iNews July 2005

Hey, Pardner! Mark April 18-21, 2006 on your calendar and get ready to pony on over to San Antonio for a rip-roarin’ (and educational) time at Dimensions.06!

Presented by ISTA and IoPP, Dimensions is the premier event on transport packaging, dedicated to all areas of testing, shipping, and product distribution. The Dimensions.06 website has been started, and at this point has basic information on the event, the hotel (Crowne Plaza on the Riverwalk), and surrounding attractions. The site will be updated regularly as more information becomes available, so check back often.

Many outstanding speakers are already on the program, but there is still room for several more. If you have an interesting subject, research project, case study, or other topic and would like to be considered as a presenter, you must act quickly. Click Here to submit an abstract (35-50 words) for review.

Dimensions.06 – it’s going to be a great roundup, don’t miss it!
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Work on ISTA Project 3B is Underway
The May 2005 iNews reported that a task group would be created to begin development of Project 3B, a new ISTA test to simulate the Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) environment. This group, under the leadership of Robert Meisner of UPS Supply Chain Solutions, will soon begin its work. Robert is currently preparing the necessary materials for all task group volunteers.

The first step is to define the scope and objectives, to plan the necessary steps, and to set a schedule. A draft of the “Task Group Charge” has been written and will be circulated to the members for comment. It is anticipated that the next step will be a survey of LTL carriers and shippers to gather information on the hazards and sequences unique and/or common to LTL shipments, including differences based on package size, weight, type, and shape. The final step of the development process will then be to translate that information into a reasonable and practical testing protocol.

It is anticipated that a preliminary version of Project 3B will be available by March 2006.
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The International Association of Packaging Research Institutes (IAPRI) held its 22nd Symposium on May 22-24 in Campinas, SP, Brazil. Over 75 people from 15 countries participated, including ISTA’s Executive Director Ed Church and VP-Education Paul Singh.

In spite of constant rains which flooded the streets and made getting around almost impossible (one group had to charter a helicopter to get to the airport!), the event was a great success. Ed Church spoke on “Laboratory Simulation of the Parcel Delivery Mode”, with considerable discussion of ISTA Procedure 3A. Paul Singh, representing Michigan State University, made two presentations: “Transport and Packaging Distribution – The New Challenge” and “RFID Trends in the United States”.

Click Here for a brief summary of the Symposium and a photo gallery. .
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Keep Current with ISTA Procedure Changes
You should always be doing your testing and referring to the latest and most up-to-date versions of ISTA Procedures and Projects. All modifications and corrections are tracked on the “Procedure Changes” page of the ISTA website.

This page lists updates since publication of the 2005 Resource Book. If you work from older printed copies or from the Resource Book, you can simply write in these corrections. ISTA members may login at any time to access and download the most current Procedures.

The latest corrections (in June) involve typographical errors and a change to several of the compression formulas and charts. The typos are in Procedures 3A and 3C, in the “Before You Begin Vibration Under Dynamic Load” sections. The units for top loads should read “Metric Units in Kilograms” and “English Units in Pounds” instead of “Metric Units in Meters” and “English Units in Inches”. The corrections are shown below in red and highlighted.

The metric compression formulas in several procedures have been corrected. For Procedures 2A and 2B, in the “Before You Begin Compression Testing” sections, the “Weight and Load Spreader” formulas in Metric Units should simply be Wt x (S-1) x F. The metric conversion factor of 9.8 is unnecessary because the units are already in kilograms. This correction is shown below in red and highlighted.

In a similar way, for Procedure 2C, the 9.8 factor should be removed from the Metric Units formulas in the chart at the top of page 7.

For Procedures 3E and 3H, the 9.8 factor must be removed where it appears in the “Weight and Load Spreader” rows in the “Before You Begin Compression” sections. That’s three places in each Procedure, as shown below.

Packaging Summit Set for May 16-18, 2006
Reinforcing the success of Packaging Services Expo (PSE) 2005, an expanded event has been announced for 2006. Now included, in addition to PSE, will be the Packaging Summit Conference and Packaging Containers & Materials Expo.

These three events, to be held concurrently at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, are designed specifically for companies that buy, create, make or sell packaging materials and containers, and use or provide contract and packaging services.

The educational event, Packaging Summit Conference, will include keynote and specialist sessions addressing packaging ideas, innovations, advancing technologies and contract and packaging services.

Packaging Containers & Materials Expo will emphasize not only containers and materials but will also include closures, pumps, fitments, label materials and technologies, and more – any part of the actual package.

Packaging Services Expo, created in cooperation with ISTA and the Contract Packaging Association, will continue to address contract and packaging service solutions.

By holding all three events under one roof, the appropriate atmosphere is established that highlights only materials, containers and services without machinery and systems, which can dominate existing packaging events. Click Here for complete information.

Proper Use of the ISTA Transit Tested Certification Mark

Any company may test a packaged-product to an ISTA Test Procedure. However, specific requirements must be met in order to use the Transit Tested Certification Mark and enjoy its benefits.

Briefly, requirements for using the Mark are:
  • Package certification is available only to ISTA Members in good-standing who have a signed
    License Agreement on file.
  • To be certified and have a License granted, a packaged-product must be properly tested in an
    ISTA Certified laboratory and pass a current ISTA Procedure or Project. Test reports must be
    submitted to ISTA Headquarters for review and approval. Then and only then may the Mark be
    affixed to or printed on the package.
  • The License only applies to that company and their successfully tested packaged-products.
  • Any non-cosmetic changes to the package and/or product are cause for re-test and
    re-certification.

The Transit Tested Certification Mark on a package is visible proof to carriers and customers alike that it has passed industry-accepted preshipment laboratory testing, and that the test results have been reviewed and approved by an independent third party (ISTA). Not only does the testing help to control damage during distribution, package certification can strengthen a company’s position in claims negotiations, help to lower freight and cargo insurance rates, and increase customer satisfaction.

This important subject will be discussed in more detail in the upcoming edition of ISTA’s PreShipment Testing Newsletter. In the meantime, Click Here for additional information.
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