detailed data collection on various materials for packing and their strength withstandability againts vertical and horizontal loads

1. TITLE: “PROJECT ON VARIOUS MATERIALS USED FOR
PACAGING & THEIR WITHSTAND ABILITY”
SUBJECT: STEVEDORING
Assignment submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of MBA (Integrated
Multimodal Logistics Management) Awarded by BHARATHIAR
UNIVERSITY, COIMBATORE
Name: VIGNESH P
KETUT ELI SUSANTI
PRAKASH G
BALA SUBRAMANI
DEPARTMENT OF SHIPPING AND LOGISITCS
St. Britto’s College
ADAMBAKKAM, CHENNAI

2. INTRODUCTION
Shipping & logistics is the process of movement of goods from one place to
another in an efficient economic way with a suitable Transport quickly. Here the
cargo or goods may be in any form or of in any size. While transporting a cargo it
is our duty to keep it safe and protected during the time of travel from the point of
origin to the destination. So as to avoid damage and protect it from external forces
every cargo is packed with suitable materials at low cost and eco friendly to the
environment. To protect a light weight cargo a cardboard box is preferred for its
packaging. Whereas to pack a heavy weight cargo wooden box or crates are used
for packaging. This selection of packaging depends on the materials withstand
ability to the certain cargo. In this project we are going to briefly discuss about
every packaging materials and their withstand ability to the cargo type and its
weight. The safety factor of a packaging, stability, durability and resistance of a
packaging under external forces during the time of transition.
MATERIALS USED FOR PACKAGING
There are several materials used for packaging, it depends on the cargo
capacity and load that going to carry. Each material has its own nature, strength,
withstands ability and is used as per our requirements. The most widely used
packaging materials are as follows:
 Wood & Plywood
 Card Board corrugated
 Plastics
 Fiber board
 Iron crates
 Leaves
 Vegetable fibers
 Papers, Newsprint
 Earthenware
 Glass
 Metals

3. WOOD & PLYWOOD
These materials are widely used for the heavier and expensive cargos. As
the costof packaging is high, the cargo must me expensive and valuable one.
 Traditionally been used for solid and liquid foods
including fruits, vegetables, tea and beer.
 Wood offers good protection, good stacking
characteristics, strength and rigidity.
 The use of wood continues for some wines and
spirits because the transfer of flavor compounds
from the wooden barrels improves the quality of the
product.
CARDBOARD – CORRUGATED
Cardboards are widely used for the general purpose
light weight cargos. As the cargo is light weight and cost
of packaging also considered economically.
PLASTICS
Plastics are used for packaging as it is strong
cheap and re usable. The brittleness it can possess is
higher than the wood of same costcan posses.
 Polythene (high density) HDPE - a strong
plastic used for buckets, bowls pipes etc
 PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) - a shatter
proofplastic becoming very popular for drinks
containers.

4.  It is shatter proof, flexible, light weight, 90% recyclable and cheap to
produce.
 PVC - Polyvinyl Chloride - Used for softdrinks containers that are not
pressurized.
 Polythene (low density) LDPE - a softer plastic used for plastic bags.
FIBRE BOARD CORRUGATED
The fiber material corrugated in
several layers to form a board or sheet
which is used for packaging a certain
expensive and medium weight cargos.
IRON – CRATES
Iron crates, corner straps and
skeleton of packaging are made of iron
for certain high or heavy weight cargos.
These cargos are costly and requires
strong packaging to avoid damage and
easy in handling the cargos.
Leaves
 Banana or plantain leaves are often used for wrapping certain types of food.
 Cheap and readily available.
 They do not protectthe food against moisture, oxygen, odours or micro-
organisms, and are therefore not suitable for long-term storage.

5. Vegetable fibers
 Bamboo, banana, coconut, cotton, jute, raffia, sisal, and yucca.
 Converted into yarn, string or cord.
 Very flexible, resistance to tearing, lightweight for handling and
transportation.
 Bio-degradable and re usable
Tin plate and Aluminum
 The most recognizable ‘metal’ material used for packaging
food products is aluminum.
 It is used for drink cans, trays, wrappings, inner bags and in
laminates.
 It is strong and withstands heat and processing.
 It can also withstand the internal pressure of gases that have
been added to the productinside the can.
 Aluminum cans are also lightweight.
Paper
 Paper is an inexpensive packaging material and can be made from a wide
range of materials, including rice husks, banana leaves and wood pulps.
 It is however highly absorptive, fairly easily torn, and offers no barrier to
water or gases.
 Paper can also be strengthened by combining it with hessian cloth,
cardboard or polythene.
 Newsprint should be used only as an outer wrapper and not be allowed to
come into direct contact with food, as the ink used is toxic.
Earthenware
 Earthenware pots are used worldwide for storing liquids and solid foods
such as curd, yoghurt, beer, dried food, and honey.
 Glazed pots are needed for storing liquids as they are light-proof, and restrict
the entry and growth of micro-organisms, insects and rodents.

6. Glass
Glass has many properties which make it a popular choice as a packaging material:
 Glass is able to withstand heat treatments
 It does not react with food
 It is rigid and protects the food from crushing and bruising
 It is re-usable, re-sealable and recyclable
Metal
Metal have a number of advantages over other types of containers:
 They provide total protection of the contents
 They are tamperproof
 They are convenient for presentation.
CONCLUSION
It is known that the packaging is very important to protect and safeguard the
cargo in the transition time while loading, unloading and movement of cargo.
Several types of packaging materials are available and hence packaging materials
depends on the type and nature of the cargo materials. Heavier the cargo strong
and brittle materials are used for packaging. For the cost efficient and economic
packing composite materials, re-cycling materials with high brittleness are
preferred.

7. Questions:
1) What types of material is used for packaging?
2) Why it is important to choosesuchmaterial?
3) Why is glass material use for packaging, especially eatable items?
Comment?
4) When it comes to plastic material, why it is consider cheaper than other
materials?
5) In packaging heavy cargo, what types of material needed?
6) Why wooden barrel is considered to be a suitable material used for storing
wine, comment!
7) Explain why high quality cardboard is needed to manufacture the box?
8) Why is the material you have named, the most suitable?
9) Name the plastic material and explain why you think it was chosen?
10) Why metal is considered to be the costliest material? Comment!