iNews April 2005

The 2005 International Transit Packaging Symposium in Asia, held April 7-9 in Chengdu, China, was a great success. About 130 people attended to hear U.S. and Chinese speakers, visit with exhibitors, and network.

Jointly organized by ISTA and IVY Management Company (our Chinese partner), in cooperation with the China Packaging Technology Association (CPTA) and the China Packaging Research & Test Center (CPRTC), the Symposium was sponsored by:

The Symposium began with welcoming addresses from the Vice-Mayor of Chengdu City and the General Secretary of CPTA. Then Bill Noonan, ISTA’s President, delivered the Keynote presentation. In all, there were eight U.S. speakers and five Chinese speakers during the 1 ½ day conference, with topics ranging from technical subjects to future cooperation between ISTA and the Chinese packaging community.

Shown here is the U.S. contingent in Chengdu
L-R: Perry Hock, Bill Armstrong, Ed Church, Bill Kipp, Larry Rutledge, Eric Joneson,
Yongquan “Joe” Zhou, Paul Singh, Bill Noonan, and Rick Roberti. Not pictured: Bryan Williams.

After the Symposium, ISTA held a Technician-level Certified Packaging Laboratory Professional (CPLP) Workshop. Eleven people were certified, more than doubling the number of CPLP’s in China!

Further details on the Symposium will be posted to ISTA’s website soon, with summaries of the presentations, a photo gallery, and more. Watch for an announcement at www.ista.org.
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Project 4AB Update and Information
A PowerPoint® slide show presenting the latest information on ISTA Project 4AB is now available for downloading. The show gives current status, explains how the process works, and includes a number of screens from the actual program.

Click Here to download the file. Save it to an empty folder on your computer, unzip it in that folder, then read and follow the Instructions to see the show. A viewer is included, so you do not need the PowerPoint program installed on your computer. Please contact Bill Kipp if you have problems or questions. Back to top

Three Weeks to Packaging Services Expo
Over 100 exhibitors, and attendees from over 300 companies are signed up for Packaging Services Expo. ISTA will be there, producing one of the Conference tracks and with an exhibit booth.

To be held May 10-12 in Chicago, the Expo showcases leading service providers in contract packaging, package design, package testing, and many related areas. The conference portion of the show has a couple of unique aspects: first, it is held only in the mornings, to allow both participation in the conference and ample time to visit with exhibitors. Second, attendees may register for only the individual sessions which are interest to them, making participation not only efficient but economical. Expo registration is $55, each conference session is only $75.

The ISTA conference track is entitled “Testing, Distribution, and Quality Control” and consists of 10 sessions. We’ve arranged some of the best speakers in our field – Click Here for details (click in the lower right-hand corner of the image to expand the schedule).

Please stop by the ISTA booth (#635) to catch up on the latest happenings or just to visit. If you’re an ISTA member and would like to work the booth for a few hours, we can arrange to get you into the show for free. Contact Meredith Young at ISTA Headquarters if you’re interested.

Register NOW for the CPLP Workshop at Cal Poly
This Workshop, to be held May 10 in conjunction with Cal Poly’s “Poly Pack”, will lead to ISTA Certified Packaging Laboratory Professional, Technician-level certification for successful participants.

“Poly Pack” is California Polytechnic State University’s annual three-day packaging get-together for industry and education. It will be held May 11-13 in San Luis Obispo, CA. On Tuesday May 10, the day before Poly Pack officially starts, ISTA and Cal Poly are cooperating to present an ISTA Certified Packaging Laboratory Professional, Technician-level Workshop. Click Here for complete information on the CPLP program.

This Workshop will be presented by Chad Thompson, ISTA’s VP of Testing and Certification. It is similar to those held at Dimensions and at other times and locations throughout the year – applicants will receive study booklets in advance, then the material will be presented and discussed in the morning and early afternoon, followed by the exam.

Click Here and register NOW to be sure of getting your materials in time!
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Small Corrections to Procedures 3A and 7D
Small corrections have recently been made to ISTA Procedures 3A and 7D. 3A had a problem with metric equivalents in one of the drop height tables, while 7D had temperature cycle time inconsistencies.

In Procedure 3A “Packaged-Products for Parcel Delivery System Shipment”, the error occurred on page 17 of 21. In the “Second Shock Test Block for STANDARD and SMALL”, the drop heights listed in the “Small (in a bag)” column were incorrect. The proper drop height is 610 mm (24 in.).

With regard to Procedure 7D “Thermal Controlled Transport Packaging for Parcel Delivery System Shipment”, the “Cycle Period Hours” numbers are inconsistent with the “Total Time Hours” in two of the tables. At the bottom of page 5 of 13, the “8”s in the “Cycle Period Hours” columns should be “12”s (2 places). On the top of page 6 of 13, the “12”s in the “Cycle Period Hours” columns should be “6”s (2 places).

The online versions of the Procedures are correct, but unfortunately the new 2005 edition of the Resource book was printed with these errors. Everyone is encouraged to make corrections. ISTA Members can LOGIN to the Members Only section, do a Procedure Search for 3A or 7D, and download the corrected documents. Non-members can Contact ISTA for revised pages.

ISTA to Participate in “Transportation of Biotech Products” Conference
The Transportation of Biologicals and Biotechnology Products workshops and conference will be held April 26-28 in King of Prussia, PA. Ed Church, ISTA’s Executive Director, is on the program, as is ISTA member Tom Pringle of SCA Thermosafe.

This conference (April 27-28) focuses on the distribution of temperature-sensitive bio products, but of course hazards other than temperature must also be considered. Ed’s presentation is entitled “Providing Distribution Chain Simulation Testing for Packaging Performance”, with particular emphasis on ISTA Procedure 3A and Project 4AB.

Tom will present “Thermal Shipping Container System Design and Testing” from the test laboratory’s perspective. Among other things, he’ll discuss the thermal container qualification process, ten steps to a qualified package, precision thermal testing, and case histories emphasizing best practices.

The Workshops on April 26 include:
   • A Practical Approach to Good Warehousing and Distribution Practices
   • Design and Implementation of Effective Air Transport Solutions for Biological Products
   • Overcoming the Challenges of Transforming RFID into a Practical Packaging Technology
   • Best Practice Methodologies for Successful Validation of Thermal Shipping Systems

Click Here for complete information and to register for the conference.
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