logistics simpler and more efficient
Kit parts together into specific sets – may reduce Stock
Keeping Units.
Establish better batch sizes or agree new order
quantities that match logistic constraints.
Present parts in an orientation that suits the customer’s
requirements (e.g. automated assembly process).
Develop a reusable box that you get back from your
regular customers.
Find out what your customer uses, and values – and
don’t do anything they don’t value (e.g. don’t package
goods individually in 4-colour printed retail cartons if
when they’re being ordered in bulk).

Sustainable packaging in summary
Protect the product from harm, but...
Minimise the ratio of product and packaging weight.
Minimise the volume occupied, and aim for a good fit in
standard shipping containers, if required.
Plan for reuse of packaging with corporate customers.
Material selection: choose renewable materials, or at
least recyclable materials. Aim to use recycled content.
Biodegradable materials may reduce litter.
See http://www.wrap.org.uk/ for more information;
search for packaging.

Final Remarks
The design of packaging is a science in itself.
We need to design products to suit shipping, not just
design for manufacture, assembly and end use.
‘Green’ packaging makes a good subject for student
design projects.
Sustainability is a major theme, due to the comparatively
short useful life of most packaging.

Further articles
from Richard Farr at:
http://capacify.wordpress.com

Tutor note for Slide 22
Glass bottles were reused about 12 times on average,
making them a useful form of packaging – dating back to
when there were fewer packaging options.
When small dairies were replaced with larger, more
distant ones, the weight of the bottles became a more
significant factor.
With the general shift away from doorstep deliveries that
saw customers buying milk at the supermarket, weight
was again an issue – and the empty bottles were much
less likely to be returned.

Design for logistics

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