A major international manufacturer of egg coders
Customer
A major international manufacturer of product ID systems, offering a range of printing technologies for food, drink, pharmaceutical and packaged goods suppliers.
Application
An innovative high speed laser printing system for date and batch marking of eggs required protective packaging for global shipment by air and sea freight. Each system comprises an array of 6 precision laser print-heads, weighs 250 Kg, and needed a pack that could be stacked 3 high without deflection.
As a one-trip pack, cost and recyclability were important, but it was crucial to protect the lasers from shock during transit, as they are high value products and installation schedules are frequently critical. The packaged product was required to pass the transit tests specified by the International Safe Transit Association (ISTA).
Solution
As this was a new product, there were only the manufacturer’s drawings to work from. These were emailed to Macfarlane and, using SolidWorks 3D CAD technology, a pack design was quickly formulated. The shock absorption, stacking performance and external dimensions of the package were calculated to meet the requirements and minimise overall shipping costs.
The solution incorporated a heat-treated timber pallet base for mechanical handling and a heavy duty corrugated outer sleeve. This encloses two stackable polyethylene foam trays with reinforced corners, each carrying 3 laser units. Marked L and R to identify left and right-hand laser arrays, these make on-site assembly clear and simple.
Results
- Fast ‘right first time’ development of pack solution thanks to SolidWorks CAD technology.
- Superior levels of protection from high performance materials, which has been validated by ISTA 2B transit testing.
- Lightweight pack design and optimum external dimensions helps minimise freight costs.
- Materials are readily recycled.
Building on a history of successful Macfarlane solutions and a shared CAD technology, this customer could plan the new product’s packaging right from the word go, confident that its marking systems would arrive safely, ready for installation anywhere in the world.
