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Functions
The various functions of packaging are divided into primary, secondary and tertiary functions. With the primary functions concerning the technical nature of the packaging, secondary functions relate to communications. Primary and secondary are divided into the following sub-functions:
Primary functions
1) Protective functions
2) Storage functions
3) Loading & transport functions
Secondary functions
1) Sales function
2) Promotional function
3) Service Function
4) Guarantee function
Efficient logistical packaging is a necessity for every kind of product, whether it is food or non-food product. It is an essential link between the supply chain and the consumer, and unless performed correctly the standing of the product suffers and customer goodwill is lost.
All the skill, quality and reliability built into the product during development and production is wasted unless care is taken to see that the consumer gets it in prime condition. Proper design is the main way of providing ‘a package which protects what it sells and sells what it protects’.
Therefore, the logistical packaging functions require specialized knowledge and skills, in addition to specific machinery and facilities, to produce a package which will provide most, if not all, of a number of basic requirements of which the following are the most important: containment, protection and preservation, communications, machinability, convenience and use, portion control, security and marketing.
These basic needs must now be examined in ore details together with some lsee important options.
Containment. Obviously, the package must keep its contents secure between the end of the packaging line and the time when the product has been ‘consume’.
Protection and preservation. The logistical packaging must protect the product from both mechanical damages during handling and deterioration by the climate through which the package will pass during distribution and storage in the home.
Communication. All logistical packaging must communicate. Not only must the contents be identified and the legal requirements of labeling be met, but often the packaging is an important factor in promoting sales. Also, the unit load and the shipping container must inform the carrier about its destination, provide instructions about the handling and storage of product and inform the retailer about the method of opening the package and possibly even of the best way to display the product.
Machinability. The majority of modern retail packages and many transport packages are today erected, filled, closed and collated on machinery operating at speeds of 1000 units or more per minute. They must therefore perform without too many stoppages or the process will be wasteful of material and uneconomic. Even when the numbers concerned are small and the items specialized, the need for a good performance in filling and closing operations is still important.
Convenience and use. The most common impressions of convenience in retail packaging for foods are those of providing easy opening, dispensing and/or after use. Easy opening must be tempered by seal integrity. We must avoid the trap of producing an opening device which fails in transit, or of failing to provide sufficient control on the packaging line to ensure the device works 99% of the time. However, the provision of convenience is much wider than just these impressions. The shipping container as well as the primary packaging must provide convenience at all stages from the packaging line, through warehousing to distribution, as well as satisfying the needs of the user of the product.
Portion Control. Single serving or single dosage packaging has a precise amount of contents to control usage. Bulk commodities (such as salt) can be divided into packages that are a more suitable size for individual households. It is also aids the control of inventory: selling sealed one-litre-bottles of milk, rather than having people bring their own bottles to fill themselves.
Security. Packaging can play an important role in reducing the security risks of shipment. Packages can be made with improved tamper resistance to deter tampering and also can have tamper-evident features to help indicate tampering. Packages can be engineered to help reduce the risks of package pilferage: Some package constructions are more resistant to pilferage and some have pilfer indicating seals. Packages may include authentication seals to help indicate that the package and contents are not counterfeit. Packages also can include anti-theft devices, such as dye-packs, RFID tags, or electronic article surveillance tags, that can be activated or detected by devices at exit points and require specialized tools to deactivate. Using packaging in this way is a means of loss prevention.
Marketing. The packaging and labels can be used by marketers to encourage potential buyers to purchase the product. Package design has been an important and constantly evolving phenomenon for dozens of years. Marketing communications and graphic design are applied to the surface of the package and (in many cases) the point of sale display.
Moreover, these basics must be provided at one or all of the three levels of logistical packaging, namely the primary package, the secondary package or shipping container and the unit load.
The requirements for packaging must be integrated. The retail unit, the shipping container and the unit load should be complementary to one another and the logistical packaging specification must cover all the levels of logistical packaging that the distribution pattern requires. As a minimum, there must be the primary package that holds the basic product – a bag, can, carton, bottle, tube, or other form of container. For small packages distributed in large quantities, a shipping container is then specified to hold a group of primary packages.
The corrugated box that holds one or two dozen primary packages is the most common example of a secondary package or shipping container. Large appliances, such as refrigerators and washing machines, are shipped individually, often in double-wall corrugated boxes, fastened to wood platform or skid. In such instances the primary and secondary packages are therefore one and the same.
There is also a tertiary level of logistical packaging, which comes into use when a number of primary or secondary packages are assembled on a pallet or slip sheet, for handling as a unit load by materials-handling equipment in warehouse.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008, 10:17 PM